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Yesterday I heard a report on the radio that stopped me completely in my tracks.

The report details the violence continuing in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite a recent ceasefire, and in contrast to plans for the UN to reduce their peace-keeping forces in the country. It focuses specifically on violence against women, and the lives of mothers and children caught up in warfare – women both as symbolic territory in conflict, and physical instruments of war as much as the child soldiers or the men fighting in armed combat.

The report, by Mike Thomson for the BBC Radio 4 flagship news programme Today, also got me thinking about the role, the power and the boundaries of journalism. According to this international medical charity working in the area, the conflict in D.R. Congo is categorized as the world’s deadliest current conflict, but gains comparatively little coverage in the media. These reports stand out because they seem to push journalism as far as it will go in the mainstream media. The experiences featured in the report for the BBC are extremely raw and disturbing, and deeply personal – the harrowing detail of the violence endured by women is underlined repeatedly, in personal testimonies and reports from aid workers.

I happened to mention this report and its effect on me in passing conversation yesterday, and it turns out that other women have been talking about it too, unable to forget about it. This is exactly the role of the media, in my mind. Are these reports too graphic, using sensational tactics? Or are they simply being faithful to reality, to truth, and jolting us out of our complacency? I firmly believe that reportage like this is absolutely crucial, when handled sensitively and without sensation. The sense of physical impact – in the pit of my stomach, a sense of personal outrage, of repulsion and sadness – made continuing with my work at my nice desk in my bright office impossible for at least a while, and so it should do. So everyone should stop, inquire, seek information, form opinions, share opinions, increase awareness. And of course, from there or from donating to charity perhaps, I don’t know…

But for a start, I would be really really interested to know what you think, as women journalists from all different perspectives, about the first report in the series. You can listen to it here.

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