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So what should be done?
Journalists are holding the line. Independent war correspondents— often lacking the resources of major media conglomerates, often in danger— continue to go where the cameras don’ t go. Marie Colvin, killed in Homs in 2012, once said:“ My job is to be the eyes and ears of the world on suffering that the powerful would prefer we not hear about.” She was right. And she died for doing so.
Flashmag! Issue 173 June 2026
Photographers like Lynsey Addario and reporters like Rania Abouzeid continue to put faces to statistics. Independent media outlets and NGOs like Airwaves or Forensic Architecture reconstruct, image by image, war crimes that official statements had carefully concealed. But they are swimming against the tide. The economic model of news— the race for clicks, for audience, for immediate reaction— favors the spectacular( the explosion seen from a drone) over the difficult and the grim( the field hospital, the refugee camp, the body under the rubble).
From ancient Rome to contemporary conflicts, the narrative of war has often prioritized strategy, glory, or ideological justification at the expense of human suffering. While the 20th century sometimes allowed for the revelation of horror— notably in Vietnam— contemporary journalism tends to revert to a logic of geostrategy, technical jargon, and the ranking of lives. Yet, the decision to go to war remains the gravest political act: it is to accept condemning human beings to death. By ceasing to show this reality, the press contributes to trivializing war, making it acceptable, almost normal. *** Translated with www. DeepL. com / Translator( free version) ***
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