WAR REPORTING IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY ARMED CONFLICTS AND NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Ovaj rad se bavi analizom ratnog izvještavanja u kontekstu suvremenih oružanih sukoba i novih medijskih tehnologija. Zajedničko obilježje suvremenih oružanih sukoba i medija je njihova ovisnost o komunikacijskim tehnologijama. Medijske su tehnologije omogućile izvještavanje u realnom vremenu s različitih mjesta u ratnoj zoni, ali to za posljedicu ima nedostatak vremena za racionalno razmišljanje i prosuđivanje. Novinari svojim izvještavanjem presudno utječu na oblikovanje javnog mnijenja. Percepcija javnosti ovisi puno o onome što su mediji izabrali, ispustili, oblikovali i interpretirali. Profesionalna se etika novinara dovodi u pitanje prešućivanjem ili naglašavanjem, drastičnim opisivanjem događaja ili njegovim uljepšavanjem, tumačenjem događaja s ciljem propagande i slično. Vojska čini velike napore kako bi ograničila pristup bojištu, a novinare često dovodi u situaciju da preuzmaju materijale koje su im namijenili. Tako do javnosti mogu doći cenzurirane informacije i slike s terena koje ne odražavaju pravo stanje u ratnoj zoni. Kada se dogodi dvojba oko ratne intervencije onda su tu medijski prilozi o progonu, pljački, paleži, civilnim žrtvama, izbjegličkim konvojima i slično. Takve će slike sasvim sigurno utjecati pozitivno na pridobivanje javnosti za ratnu intervenciju.This paper deals with the analysis of war reporting in the context of contemporary armed conflicts and new media technologies. A common characteristic of contemporary armed conflicts and the media is their dependence on communication technologies. Media technologies were enabling the reporting in real time from different locations in the war zone, but its consequence is a lack of time for the rational thinking and considering. Journalists with their reporting crucial influence on the formation of public opinion. The public perception depends a lot on what the media have chosen, dropped, formed and interpreted. Journalists professional ethics are questionable because of passing over in silence or emphasizing, drastic describing the event or its embellishment, or interpretation of events with the aim of propaganda and so on. The army is making great efforts to limit access to the battlefield, and journalists often leads to a situation to take materials that they were intended. So the public can get information and pictures from the field censored that do not reflect the true situation in the war zone. When it happens doubts about the war intervention, then there are media reports on the persecution, robbery, arson, civilian casualties, refugee convoys and so on. Such images will certainly impact positively on gaining public for the war intervention