Sécurité et journalisme de guerre
Auteurs : Olivier Koch
Revue : Sur le journalisme
Éditeur : Université libre de Bruxelles
Année : 2022

For a long time\, the risks encountered by journalists in armed conflict zones were not\, or only rarely\, recognized and addressed by the news industry. Being injured or dying while covering conflicts could be considered as the price to pay in order to be included in the nobility of reporters or war correspondents\, and to be praised by the rest of the profession. Trauma was not further recognized and addressed\, and admitting to it could be seen as a form of incompetence. A turning point came in the 1990s. Since then\, safety has gradually become the object of a particular attention\, of a new focus\, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in France. Protective equipment\, trainings provided by the military on safety in hostile zones\, prevention and healing of trauma\, codes of conduct for journalists and editors are measures that demonstrate this cautionary shift. The new precautions\, which vary according to geographical areas and to the status of journalists\, have contributed to transforming practices and to reducing the overall number of journalists who have died while covering wars. Based on Anglo-Saxon academic literature and a field survey undertaken with French journalists\, we propose to understand the cautionary turn of war journalism\, the prescription of new norms and measures to make practices more secure\, in the light of the transformations in news production since the 1990s. In the tradition of the work of Richard Sambrook and Chris Paterson\, the research presented in this article describes the rationale behind this evolution\, particularly in France\, where it has been little studied until now. ***,FR. Longtemps\, les risques encourus par les journalistes sur les zones de conflits armés n’ont pas\, ou peu\, été reconnus et pris en charge par les industriels de l’information. Être blessé.e ou mourir en couvrant des conflits pouvait être considéré comme un prix à payer afin d’appartenir à la noblesse des reportèr.es ou des correspondant.es de guerre\, afin d’être adoubé.e par le reste de la profession. Les traumatismes n’étaient pas davantage reconnus et pris en charge\, et en faire l’aveu pouvait être assimilé à une forme d’incompétence. Un tournant a été amorcé dans les années 1990. Depuis\, la sécurité a progressivement fait l’objet d’une attention singulière\, d’un nouveau focus\, notamment dans les pays anglo-saxons et en France. Équipements de protection\, formations à la sécurité en zone hostile dispensées par des militaires\, prévention et guérison des traumatismes\, codes de bonne conduite pour journalistes et éditeurs\, sont autant de dispositifs traduisant ce tournant prudentiel. Les nouvelles précautions\, différemment selon les aires géographiques et inégalement selon les statuts des journalistes\, ont contribué à transformer les pratiques et à diminuer le nombre global des journalistes morts en couvrant des guerres. À partir de la littérature académique anglo-saxonne et d’une enquête de terrain menée auprès de journalistes français.es\, on se propose d’appréhender le tournant prudentiel du journalisme de guerre\, les prescriptions de nouvelles normes et les mesures de sécurisation des pratiques\, au regard des transformations de la production d’information depuis les années 1990. Dans la lignée des travaux de Richard Sambrook et de Chris Paterson\, la recherche présentée dans cet article restitue les logiques qui ont présidé à cette évolution\, en particulier en France où elle avait peu été étudiée jusqu’à présent. *** EN. For a long time\, the risks encountered by journalists in armed conflict zones were not\, or only rarely\, recognized and addressed by the news industry. Being injured or dying while covering conflicts could be considered as the price to pay in order to be included in the nobility of reporters or war correspondents\, and to be praised by the rest of the profession. Trauma was not further recognized and addressed\, and admitting to it could be seen as a form of incompetence. A turning point came in the 1990s. Since then\, safety has gradually become the object of a particular attention\, of a new focus\, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in France. Protective equipment\, trainings provided by the military on safety in hostile zones\, prevention and healing of trauma\, codes of conduct for journalists and editors are measures that demonstrate this cautionary shift. The new precautions\, which vary according to geographical areas and to the status of journalists\, have contributed to transforming practices and to reducing the overall number of journalists who have died while covering wars. Based on Anglo-Saxon academic literature and a field survey undertaken with French journalists\, we propose to understand the cautionary turn of war journalism\, the prescription of new norms and measures to make practices more secure\, in the light of the transformations in news production since the 1990s. In the tradition of the work of Richard Sambrook and Chris Paterson\, the research presented in this article describes the rationale behind this evolution\, particularly in France\, where it has been little studied until now.*** PT. Durante muito tempo\, os riscos enfrentados pelos jornalistas em zonas de conflito armado foram desconsiderados pela indústria jornalística. Ferir-se ou morrer cobrindo conflitos era o preço a pagar para pertencer à nobreza do/as repórteres ou correspondentes de guerra e ser reconhecido/a pelos pares. O mesmo ocorria com relação aos traumas\, ignorados ou considerados como uma forma de incompetência. Nos anos 90\, inicia-se uma virada a partir da qual a segurança vai se tornando objeto de atenção e de foco\, especialmente nos países anglo-saxões e na França. Equipamentos de proteção\, treinamento de segurança por militares em zonas de conflito\, prevenção e tratamento de traumas\, códigos de ética para jornalistas e editores são exemplos de medidas que refletem essa virada prudencial. As novas precauções\, que variam de acordo com as áreas geográficas e\, desigualmente\, com o status dos jornalistas\, ajudaram a transformar as práticas e reduzir o número de jornalistas morto/as em coberturas de guerras. Fundamentados na literatura acadêmica anglo-saxônica e com base em uma pesquisa de campo com jornalistas franceses\, analisam-se a virada prudencial do jornalismo de guerra e as novas normas e medidas prescritas para tornar as práticas mais seguras\, à luz das transformações da produção de notícias a partir dos anos 90. Corroborando o trabalho de Richard Sambrook e Chris Paterson\, a pesquisa busca restituir a lógica por trás dessa evolução\, particularmente na França\, onde\, até então\, foi pouco estudada. ***