ITN vs LM

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UK press coverage

January 1997


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[Broadcast - 31 January 1997]

ITN TO SUE LM OVER BOSNIA ARTICLE

ITN is suing Living Marxism magazine over its February cover story which dissects the news provider's coverage of the Bosnian war, writes Emma Keeling.

An ITN spokeswoman said the company was suing for libel over the story written by German journalist Thomas Deichmann - an edited translation of an article written by Deichmann for German news magazine Novo.

The Living Marxism article concerns ITN's famous pictures of emaciated Muslims behind barbed wire in a Serb-run camp in Bosnia.

In a statement, ITN labelled the allegations 'outrageous' and 'untrue' and said the reports 'were prepared and presented with the utmost professionalism and integrity'.

The ITN team - reporter Penny Marshall and cameraman Jeremy Irvin - was the first report on the camp in Trnopolje and won several awards for its coverage of the conflict, including honours from the Royal Television Society and Bafta.

The picture of Muslim Fikret Alic behind barbed wire became one of the best-recognised symbols of the Bosnian conflict and was reproduced in newspapers around the world.

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