Press and Conflict

Media and war, as history and reference

How wars have been reported, and how the law protects those who report them

Press and Conflict is a neutral reference to war reporting since the 1850s: the first correspondents, the photographers, censorship in the world wars, television in Vietnam, press pools and embedded reporting, and the rules of international humanitarian law that cover journalists. It takes no side in any conflict, past or present.

Start in the Crimea Read the law page
Drawing of a line of telegraph poles carrying wires across a plain towards a low sun, with a wooden field camera on a tripod standing in the foreground.
The telegraph wire and the camera: two technologies at the start of this history.
  1. 1854 to 1856The CrimeaA newspaper correspondent and a photographer go to war.
  2. 1861 to 1865The Civil WarWet-plate cameras reach the battlefield.
  3. 1914 to 1945The world warsCensors, accreditation and official news.
  4. 1960s to 1975VietnamFilm crews and the evening news.
  5. 1983 to 2003Pools and embedsRules for access to the battlefield.

Six guides, in historical order

Each guide covers one period or one practice, and each names the archive, museum, university or international body its facts come from. Read them in order for the long view, or start with the period you need.

  1. 1854 to 1856

    The Crimean War and the first war correspondent

    A correspondent for The Times, Roger Fenton’s camera, and what neither could show.

  2. 1861 to 1865

    The American Civil War: photographers in the field

    Wet plates, stereo views and the first battlefield photographed before burial.

  3. 1914 to 1945

    Reporting the world wars: censorship and accreditation

    Censors, accredited correspondents and the records they left behind.

  4. 1960s to 1975

    Vietnam and television news

    Film crews, the Cronkite broadcast of 1968 and the reporters’ own accounts.

  5. 1983 to 2003

    From press pools to embedded reporting

    The Department of Defense pool, the 1992 guidelines and the 2003 embeds.

  6. 1855 to today

    War photography: what the camera could and could not show

    Long exposures, staging debates, broadcast restraint and the photographer’s legal status.

History and law, without a position

War reporting is argued about: whether coverage helps or harms, whether censorship was justified, whether a picture was staged. This reference reports what the cited archives, museums, universities and international bodies say, notes where they record a dispute, and does not try to settle it. It does not comment on any current conflict.

Read the editorial policy

  • Named sources on every pageEach guide lists the documents it relies on: the ICRC, the United Nations and UNESCO, the Library of Congress, the US National Archives, national museums and university sources.
  • No campaign and no verdictsThe site takes no stance on any war, government or armed group, and it does not publish casualty or killing figures.
  • Nothing for saleNo advertising, affiliate links, sponsorship or tracking. It is not connected to any news organisation or to any group that has used this domain name before.

What the law says about journalists, in brief

  • CiviliansUnder Article 79 of Additional Protocol I, journalists are civilians and protected as such, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.
  • War correspondentsCorrespondents formally authorised to accompany armed forces are entitled to prisoner-of-war status if captured, under Article 4A(4) of the Third Geneva Convention.
  • All armed conflictsThe ICRC's study of customary law (Rule 34) applies the same civilian protection in non-international armed conflicts.

The reference page explains each rule as the ICRC describes it, what the UN Security Council said in resolution 1738 (2006), and what the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists sets out to do.

Read how international humanitarian law protects journalists