MARCH 9th, 2022
Tim Pauwel : VRT has a debate now about what to do with clips showing Russian POW”s. The Geneva convention forbids making POWs “an object of curiosity”. So far, VRT has not broadcast them on regular television. I would be curious to know if others have a policy on this.
John Daniszewski : We have struggled with this as well. I have cautioned our staff that anything said in these tapes is under duress and should be treated with extreme skepticism. We can report that Ukraine is doing this, but we are not showing extensive excerpts of what the POWs are saying.
Tom Kent : Re POWs, news orgs didn’t sign the Geneva Convention, so it’s up to them what to do. If we somehow got POW video exclusively I’d be wary of using it. But a huge amount of this is in the public domain and I think it’s hard to ignore. Excerpts should be very short, though. And we do need context, as John D notes, about possible duress.
Steven Springer : Because Voice Of America is a federal agency, our Office of General Counsel has counseled that we should pay close attention to the Geneva Convention in our reporting. It still requires that I review the video to see whether it can, or should, be aired.
John Daniszewski : She is a former journalist colleague as well.
Kerstin Dolde : In Germany we have a discussion about Lynsey Addario’s photo on NYT (Monday 7th) – a mother and her 2 children shot by Russians. It’s a discussion between victim protection and evidence of a war crime.
David Jordan : Yes, I advised on that issue for the BBC. We showed those pictures on our late night bulletin but, unlike the NYT, with faces obscured.
Tarmu Tammerk : ERR has shown it little, not extensively. An Estonian journalist was present when one POW was giving his statement. They guy told the Estonian reporter that he is prepared to give his name and is open that his statement is distributed in the media. Of course, again, he may have said it under duress.
Eric Wishart : I just wrote guidelines for AFP on coverage of prisoners of war and would be happy to discuss it with you afterwards.
Elisabeth Ribbans : Thank you, Eric. I would be very interested to read that.
Eric Wishart : eric.wishart@afp.com
Tim Pauwel : Would really be interested in reading them as well.
Eric Wishart : Please message me! I spoke to the ICRC.
Jack Nagler : Eric, would you be willing to share them with Alan so that he could share them with ONO members?
Eric Wishart : sure
Alan Sunderland : newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com
John Daniszewski : Thanks to all!
Craig McMurtrie : Thanks everyone. Very useful.
Elisabeth Ribbans : Really interesting discussion. Thank you to everyone. Will Tarmu’s slides be available, please, as not all seen on the recording?
Eric Wishart : Thanks for inviting me to the discussion.
Sylvia Stead : Thanks everyone. Great discussion and a real challenge for all media.
