Visual War Journalism

Abstract

this Introduction to the Special Issue (SI) begins by discussing several risks, threats and dangers visual war journalists may be compelled to confront when performing the vital role of bearing witness, including ten specific imperatives of mediation.It proceeds to elaborate the conception of "visual war journalism" guiding the SI's rationale and priorities, in general, before turning to examining in closer detail varied aspects of how ongoing conflicts in Syria, ukraine and Gaza are being documented in visual terms, often under harrowing circumstances.next, this Introduction offers a brief overview of each of its eight articles.It is the SI's aim to foster dialogue and debate about visual war journalism's trajectories today so as to encourage alternative, critical thinking about future prospects.Examinations of global newscapes recurrently bring to light incidents where visual war journalists are working in harm's way, striving to record what they see unfolding before them, often at considerable personal risk.news organisations' incessant demand for compelling imagery continues to intensify while, at the same time, the relative safety for those producing it is becoming ever more precarious.When in the past a credentialed photojournalist or videographer may have expected to have their right to report from the front lines recognised by combatants on all sides, this presumed covenant is no longer tenable in today's conflict zones.In introducing the phrase "visual war journalism" for the theme for this Special Issue of Digital Journalism, my aim is to highlight the importance of investigating how and why reportage can invite certain ways of un/seeing that often elude sustained analysis and critique.to see is to attend, focus, and frame, which entails inclusion being defined, in part, by exclusion, by what is outside lines of sight, whether displaced, overlooked, disregarded or denied.In the case of those who are visually-oriented in their reportage -photojournalists, videographers, documentary filmmakers, multimedia content creators, graphic artists, illustrators, drone operators and the like -proximity is less a choice, more an obligation.the maxim long attributed to war photographer robert capa -"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough" -continues to serve as a guiding ethos for those determined to make images that matter (Allan and tom 2024; Sontag 2003; Stallabrass 2020).ongoing

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