PTI

Bangalore, Aug 30: Media should refrain from glorification of violence and go beyond reporting casualities in a conflict situation by highlighting grave humanitarian atrocities arising in such situations, according to officials of the international committee of the Red Cross.

"The media should refrain from glorification of violence and rather focus on human suffering as part of its indirect role in ensuring conflict resolution", Surinder Oberoi, communication officer, ICRC, said during a two-day media workshop on 'emerging challenges amidst proliferation of conflicts-internal and international,' which concluded on Wednesday.

"Journalists should investigate and verify facts before reporting. Objectivity should be the central guiding Principle during reporting in conflict situation with the scribes able to strike a balanced opinion between parties involved in conflict and by weaning out any bias while reporting," he said.

The greatest challenge before the media while reporting from a conflict situation was access to information which was almost non-existent. Citing examples, he said there were Times when misleading information was leaked from official quarters to the media, to confuse the opposite camp.

"However, the media, should be beware of falling prey to such strategy by either side," he said.

The challenge to freedom of the press versus security concerns of the people was another issue faced by journalists while covering from such conflict zones, he said.

Judicious use of vocabulary was of paramount importance when reporting such sensitive issues, he said, warning any kind of exaggeration could trigger problems.