Pulitzer-winning reporter says war reporting is about human costs, accountability
Azmat Khan on uncovering hidden realities of warfare
When U.S. officials framed an overseas attack that killed civilians as a success story because “it’s a righteous strike,” Azmat Khan didn’t buy that narrative and began challenging it.
She went on the ground as a freelancer, working to verify the government's claims, interviewing victims’ families and other sources, in addition to analyzing more than 100 airstrikes as part of her extensive five-year investigation
Government data indicated that one out of every 157 strikes resulted in civilian deaths in Iraq. Khan’s reporting, “The Uncounted,” unveiled a different reality: one in five did.
“That's not two to three or four times higher, it was 31 times higher,” said Khan, an investigative reporter at The New York Times. “And I know that our numbers were an undercount” due to her verification standards.
Following that report, Khan’s next goal was to gain access to the government’s own assessments to compare them with her findings on the ground. After a Freedom of Information battle, she obtained documents for more than 1,300 operations.
Her subsequent story, “Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Airstrikes,” not only earned her a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting, but also spurred the government to enhance efforts to protect civilians during combat operations and led to legislative changes.
Speaking at Columbia University Nov. 2, Khan emphasized the importance of war reporting, highlighting its role in holding the government accountable and documenting the human costs of the war.
Khan's passion for transparency and truth was influenced by her early exposure to PBS’ “Frontline.” She recalled watching an episode that revealed failures in journalism leading up to the Iraq war.
She noted a shift toward greater secrecy and reliance on anonymous sources, something she found troubling.
Anthony Shadid, a late New York Times correspondent, left a lasting impact on Khan's perspective, she said. Shadid’s reporting focused on ordinary Iraqi civilians and their experiences rather than relying on official narratives.
“There was something very clear about what was missing,” Khan said.
Investigative journalism, as Khan described, isn’t about partisanship or opinions but about “systematically looking into something in its totality.”
In April 2016, the Pentagon reported that American airstrikes had killed 25,000 ISIS fighters and 21 civilians. Khan said those figures were presented on the front pages of newspapers as facts without proper attribution.
“And those two things, if you know anything about warfare, it’s next to impossible that you could have those kinds of statistics,” Khan said.
Khan pointed out that accurate information played a significant role in shaping public opinions. In Iraq, she observed how civilians were torn about supporting their government.
“These people were also subject to incredible abuses by ISIS as well, so they were making choices,” Khan said. “It turned them against the government. People felt abandoned. They felt like (the air attack) was intentional.”
She stressed the importance of accuracy, particularly in the context of counterterrorism efforts.
Khan questioned if society can really have “a real conversation” about war if people don’t understand its true human costs.
“I’m not saying it’s good or bad,” she said. “I’m saying can you, as a democratic society, have that conversation? … Can we ask someone to push the button and make a decision if we don't truly know, if we're not investigating on the ground, can you ask somebody to lethally target someone?”
With the ongoing wars, Khan said stories out of the Russia-Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas wars are different.
She commended the reporting on civilian casualties by journalists on the ground in Ukraine, facilitated by the absence of bans on social media and access to electricity and the internet.
However, in the Middle East, Khan noted the challenges faced by journalists who lack access to Gaza, limiting their ability to do their jobs.
“I know what we are not getting,” she said. “Gazan journalists are (also) paying a price we haven't seen for journalists in years.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 40 journalists and media workers have been killed since Oct. 7, as of Nov. 10. Among them, 35 were Palestinians, four were Israelis and one was Lebanese.
To put that in perspective, in 21 months of the Russia-Ukraine war, 17 journalists have been killed, according to the CPJ.
“There’s a lot that we lose when that kind of accountability reporting can’t happen,” Khan said, expressing her concern about the people’s ability to effectively weigh in on such matters and have “real debates” over them.
To enter Gaza, journalists must be embedded with the Israeli military under conditions.
CNN said it sent footage filmed in Gaza to the army for review. NBC News said it agreed to conditions that prevented it from using images of lower-rank military personnel. An ABC News correspondent said the forces checked his team’s footage for “operational security.”
Asked what gives Khan hope in her line of work, she said two things — her military sources who want to see things handled better and survivors of war.
Khan said when she tried to get them to open up about “the worst nights of their lives” without retraumatizing them, she needed to ask what they were hopeful about. And she found hope in their resilience and coping mechanisms.
“They tell me about miracles, their belief in the afterlife,” Khan said. “They talk about the relationship to God or their small pleasures of daily life … it’s a beautiful thing.”
Rating growth for networks from latest war
Since Oct. 7, CNN and Fox News experienced a 17% and 10% surge in their prime-time ratings, respectively, during the first four weeks of the war, according to The Wrap.
On the other hand, MSNBC saw a 20% decline in viewership during the initial week following the war's immediate aftermath. However, their viewership gradually rebounded in the second week and remained stable in the third week.
In an interview with The Wrap, media growth consultant David Clinch attributed CNN’s and Fox's rating hike to their early deployment of key reporters to cover the story.
He noted that it's typical for CNN to see a boost in viewership during major international conflicts.
“CNN always gets some of the old ‘switch on CNN’ boost when big stories like this break and they were able to get more reporters on the ground relatively quickly, despite some travel and logistics issues that all networks faced,” he said.
Looking back to the start of the Russian-Ukraine war in 2022, CNN's ratings increased by 161% compared to the previous week, with all three networks experiencing around a 50% viewership increase.
For Fox, Clinch said the network thrives on a large primetime audience that relies on opinion anchors to interpret international stories through a partisan U.S. political lens, resulting in strong editorial coverage and opinion-driven viewership.
What I’m reading:
G/O Media shutters feminist news site Jezebel, lays off 23 people — Axios
A newspaper giant tried to diversify its staff. White workers sued. — The Washington Post
Hundreds of journalists sign letter protesting coverage of Israel — The Washington Post
The audience has a lot to say about NPR’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. We're listening — NPR
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