#DrumTV: Internet has transformed global news but journalists have become ‘fair game’, warns FT global media editor Matthew Garrahan
While the internet has opened up news platforms in countries with previously restricted access and resources, the frontline for journalists has become a more dangerous place, according to Financial Times global media editor Matthew Garrahan.
Speaking to The Drum, Garrahan warned that the deaths of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff at the hands of Isis had been recent high profile examples of a shift in the attitude towards media staff in conflict zones.
“Digital’s had a huge impact on markets that have traditionally had repressive access or limited access to news,” he said.
“The Arab Spring for example, YouTube was a huge way to spread information. Twitter came into its own in countries like Tunisia and Egypt, a way of getting the news out, a way of showing the wider world what was going on.
“By the same token those countries have also become very dangerous places for journalists to operate in and work in. Journalists have been fair game in Syria – the terrible execution of James Foley and others there.
“There’s been a real shift in the way the press is viewed in certain countries and it’s a worrying time.”
Also at the Mipcom conference in Cannes, Al Jazeera manager of distribution Taahir Hoorzook discussed the changing role of traditional TV news broadcasters in the multi-platform, global environment.