ABSTRACT
Each war has its own peculiarities, risks, logistical needs and emotional burdens which provide its reporting with particular features. Tracing the evolution of the reporting of wars is fraught with problems and seeking to provide a re-visioning of the history of war journalism is open to criticism. There has always been a tension at the heart of war reporting between the principle of objectivity and the practice of eyewitnessing. The belief in objectivity was hardwired into the profession in the latter part of the 19th century. Eyewitnessing war is about engaging people’s feelings at the rawest level. It demands emotional engagement, both in terms of writing the story and gathering the material which contradicts the commitment to objectivity. The history of war reporting also highlights the ever-greater difficulties in the pursuit of the story. Technological, social and commercial changes have usually been presented as opportunities for correspondents but in practice have generated new problems.
