The challenges for journalists in conflict situations were discussed at a conference in Belfast yesterday organised in honour of the late Irish Times journalist, Anne Maguire.
Around 50 students from journalism courses at the University of Ulster, the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, Dublin Institute of Technology and Dublin City University attended.
The chairman of Co-operation Ireland, Mr Tony Kennedy, said that Ms Maguire, who died in a car crash in 1992, had been regarded as a journalist of considerable integrity, honesty and compassion.
She had "won the respect and admiration of community activists, politicians and her fellow journalists from all across the North and the Republic."
The inaugural conference was hosted by Co-operation Ireland in association with The Irish Times, the Belfast-based News Letter, the Irish News and the Boston Globe.
Mary Minihan, first winner of the Anne Maguire award for journalism students, was presented with a keepsake by Ms Maguire's sister Maureen. Ms Maguire's parents were also present.
Dr Duncan Morrow, a lecturer in politics at the University of Ulster, told the students that the problem for journalists, especially in the North, was that "violence is enormously fascinating.
"The real danger of violence being fascinating is that it can make the most violent person the most interesting.
"A journalist's task is not to be fascinated by violence to the extent that it becomes the only story," he said.
Denis Murray, the BBC's Ireland Correspondent, agreed that many in the North, including journalists, had not adjusted to a situation of relative peace but said he resented the suggestion that journalists were "fascinated" by violence.