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
‘Journalism is sacred work’ - Afghanistan’s frontline reporters
THE LONG READ: Afghanistan ranks as one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Yet despite targeted killings and an uncertain future, many Afghan reporters are determined to stay and bear witness.
How can we confront Islamophobia in the media?
The events of September 11, 2001 exacerbated anti-Muslim sentiment in the Western media, but Islamophobia had been around for a long time beforehand.
Secrecy is journalism's deadliest foe
When journalists unquestioningly swallow the narrative put forward by governments in the name of 'secrecy', it serves no-one.
‘It Was Like the End of the World’ - The Reporter's Tale From 9/11
Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent recalls the events of September 11, and explains how life for him as a Muslim journalist in America was forever changed in the aftermath.
![Alireza, left, and Zakarya met on a reporting assignment in Kabul in 2014 [Photo courtesy of Zakarya Hassani]](/sites/default/files/ajr/2021/Alireza3.jpeg)
We were journalists in Afghanistan - I got out; he was killed
Afghan journalist Zakarya Hassani escaped from Kabul to Paris after the Taliban takeover. Later, he watched in anguish as his best friend, Alireza Ahmadi, died trying to do the same.
The fall of Kabul - lessons from a field reporter
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan describes what it was like to report events during the recent Taliban takeover.
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.
