When Reporters Cross the Line

If the role of journalists is to bear witness to history, can they ever justify participating in the events they are reporting? A new publication by Stewart Purvis and Jeff Hulbert brings together the stories of 15 journalists caught between covering the story and stepping beyond journalistic conventions.

We will be joined by the authors and some of the journalists featured to debate the boundaries and parameters of journalistic coverage, and when the rules of reporting can be bent and broken.

We will be examining the lengths to which journalists on the front lines are prepared to go. In the extreme situation of war and political conflict rules are broken and ethics abandoned but where do you draw the line?

Chaired by veteran foreign affairs correspondent, Martin Bell.

The panel:

Stewart Purvis is Professor of Television Journalism at City University London.

Penny Marshall is Social Affairs Editor for ITV News. She has previously held positions as International Correspondent, Home/Media Affairs Correspondent, Moscow Reporter and Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent.

Jeff Hulbert is a media historian and an honorary research fellow in the Journalism Department at City University London.

Frederick Forsyth is one of the world’s leading thriller writers and former journalist at Reuters and the BBC.