Dear calls on the ending of casualisation of war reporting

The inquest into the death of BBC reporter Kate Peyton suggested that he was a women reporter frightened to go to a dangerous country but who felt her job would become insecure if she didn't go.

The coroner in the case has written to the corporation to say that it should review its policy over contract renewal.

On Comment is Free this morning Jeremy Dear goes a stage further and calls for the ending of what he terms the "casualisation of war reporting"

According to Jeremy

Kate Peyton was a victim of the creeping casualisation of the media workforce. It makes people disposable and discourages dissent and caution. Staff near the end of their contracts feel they have to go to any lengths to prove their worth

and adds that

Stories from war zones need to be told. But some assignments are so risky that it is not reasonable to order journalists to do them. Media managers need to change the culture so that exercising reasonable caution is never frowned upon. There will always be plenty of volunteers for dangerous jobs – there is no need to use them as tests of commitment.