Al Jazeera Journalism Review
Who Decides the News? Inside India's Algorithm-Driven Newsrooms
For decades, editors acted as journalism's gatekeepers, deciding which stories mattered based on evidence, public interest and professional ethics. Today, many young reporters say that role has increasingly been assumed by recommendation algorithms, software designed not to identify what is important, but what is most likely to keep audiences scrolling… As news organisations compete for audience attention on digital platforms, metrics such as engagement and follower growth are increasingly influencing editorial strategy.
Latest Articles
When Modi’s Managed Media Met Europe’s Press
A brief, viral exchange in Oslo between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a Norwegian journalist has exposed the widening gap between India's tightly controlled media environment and traditional adversarial press culture. Over the past decade, open, unscripted scrutiny has increasingly been replaced by carefully managed public relations, image-driven interviews, and direct digital reach. This systemic shift has reshaped the broader landscape of Indian news media, creating a culture of forced deference that prioritises political showmanship over holding power accountable.
How Sources Shaped the Story of Gaza’s Aid-Site Killings
In conflict reporting, the question is rarely only about what happened. It is also who gets to explain what happened. The findings here suggest that the answer to that question often shapes the story that audiences ultimately receive.
The Stringers Behind India’s Breaking News: No Contracts, Credit or Safety
Thousands of rural Indian freelance reporters, called "stringers," face low pay, police harassment, and total abandonment by the big TV networks that rely on them. These local journalists risk their lives to film breaking news like riots and rallies, but they work without contracts, insurance, or legal help when they get into trouble. This unfair system forces poor, small-town reporters to take on all the danger alone just to keep the national 24-hour news channels running.
Why Have Print Newspapers Disappeared in Gaza?
The genocidal war has systematically devastated the media sector in the Gaza Strip. With the occupation destroying over 150 media organizations, printing presses have completely shut down, forcing all newspapers to shift entirely to digital coverage.
How Journalists Report on Insurgency in Nigeria Without Access or Safety
Journalists covering Nigerian conflicts increasingly use remote reporting methods that rely on local fixers and open-source data, forcing a dependence on digital tools that limits direct physical context. Reporters share these difficult realities, exposing how safety risks change the way conflict is documented and asking how the media can keep news accurate when journalists cannot reach the ground.
Mohamed al-Khalidi and Marwa Muslim: Forgotten in Life, Vindicated in Death
The occupation killed journalists Mohamed al-Khalidi and Marwa Muslim as part of a systematic pattern of targeting the press, but throughout their careers they also faced neglect, marginalisation, and a lack of recognition. Colleague Maysoun Kahil tells their story, and asks why Palestinian journalists are so often honoured only after death, rather than supported in life.
Opinion
Anas al-Sharif
Anas al-Sharif: “I am the owner of a cause before I am a journalist”
From documenting the occupation's crimes on social media platforms to covering the war of genocide on Al Jazeera, journalist Anas Al-Sharif defied harsh field conditions and the lenses of snipers…
Nasser Adnan Thabet
As in Rwanda: Can the Israeli Press Be Prosecuted for Participation in Genocide?
Israeli media incitement has helped frame Palestinian journalists as security threats, weakening their legal and professional protection and legitimising attacks against them. Legal accountability…
Jean-Pierre Afadhali
Can Africa’s Media Decolonise Climate Story?
Despite efforts in combating climate change and finding climate solutions in the Africa, the continent’s climate story is still told through the lens of colonisation. The dominant stories centre…
Diaries
Anas al-Sharif: “I am the owner of a cause before I am a journalist”
From documenting the occupation's crimes on social media platforms to covering the war of genocide on Al Jazeera, journalist Anas Al-Sharif defied harsh field conditions and the lenses of snipers. He lost his father and a number of his loved ones, yet he chose to convey the "Palestinian narrative to the world." In this interview, we get to know the face and features of a Palestinian journalist stripped of protection and faithful to the belief that "coverage continues."
In Gaza… Testimonies That Have Not Been Told
Beyond the frontline dangers, reporting during the Israeli war involves enduring arrest, torture, systematic incitement, and assassination. This reality forces journalists into a relentless struggle to keep reporting from the depths of mass displacement, starvation, and a complete breakdown of daily infrastructure.
Journalism in Gaza: A Struggle for Survival
In Gaza, journalism becomes inseparable from the life it documents: reporting continues not from a distance, but from within the same fear, grief, and instability it tries to record.
Reports
Who Decides the News? Inside India's Algorithm-Driven Newsrooms
For decades, editors acted as journalism's gatekeepers, deciding which stories mattered based on evidence, public interest and professional ethics. Today, many young reporters say that role has increasingly been assumed by recommendation algorithms, software designed not to identify what is important, but what is most likely to keep audiences scrolling… As news organisations compete for audience attention on digital platforms, metrics such as engagement and follower growth are increasingly influencing editorial strategy.
As in Rwanda: Can the Israeli Press Be Prosecuted for Participation in Genocide?
Israeli media incitement has helped frame Palestinian journalists as security threats, weakening their legal and professional protection and legitimising attacks against them. Legal accountability is possible through the ICC, universal jurisdiction, and professional pressure against journalists and outlets that incite violence.
A Soldier with the Rank of Correspondent in the Israeli Army
Israeli military journalism developed through a deep fusion of media, censorship, and the army, turning correspondents into carriers of the official security narrative. This embedded model later influenced Western war reporting, where access to the battlefield often came at the cost of independence and critical distance.
The Phenomenon of “News Avoidance”: Have We Come to Know More Than We Should?
Audiences are increasingly avoiding the news as the constant flow of crises, violence, and tragic human stories creates psychological exhaustion and anxiety. Media outlets need to respond with more responsible editorial choices, stronger media literacy, and coverage that balances urgent events with constructive, humane, and less harmful storytelling.
From Srulik to Handala: Caricature as a Media Symbol
From the pro-occupation Israeli character 'Srulik' to the resilient and satirical Palestinian 'Handala', caricature emerges as another battleground for memory and the future. How did these characters come to be, what is their media symbolism, and why does caricature remain so influential?
“Sometimes You Work for Years Without Pay” – Cameroonian Journalists Demand Safety Nets
While many journalists demonstrate admirable resilience in producing quality journalism under precarious conditions, resilience should not be the only safety net. Journalism deserves protection, because democracy depends on it.
