conflict zone
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In light of the recent murder of journalists by Islamic State, as well as media blackouts in the Middle East, how are news organisations approaching their coverage of these conflict zones?

Reuters managing editor Paul Ingrassia outlined the news agency's strategy for covering the Middle East, speaking at the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund Awards in London yesterday.

Schork and cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora were killed in a military ambush while reporting from Sierra Leone in 2000, and the awards recognise remarkable freelance and local journalists.

We're trying to do all we can do to put safety first, because frankly there isn't any story that's worth dying for.Paul Ingrassia, Reuters
"This does involve a lot of serious judgements and issues which reasonable people can reasonably differ [on]", said Ingrassia, adding that Reuters' strategy consisted of three elements.

Safety first

Ingrassia said Reuters has been offering hostile environment training and safety kits including helmets and first aid gear to its journalists for many years, but the agency has recently started offering the same training and equipment to freelancers.

The agency has also created "full time roles that are devoted specifically and solely to overseeing staff security in danger zones".

Ingrassia said staff in these roles do not put "newsgathering at the top of their priority", and that safety had an "equal voice at the table" when it came to making editorial decisions.

"[We] deploy security advisers with our journalists who go to dangerous places," he said, "and the advisers have full authority to order journalists to retreat or to say 'you can't go there'."

"We're trying to do all we can do to put safety first, because frankly there isn't any story that's worth dying for."

He said "it would be wonderful" if the Kurt Schork Award was the last award "to be given in the memory of a slain journalist".

A "two-track" approach

A lot of real-time decisions have to be made.Paul Ingrassia, Reuters
While Reuters wants to deliver stories and snap headlines as soon as possible, it also gives reporters time to work on in-depth pieces that bring more analysis and a better understanding of the situation on the ground, said Ingrassia.

Journalists Ned Parker, Isabel Coles and Raheem Salman wrote an in-depth report about the fall of Mosul, for example, published 16 October.

Last month, reporter Maggie Fick wrote about Islamic State using the distribution of wheat as a weapon, explaining how the organisation establishes control over conquered territories in this manner.

Multimedia reporting

"Both these stories of course were accompanied by pictures and film footage," said Ingrassia.

"We deploy photographers, television camera crews, and text journalists, all in a way doing their jobs independently but also in a coordinated fashion."

He said that while "siloes" may be present in the newsroom at times, they tend to disappear when reporting from a combat zone.

Reuters photographers and video crews communicate with writers and editors, relaying information that also informs the facts included in the agency's daily reports.

Regular meetings are set up to "coordinate multimedia events", he said, as "a lot of real-time decisions have to be made".

The winners of this year's Kurt Schork Awards were Neha Dixit, who topped the 'Local Reporter' category for her undercover reports on rape in India, and Matthieu Aikins in the 'Freelance' category for his reporting from Afghanistan.

Priyanka Dubey also won a 'Special Recognition Award' for her coverage of the wait for justice for sexual assault victims in India.

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