Al Jazeera Journalism Review

Derick Matsengarwodzi
Derick Matsengarwodzi

منذ 3 days

3 days ago

Podcasters, content creators and influencers are not journalists. Are they?

Are podcasters, content creators, and influencers really journalists, or has the word 'journalist' been stretched so thin that it now covers anyone holding a microphone and an opinion? If there is a difference, where does it sit? Is it in method, mission, accountability, or something else? And in a media landscape built on noise, how do we separate a journalist from someone who produces content for clicks, followers or sponsors

Latest Articles

‘You will be silenced’ - investigating human traffickers in Nigeria

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Philip Obaji Jr has devoted years to uncovering and reporting on the sexual abuse and human trafficking of displaced women and girls in Nigeria. This is his story

Philip Obaji Jr
Philip Obaji Jr Published on: 18 May, 2022
Let’s help refugees escape from the media’s ‘Ghetto of Compassion’

We must not lump all migrants and asylum seekers together when we report about refugees - ignoring nuance doesn’t solve problems

Alejandro
Alejandro Luque Published on: 15 May, 2022
‘Like walking on a tightrope’ - navigating a career as a journalist in Vietnam

THE LONG READ: Through a series of in-depth interviews with journalists in Vietnam, our writer - who remains anonymous for security reasons - paints a picture of censorship and journalists facing fines and even prison for mentioning ‘toxic’ subjects

headshot
AJR Correspondent Published on: 12 May, 2022
The occupation of Palestine is not a conflict of equal sides - media needs to start telling the truth

Western media's response to the killing of veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces in Palestine is shameful. Until the media starts reporting the truth about Israeli brutality in Palestine, the killing of journalists doing their jobs will continue

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 11 May, 2022
The US is on its way to criminalising journalism

Billed as a ‘super fact checker’, Joe Biden’s new ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ is the first step on this path

Martin Jay
Martin Jay Published on: 9 May, 2022
Beware of activist journalists - they won’t always tell the ugly truth

It is the job of journalists to report the full truth - even when that might cast the ‘good’ guys in a ‘bad’ light

Ilya إيليا توبر 
Ilya U Topper Published on: 25 Apr, 2022

Opinion

Derick Matsengarwodzi
Podcasters, content creators and influencers are not journalists. Are they?

Are podcasters, content creators, and influencers really journalists, or has the word 'journalist' been stretched so thin that it now covers anyone holding a microphone and an opinion? If there is…

Daniel Harper
The Power to Write History: How Journalism Shapes Collective Memory and Forgetting

What societies remember, and what they forget, is shaped not only by historians but by journalism. From wars to natural disasters, the news does not simply record events; it decides which…

Ilya U Topper
Journalism in Spain: Why Omitting Ethnicity May Be Doing More Harm Than Good

In Spain, a well-intentioned media practice of omitting suspects’ ethnic backgrounds in crime reporting is now backfiring, fuelling misinformation, empowering far-right narratives, and eroding…

Diaries

A Sudanese Journalist in the Grip of the Rapid Support Forces

She was arrested, tortured, nearly raped, threatened with death, and subjected to degrading abuse. Her brother was brutally mistreated in an effort to locate her. In the end, her family had to pay a ransom to secure her release. She sought refuge abroad, but eventually returned to Sudan to continue documenting the war’s toll, particularly in El Fasher, a city now under siege. This is the harrowing account of a Sudanese journalist detained and tortured by the Rapid Support Forces.

Empty screen
Sudanese Female Journalist Published on: 3 Nov, 2025
Anas Al Sharif; Killed by Israel, but His Final Words Will Echo far Beyond His Death

For over a year and a half, Anas Jamal al-Sharif refused to leave northern Gaza, documenting the destruction and loss that others tried to hide. Tonight, Israel silenced his voice, but his final words, written on April 6, will echo far beyond his death.

Al Jazeera Journalism Review
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 11 Aug, 2025
Charged with Being a Journalist in Sudan

Between the barricades of the conflicting parties, sometimes displaced, and sometimes hiding from bullets, journalist Iman Kamal El-Din lived the experience of armed conflict in Sudan and conveyed to Al-Sahafa magazine the concerns and challenges of field coverage in a time of deception and targeting of journalists.

Iman Kamal El-Din is a Sudanese journalist and writer
Eman Kamal El-Din Published on: 2 Feb, 2025

Reports

Zapatismo and Citizen Journalism in Chiapas, Mexico

In Chiapas, independent journalists risk their lives to document resistance, preserve Indigenous memory, and challenge state and cartel violence. From Zapatista films to grassroots radio, media becomes a weapon for dignity, truth, and survival.

Ana Maria Monjardino
Ana Maria Monjardino Published on: 26 Oct, 2025
Lost in Translation: The Global South and the Flaws of Content Moderation

Global Rules, Local Consequences: How Biased Moderation Fuels Disinformation in the Global South. Unequal systems of AI and human oversight are failing to protect and often silencing non-Western voices online.

Lucia Bertoldini
Lucia Bertoldini Published on: 22 Oct, 2025
Propaganda: Between Professional Conscience and Imposed Agendas

When media institutions first envisioned editorial charters and professional codes of conduct, their primary goal was to safeguard freedom of expression. However, experience has shown that these frameworks have often morphed into a "vast prison", one that strips journalists of their ability to confront authority in all its forms. In this way, Big Brother dons velvet gloves to seize what little space remains for the practice of true journalism.

فرح راضي الدرعاوي Farah Radi Al-Daraawi
Farah Radi Al-Daraawi Published on: 17 Oct, 2025
Journalists Under Occupation; Palestinian Journalists in the West Bank

Palestinian journalists in the West Bank face extreme physical danger, psychological trauma, and systemic targeting under Israeli occupation, yet continue to report with resilience, amplifying the voices of their people despite global indifference and media bias.

Synne Furnes Bjerkestrand
Synne Bjerkestrand Published on: 13 Oct, 2025
Narrative Without Debate: The Telegraph’s Comment Ban on Gaza Coverage

What does it mean for readers when their voices are deliberately cut off? This content analysis of The Telegraph, a UK-based conservative newspaper known for its pro-establishment stance and alignment with right-leaning narratives, shows it systematically disabled Instagram comments on Israel-Gaza posts, blocking dissent and shaping a one-sided, pro-Israel narrative.

Mohammed Ramees
Mohammed Ramees Published on: 9 Oct, 2025
The Silent Death of Urdu Newspapers in India

With a 200-year history, Urdu newspapers in India are now facing a silent death—trapped in a cycle of decline where circulation has fallen by nearly 25%, advertising is absent, and government support is scarce. What vanishes is more than print: it is the erosion of a cultural and political lifeline that once bound Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in common debates and carried the voices of the marginalised into India’s public sphere.

Hanan Zaffa
Hanan Zaffar, Majid Alam Published on: 1 Oct, 2025