Journalism the new face

Posted on | June 23, 2010 | 1 Comment

A conversation with Abbas Al Lawati about his time on the Freedom Floatilla.

Abbas Al Lawati is the Gulf News reporter from Dubai who was on the Freedom Floatilla as it steamed towards Gaza.

What is the role of the reporter?

To report?

To be an observer?

To tell a story?

Abbas found himself in the not too uncommon situation of not only reporting on a story but becoming a part of that story.

At one point it was his BlackBerry that allowed him to continue to file his reports as he saw people die around him.

Where do we draw the lines between objectivity and subjectivity in journalism?

How do we deal with emotion?

Can we realistically expect journalists to compartmentalize their emotions? Do we even want the journalist to be an emotion free recorder of what is happening around them.

Abbas tells an interesting story of his time on the Freedom Floatilla as he navigated between reporting on and being the news.

A conversation with Abbas Al Lawati about his time on the Freedom Floatilla.

Comments