War Reporters Under Threat ― The United States and Media Freedom

War Reporters Under Threat describes the threat of violence facing war reporters from the United States government and some of its closest allies.

Chris Paterson argues that what should have been the lesson for the press following the invasion of Iraq – that they will be treated instrumentally by the US government – has been mostly ignored. As a result, even nominally democratic states cannot be counted upon to protect journalists in conflict, and urgent reform of legal protections for journalists is required.

War Reporters Under Threat combines critical scholarship with original investigation to assess the impact of the US governments obsession with information control and protection of its own troops. While the press-military relationship has been well researched, this book is the first to elaborate the US government threat to journalists, a threat usually dismissed by the global journalism industry.

Chris Paterson teaches at the Institute of Communications Studies at the University of Leeds, UK, and is a former news photographer. He is the co-editor of Making Online News: Newsroom Ethnographies in the Second Decade of Internet Journalism (2011) and Making Online News: The Ethnography of New Media Production (2008).