What would you have chosen to do as a journalist in this situation?   Because this case study is intended primarily as a teaching resource, a password is required to view the epilogue. The purpose is to encourage readers to pause and think about how they would resolve the difficulty, before learning how the journalist(s) […]

The decision point is that critical moment in a newsroom when editors are forced to carefully weigh the ethical considerations around publishing a story. In abduction cases, this thought process has to happen quickly, given the speed at which information can now travel. Paul Hunter describes how, in Mellissa Fung’s case, the decision to remain […]

Do journalists kidnapped abroad receive different international treatment than tourists or even politicians? If so, should they? Robert Fowler believes that journalists get preferential treatment, and feels that this is wrong. Reflecting back on the events leading up to his abduction, Fowler recounted a prophetic conversation he had with a prominent Canadian reporter. A few […]

CBC journalist Mellissa Fung was abducted in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 12, 2008, almost two months before Robert Fowler. But the Canadian public wouldn’t hear a whisper of her ordeal until her release. Information surrounding Fung’s disappearance was subjected to a full and complete international media blackout. Fung was stationed at the NATO military base in Kandahar […]

On December 14, 2008, Robert Fowler’s life took a terrifying turn. The long-serving Canadian diplomat and then-United Nations special envoy to Niger was traveling through the African country when he and his aide were taken hostage. Fowler had arrived in Niger with fellow Canadian diplomat Louis Guay just a few days earlier. They were there […]

Media blackouts have historically been used by governments to control the flow of information and buttress their power. In times of conflict, countries have strategically released or concealed information to advance a particular agenda. Early 20th century examples of such blackouts include the Western media’s censorship of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vietnam […]

In Canada, there is no blanket policy for dealing with blackout requests in hostage takings. It is up to each individual news outlet to decide whether or not to honour a news embargo. For the most part, blackouts are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Canadian Press Stylebook offers writers and editors a broad guideline for covering […]

Consider the following scenario: a 25-year-old woman is crossing a busy intersection when a driver, distracted by a buzzing cellphone, runs the red light and hits her. The woman is declared dead on the scene.A journalist sitting in a news organization’s radio room overhears the police transmission of the accident and starts writing a web […]