Reality on the Ground

Exploring News Production Practices by Syrian Journalists in Times of Conflict

Bibliographic Data

ID12909617
AuthorsTania Ouariachi (0000-0003-4472-4767, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, corresponding author), Lidia Peralta García (0000-0003-2934-0108, University of Castilla-La Mancha)
Year2021
Volume17
Issue2
Pages283-299
Publication date2021-04-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2021.1916403
OpenAlexW3157754202
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

While most research on the Syrian revolution has been focussing on content analysis about how Western mainstream media cover and frame the conflict, this paper aims at exploring journalistic practices by Syrian journalists. We look at three concrete aspects: the socio-labor profile of the practitioners and their circumstances, the dynamics of journalistic practices when covering the war and the perception of “objectivity” when doing so. A mixed method approach is employed in this study through a survey, answered by 86 Syrian journalists, and semi-structured interviews with 12 practitioners to enrich the data. Participants are members or collaborators of SIRAJ (Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism). The concept of “communities of interpretation” has been adopted to fit the role and work of both “professional” and “citizen journalists” within the sample. Findings show that local journalists, a heterogeneous group of different socio-labor backgrounds, have a preference for humanitarian topics, stories about conflicts between the government and the opposition, as well as the international global consequences of the conflict. On the other hand, there is an important gap between practitioners “positive” perceptions about their ability to achieve “objectivity” and the practical constraints they encounter when working in such extraordinarily difficult and risky circumstances

Epistemology · Journalism · Mainstream · Media studies · Objectivity (philosophy · Opposition (politics · Perception · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Global Security and Public Health · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Social Media and Politics

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