There are different kinds of fear,” says Quentin Sommerville, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent. “There’s the risk of getting kidnapped, the threat of roadside bombs and, here in Ukraine, the danger from shelling.”
As the Ukraine conflict again demonstrates, war reporting requires brave, experienced, and knowledgeable reporters and crews in the field, alongside exacting judgements and guidance from editorial and production teams back in the UK.
Channel 5 News presenter and erstwhile Dr Sian Williams - who has reported on wars, disasters and other major news events - who hosted the RTS discussion “The fog of war: Ukraine – broadcasters on the front line”, pointed out that, in the first three weeks of the war, five journalists had been killed and 35 injured.
A panel of BBC, ITN and Sky journalists examine the challenges of covering the war in Ukraine. BBC's Paul Adams, ITV's Rachel Corp, VICE News’ Hind Hassan and Sky News’ Jonathan Levy, chaired by Sian Williams, discuss how broadcasters and journalists deal with safety issues, access, verifying material and the difficulties of 24-hour news driven by social media and online coverage, all while remaining impartial, keeping their sanity, and not falling victim to propaganda.
The accuracy of the fire was surprising,” was the laconic observation of Sky News camera operator Richie Mockler. He was explaining what happened when gunmen, thought to be a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance squad, ambushed Sky’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and his team. They were driving in a rented Hyundai saloon car on a major road from Bucha to Kyiv, about 20 minutes from the centre of the capital.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become a figurehead for freedom and democracy, and is known around the world as the brave and charismatic leader fighting to secure the freedom of Ukraine.
Before he was elected as President in a landslide victory in 2019, Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian, known for voicing Paddington in Ukraine, winning the country’s version of Strictly Come Dancing and producing and starring in the satirical series, Servant of the People.
