The 2024 Ian Black Memorial Lecture: A War Like No Other: Challenge and Change in Reporting Gaza

Описание: The Ian Black Memorial Lecture Series was set up in 2024 by the LSE Middle East Centre and Ian's family to celebrate the life, ethos and rigour of Dr Ian Black, a veteran Middle East journalist and academic.

The first lecture of the series was delivered by Jim Muir, former BBC Middle East correspondent and colleague to Ian, who has been reporting from the region for nearly 50 years. Armed with a degree in Arabic from Cambridge, Jim arrived in Beirut in early 1975 and is still based there now, after stints as BBC correspondent in Cairo, Tehran and Baghdad.

This lecture explored how reporting on the Middle East has been challenged and had to adapt in the extraordinary conditions prevailing since October 7, 2023.

Now more than ever, a year on since Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel, and Israel’s continued assault on Gaza and the wider region, the role of journalists and media organisations has been vital, but it has also been called into question.

With little direct access into Gaza for foreign journalists, the world has been relying on citizen journalists to document their lives, broadcast mainly through social media.

What new modes of reportage have been created through these developments, and how has traditional media been affected by this? What role has social media played in exacerbating and debunking misinformation, and how can we understand the future of reporting on Israel and Palestine, and the broader Middle East in light of the past year?