Journalism, war and objectivity

Journalists battle constantly to remain objective when reporting the news and they are almost always criticised for being bias whether they are or not. It's even more difficult when they find themselves as part of the story. This is what happened to Rana Jawad, the Tripoli Witness. Her's is a case where the story she was following on the Libyan uprising meant a significant change in the way she had to live her life. She seamlessly reports what happened in Tripoli over the past 6 months by describing what happened to her and what went through her mind. She went from reporting what was happening in the country to what was happening on a personal level to the people of the country. An additional and complementary angle to the news coverage.

Personally I don't find this to be subjective, her experiences would appear to be accurate from other sources and plus it helps give understanding as to why the UN intervened. Similarly is the case of the journalists trapped in the Rixos hotel.

Trapped journalists in Rixos (Reuters)

As the rebels were taking the city a band of journalists were trapped inside the Rixos hotel by Gaddafi loyalists. They became the story. But these are professionals and they collectively gave an insight into not only the situation but the mindset of the remaining Gaddafi supporters. The lines were blurred but the outcome wasn't.

This is a good measure of a journalist, it helps when the sides are so clearly defined in war but the emotional toll and stress of being in this situation is immense. I just hope local journalists are this good.