It's in the news today. The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday said it has commitments from seven countries, including the United States, to protect journalists in war zones.
The countries are promising to educate soldiers and security forces about international humanitarian law, which ensures the safety of journalists. Ironically, while the U.S. signed on to the pledge the Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-partisan human right organization, found that the U.S. military is responsible for the deaths of 16 journalists in Iraq. Spain also indicted three U.S. soldiers last April for the 2003 killing of a Spanish journalist in a Baghdad Hotel.
This doesn't mean that the deaths of journalists at the hands of Americans are intentional. After all, journalists are known to get in the way at times.
The big picture question to ask, then, is why now?
Why has the Red Cross pushed for a reaffirmation of Geneva Convention guidelines on the safety of journalists?
Perhaps it is because during the past two years more than 125 journalists have been killed trying to do their jobs.
or
Perhaps, that because in 2006, The United Nations Security Council forcefully condemned the frequency of violent attacks against journalists in many part of the world.
or (acknowledging the most cynical possibility)
Perhaps, because people just don't give a damn about the press or the media conglomerates that own the news these days. Maybe people are just to busy with their every day lives to care. Where's the public outrage as attacks against journalists escalate? Many people, especially younger Americans, express their distrust in the media because they see journalists as pawns of industry and government. From this perspective, it is easy to see the cynicism seep into public conscious. The truth is that lots of countries will talk a great game about how they want to protect the press in conflict zones. The reality is, unfortunately, that it is very hard for them to really do anything about it.
Other links:
The Committee to Protect Journalists
Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions (SPJ)
Ex-Nightly News anchor, Tom Brokaw campaigns for free press (MSNBC)