AL JAZEERA - SHOOTING THE MESSENGER

Movies : Documentary
TV Rip : English

Shooting the Messenger, Al Jazeera's documentary on the deliberate killing and intimidation of journalists in conflict zones, investigates how international reporters became targets.

In the past, members of the media were considered to be neutral in time of war. They were much like paramedics in the sense that their main concern was not victory, but saving lives.

Two months ago Fadel Shana'a, a well-known cameraman with the Reuters news agency, was on a routine assignment east of the Gaza Strip to investigate reports that some villagers had been injured in an Israeli attack.

On his way back from the village, he stopped his jeep to get some more video footage of the area. He was spotted by the Israeli military and shelled.

Shana'a's jeep was clearly marked with the words 'Press' and 'TV'. Nevertheless, Israeli shell fire struck the jeep, tearing it apart. Fadel and three others died instantly.

Shana'a's case is but one of many in recent years which has indicated that journalists reporting from conflict zones are no longer regarded as impartial by the combatants. As a result, increasing numbers of journalists have joined the casualty lists.

The deliberate targeting of the press in war zones can probably be dated back to the Balkan conflict of the 1990's.

When the shocking atrocities committed by the Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Croats were filmed or reported, the media fell under suspicion, and was accused of supporting one faction against another.