"Tell the truth: they're killing us!" The outcry of a desperate Chechen woman as recorded by one of the contributors gave this book its title. Coverage of international crises, conflicts and wars is certain to catch the attention of journalists, academics and media users alike. Recent armed conflicts such as those in the Gulf, the Balkans or in Afghanistan were, apart from their military nature, media wars too. And, as we have seen ever so often, the very artful employment of public relations agencies, or various ways of censorship, play a considerable part in trying to influence publics at home and abroad. Once a conflict is (seemingly) resolved, correspondents often find themselves being accused of having relied on dubious sources or not having been impartial observers. Rightly so?
This book, edited by Oliver Zoellner, collects articles by researchers and practicioners of war reporting who evaluate past coverage, professional and ethical implications of war reporting, and discuss perspectives for the future of this staple of the media system.


Contains the following articles:

Oliver Zöllner: Medien im Konflikt: Krisen, Kriege und wie der internationale Rundfunk mit ihnen umgeht. [Media in conflict: Crises, wars and how international broadcasting deals with them]

Brigitte Knott-Wolf: Zwischen Sensationsmache und Propaganda. Über Macht und Ohnmacht der Kriegsberichterstatter [Caught between sensationalism and propaganda: On war correspondents' influence and helplessness]

Martin Löffelholz: Neue Schlachtfelder - alter Journalismus? Bedingungen und Konsequenzen der Kriegskommunikation im Zeitalter globaler Public Relations [New battlefields - old journalism? Conditions and consequences of war communication in the age of global public relations]

Peter Miroschnikoff: Die beste Lebensversicherung ist Teamwork. Aus 30 Jahren Krisen- und Kriegsberichterstattung [Teamwork as best life insurance: 30 years of reporting from crises and wars]

Thomas Roth: "Sagt die Wahrheit: Die bringen uns um!" Der Tschetschenienkrieg oder Strategien zur Unterdrückung der Wahrheit ["Tell the truth: they're killing us!" The war in Chechnya Or strategies for the suppression of truth]

Peter Philipp: Restriktionen und Selektionen. Krisen- und Kriegsberichterstattung im Nahen Osten [Restrictions and selections: Crisis and war reporting in the Middle East]

Amanuel Bereket/Mekuria Bogale: Neutral in Krieg und Krise. Rolle und Funktionen der Deutschen Welle in Äthiopien und Eritrea [Impartial during times of war and peace: Deutsche Welle's role in Ethiopia and Eritrea]

Rüdiger Siebert: Wenn das Kind im Brunnen liegt. Ost-Timor als Lehrbeispiel zweifelhafter Konfliktberichterstattung [When it's all too late: East Timor as a textbook example of dubious conflict coverage]

Fritz Wolf: Naiver Realismus. Über den Mangel an analytischer Krisenberichterstattung im Fernsehen [Naïve realism: On the shortage of analytic war coverage on television]

Michael Kunczik: Feind-Bilder.Wie Stereotypisierungen funktionieren und wozu sie dienen [Images of The Enemy. How stereotyping works and what it's for]

Hermann Meyn: Aus Fehlern gelernt? Kriegsberichterstattung als Herausforderung des Journalismus und seiner Ethik [Lessons learned? War reporting as a challenge to journalism and its ethics]

Michael Rediske: Schutzlos in der Schusslinie? Warum der Schutz von Kriegsreportern und einheimischen Journalisten in Krisengebieten so schwierig und so wichtig ist [Defenceless in the line of fire? Why the protection of war correspondents and local journalists is so difficult and so important in areas of conflict]

Verica Spasovska: Friedensberichterstattung. Wie Berichte vom Krieg Brücken bauen können [Peace journalism: How reports from a war can build bridges]

Horst Scholz: Wellen zwischen den Fronten. Technische Aspekte der Hörfunkversorgung in akuten Krisengebieten am Beispiel des Kosovo- Konflikts [Wavelengths between all fronts: Technical aspects of radio signal coverage in acute crisis areas - the example of the Kosovo conflict]

Oliver Zöllner: Auswahlbibliographie zu Krieg, Konflikten, Medien und Journalismus (Schwerpunkt ab 1980) [Select bibliography on war, conflicts, media and journalism (emphasis on post-1980)]