Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like other Members, I am delighted to have the opportunity to say a few words on this important issue. The killings of Shireen Abu Akleh, Lyra McKee, Pierre Zakrzewski and many others remind us just how important journalism is to the freedoms that we are fortunate enough to have in our society. The safety of journalists is one of the cornerstones of freedom of expression. The killings of those journalists remind us of the extraordinary risks that people reporting from conflict zones have to face daily. Many journalists have paid the ultimate price for seeking to bring us the news so that we can a form proper understanding of what is happening in these conflicts.

On average, 90 journalists each year are killed in conflict situations and many more are imprisoned as a result of their work. An appalling figure is that 60% of those killed were targeted. They were not accidentally caught in crossfire. There is systematic targeting of people who seek to provide objective reporting of what is happening, and 87% of those crimes are not solved. Journalists are in a highly dangerous game of roulette as they seek to bring us information that is fair and objective.

The tragedy is that the power of the digital age has made doing so even more risky. While preparing for these statements, I read a report that detailed how three quarters of women operating in conflict zones had reported online violence. This was systematic intimidation and threats online against journalists who were being targeted. One in four of those cases turned into offline violence. The targeting online was the precursor to exposing people to that sort of violent attack. All present have seen the power of social media to whip up a storm of anger against individuals. We have to be extraordinarily careful in that regard.

It was good to hear the remarks of the Minister on what is being sought and pursued within the UN.We need to uphold stronger principles to protect journalists in these situations and find protocols that get more international acceptance that this is something we treasure. We have to uphold the right of journalists to have the freedom to express their point of view and not to be taken off air. The Minister stated that more than 150 journalists have had to leave Russia because they could no longer continue to operate their trade.

What is particularly worrying is that there is no objective and independent investigation into these killings. In the case of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh last week, there have been two ostensible investigations with completely different results but still no opportunity for an independent investigation.

We must also consider the online platforms and their responsibilities in cases where they are being used in conflict situations to target journalists who are trying to speak the truth.

The second dimension of this debate is the extreme difficulty in reporting in conflict situations anyway. It is said that the first casualty of war is truth and that is undoubtedly the case. Any glimpses we get into the reporting within Russia of this war highlight clearly how diametrically different is the reporting and presentation of the war that is being presented to ordinary Russian people who believe it is about protecting their safety and position.

We need to try to create an environment where journalists can operate more freely and be heard. Not only do they risk their safety daily, but they also take risks in the context of protecting their sources and communications, as well as validating claims that are being made to them. They are often caught between a frightened population, overbearing patriotism, a well-honed war machine with its spinners, and the demands of a hungry 24-hour media that wants to be first. Those pressures are extraordinary on the journalists who are trying to carry them. Martin Bell spoke of the pressures of being in that position. He described the role of those who fund journalism, stating:

They aim to be first and fastest with the news. Their nature, too often, is to be fearful, feverish, frenzied, frantic, frail, false and fallible.

Those are the words of probably one of the foremost journalists in recent times.

Journalists take on an extraordinarily difficult role but when democracy and freedom of expression is under sustained threat, as it is at present in many parts of the world, it is vital that we support the importance of journalism in trying to make sense for us of these extraordinary conflicts. While we try manfully to bring forward change at UN level and in other international forums, we have to strive to ensure that when the conflict ends there is no impunity for those who struck down journalists in the midst of the conflict. That is the most important thing we can do to ensure that people will continue take those risks to bring a fair and balanced picture to those who need to make sense of extraordinarily difficult conflicts. If we cannot make sense of these conflicts, there is little chance that we can resolve them.

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