James Foley

Lectures around campus have already begun for the semester, and Media Maven Max Rettig went to check out a lecture on conflict journalism and the late James Foley.

“I wish we had a more upbeat topic for you, but we don’t want to hide the truth from you” was the opening line of this panel on reporting in conflict zones, setting the tone for both frank discussion and sobering statistics on the state of conflict journalism today. The official title, “After James Foley—Covering Conflict When Journalists Are Targets,” also says a lot about how the night’s talk would unfold.

The discussion featured five extraordinarily experienced panelists—David Rohde (Reuters, formerly New York Times), Rukmini Callimachi (NYT, formerly Associated Press), Phil Balboni (CEO/co-founder, GlobalPost), Nicole Tung (freelance), and Joel Simon (exec. director, Committee to Protect Journalists)—who each talked of their experience with Foley and their work in journalism.

Mr. Simon was first to speak. He described this period of journalism as “deadly and dangerous” and went on to cite stats that could make your stomach turn: 232 journalists were imprisoned by the end of 2012 (an all-time high). Around one-third of all journalists killed last year were freelancers. In Syria, 71 journalists have been killed and 80 have been kidnapped. Almost 90 percent of all journalists killed since 1992 have been local journalists working in their own countries. Technology is one of the biggest factors in facilitating both freelance journalism and the spread of terroristic messages, notably the videos by ISIS.

As it stands right now, three American and two British journalists are at risk of death. We hope that they are supported, saved and rescued as quickly as possible.

Simon then gave way to J-School Dean Steve Coll, who cut right to the chase by introducing and turning the mic over to the panelists, each of whom had a unique connection to Foley. The first of the panelists to share his story was Mr. Balboni. After sharing his relationship with James, he explained his fight for Foley’s release and got to his core message, which is that today’s newsroom leaders have a moral responsibility to support freelancers as much as they support full-time staff.

The main themes that each panelist shared, aside from fond memories of Jim, as they called him, included support for freelancers and their families at home, motives and ransoms, and who the biggest victims are (Hint: the locals of the Middle Eastern countries). The situation in the Middle East, and especially in Syria, is dire. One specifically strong point regarded the paying, or not paying, of ransoms to free captive journalists. As could be guessed, money is a huge motivating factor for militant groups, and they can get a lot of it by capturing especially Western journalists. America is one of only a few countries on Earth that staunchly refuses to pay ransoms to terrorists, which puts her overseas journalists at a great disadvantage to most European countries that do pay, a lot, for their citizens’ release. Still, the panelists said, about two-thirds of Americans support this policy.

During the Q&A, a man asked about dependence on local sources, to which Ms. Tung and Ms. Callimachi stressed their reliance on locals. Rohde added “You’re only as good as the local journalists who work with you.” Another man asked the women specifically about special considerations they take before going into a conflict. Both stressed that the biggest factor is rape and sexual abuse. Other questions focused on security for families and confidentiality on the part of the government and media.

While the talk focused on the dire situations overseas freelance journalists face, it was nice to hear each panelist emphasize the importance of journalism and the rights and reforms being taken to support the freelancers who are doing such incredible work. Rohde encouraged students to pressure media organizations as much as possible to create safer environments for all journalists. Dean Coll ended with this message: “This lecture is incredibly personal and searing. I just want to reassure you all that it is possible to have a very fulfilling life in journalism…” The audience broke into laughter, a fun, light-hearted way to end a heavy-hearted night.

James Foley via Columbia Journalism School