Humanitarian journalists: covering crises from a boundary zone.

Anderson, Bissie

Abstract

In today's reality of recurrent global crises and human rights abuses, the Washington Post slogan "democracy dies in darkness" cannot be a more fitting encapsulation of the role and responsibility of journalism. In crisis zones, where democracy is but a distant dream, shining a light on human suffering through bearing witness can be the difference between life and death, or at least between impunity and accountability. These reporting practices are the centerpiece of Humanitarian Journalists: Covering Crises from a Boundary Zone. The authors—Martin Scott, associate professor in media and international development at the University of East Anglia; Kate Wright, associate professor in media and communications at the University of Edinburgh; and Mel Bunce, professor of international journalism at City, University of London—document the important work of humanitarian journalists around the globe through an impressive, empirically rich 5-year study involving 150 in-depth interviews and content analysis of humanitarian media coverage. Acknowledging that the uneven news coverage of global crises is the result of rigid formulas of reporting international news, long sedimented into "news values" that tend to valorize entertainment and domestic issues (Galtung & Ruge, 1965), the authors set humanitarian journalists as an antidote to such conventional reporting norms and practices, showing that "another kind of humanitarian journalism is possible".

Citation

ANDERSON, B. 2024. Humanitarian journalists: covering crises from a boundary zone. Journalism and mass communication quarterly [online], 101(3), pages 799-801. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241253806

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 16, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 15, 2024
• Journal: Journalism and mass communication quarterly
• Print ISSN: 1077-6990
• Electronic ISSN: 2161-430X
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 101
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 799-801
• Item Discussed: SCOTT, M., WRIGHT, K. and BUNCE, M. 2023. Humanitarian journalists: covering crises from a boundary zone. Abingdon: Routledge [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003356806. ISBN 9781032407678
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241253806
• Keywords: Journalism and society; Journalists; Humanitarian crises; Humanitarian disasters
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2303411