Al Jazeera Journalism Review
Safety Strategies Female Journalists Use in Hostile Environments
Female journalists across Africa face layered physical, gender-based, digital, and psychological risks while covering protests, elections, conflict, and crises, forcing them to rely on hard-earned survival strategies as much as newsroom support.
Latest Articles
Fake Accounts with Arab Faces: "A Well-Organized Cyber Army"
Israel has launched a digital war against Palestinians by flooding social media with fake accounts designed to spread disinformation, distort narratives, and demonize Palestinian resistance. These accounts, often impersonating Arabs and mimicking regional dialects, aim to create fake public opinion, promote division among Arab nations, and advance the Israeli agenda in the digital space.
Citizen Journalism in Gaza: "The Last Witness"
With a phone camera, Abboud Battah appears every day from northern Gaza, documenting the crimes of the occupation in a language that is not devoid of spontaneity that led to his being arrested. When the Israeli occupation closed Gaza to the international press, killed journalists, and targeted their headquarters, the voice of the citizen journalist remained a witness to the killing and genocidal war.
A Survivor Interview should not be Considered a Scoop
Do ethical and professional standards allow for interviewing survivors while they are in a state of trauma? How should a journalist approach victims, away from sensationalism and the pursuit of exclusivity at the expense of their dignity and right to remain silent?
![Workers at Télam mobilise as the Argentine government plans to shut down the state news agency [SomosTelam.com.ar].](/sites/default/files/ajr/2024/Picture1_0.png)
Censorship, Militarisation, and Dismantlement: How Public Media Became a Political Battlefield in Latin America
Public media in Latin America, such as Brazil's EBC and Argentina's Télam, are being undermined through militarisation and dismantlement, threatening their role as public institutions. These actions jeopardise media independence and weaken their ability to serve the public interest, posing a serious risk to democracy.
Independent Syrian Journalism: From Revolution to Assad's Fall
Independent Syrian journalism played a pivotal role in exposing regime corruption and documenting war crimes during the 13-year revolution, despite immense risks to journalists, including imprisonment, assassination, and exile. Operating from abroad, these journalists pioneered investigative and open-source reporting, preserving evidence, and shaping narratives that challenged the Assad regime's propaganda.
Bolivia’s Mines and Radio: A Voice of the Global South Against Hegemony
Miners' radio stations in the heart of Bolivia's mining communities, played a crucial role in shaping communication within mining communities, contributing to social and political movements. These stations intersected with anarchist theatre, educational initiatives, and alternative media, addressing labour rights, minority groups, and imperialism.
Opinion
Anam Hussain
US-Iran Islamabad Talks: How Journalists Report from Outside Closed Doors
The "Islamabad Talks" highlight a growing contradiction in modern diplomacy where journalists are physically present but denied direct access to negotiations. The pressure on transparency appears…
Bashar Hamdan
Can Artificial Intelligence Become a Documentary Film Director?
AI opens new possibilities in documentary filmmaking, from sorting archives to speeding up production. But documentary is not built on technology alone: it depends on the director’s vision,…
Derick Matsengarwodzi
When Speaking Up Backfires: How Social Conformity Silences Journalists
While state censorship remains a reality, freedom of speech in Africa faces a rising internal threat: the community itself. This article examines how social conformity, digital echo chambers, and…
Diaries
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.
Journalism in Gaza… A Race Against the Train of Genocide
In the following account, Amira Nassar presents a narrative filled with intricate detail, intimate exchanges, and an unyielding struggle over the meaning of writing amid slaughter and starvation. Part of The Journalism Review’s documentary project recording the testimonies of journalists in Palestine and the Gaza Strip during the ongoing genocide, it stands as a testament against oblivion and the machinery of extermination.
From News Reporting to Documentation: Practical Lessons from Covering the War on Gaza
From the very first moment of the genocidal war waged by Israel on Gaza, Al Jazeera correspondent Hisham Zaqout has been a witness to hunger, devastation, war crimes, and the assassination of his colleagues in the field. It is a battle for survival and documentation, one that goes beyond mere coverage and daily reporting.
Reports
Safety Strategies Female Journalists Use in Hostile Environments
Female journalists across Africa face layered physical, gender-based, digital, and psychological risks while covering protests, elections, conflict, and crises, forcing them to rely on hard-earned survival strategies as much as newsroom support.
The Afterlife of an Image: How Photojournalism Contests Shape Visibility and Responsibility
As photojournalism contests elevate certain images to global prominence, they also influence how violence, dignity, and memory are constructed in the public imagination.
Malawi Investigates Poor Pay and Working Conditions for Junior Journalists
Malawi’s investigation into poor pay for junior journalists exposes a deeper crisis where economic hardship is eroding media independence and forcing reporters to choose between ethical integrity and survival.
Journalism as a Struggle for Survival in Sudan
With war erupting in Sudan, the country’s media landscape collapsed almost overnight after the Rapid Support Forces entered Khartoum. Many journalists were left without jobs, salaries or shelter, scattered between displacement, exile and siege, as newspapers shut down and media institutions ceased to function. For many, journalism was no longer a profession but a daily struggle for survival.
From Print to Pixels: How Small-Town Journalists in Bihar Are Surviving Threats and Closures
As newspapers vanish across districts like Siwan, Gaya, and Purnea, reporters turn to mobile phones, digital start-ups and community networks to keep local journalism alive.
Arab Society and Investigative Journalism: The Dialectic of Culture, Power, and Profession
Investigative journalism in Arab societies operates within a dense web of social, political, and cultural pressures that often push journalists to balance truth-telling against survival, forcing them onto a precarious “razor’s edge.” Yet despite these constraints, moments of crisis can transform society itself from a source of pressure into a powerful ally, driving accountability and reigniting the pursuit of truth.
