In 2017 UNESCO published a handbook for journalists “Terrorism and the Media”, authored by EJN adviser Jean-Paul Marthoz, which outlines how journalists can inform the public while avoiding furthering the aims of the terrorists by dividing societies. The publication, which is available in French and English, examines the “challenges of balanced reporting on the inevitably volatile and emotionally charged subject of terrorism”.

According to UNESCO, “the publication aims to raise journalists’ awareness of the need to exercise caution and examine carefully who they quote, what messages they relay and how they contextualize the information they give, despite the pressures to win readers, viewers and listeners. With numerous examples taken from recent events, the handbook also addresses issues pertaining to the way journalists report on the victims of terror, handle rumours, report on the authorities’ investigations, conduct interviews with terrorists and report on their trials.”

Here you will find resources from the Ethical Journalism Network and the EJN’s supporters and partners on how media can cover terrorism, mass shootings and massacres in an ethical and responsible way.