The new boots on the ground

NGOs in the changing landscape of international news

Bibliographic Data

ID7477171
AuthorsMatthew Powers (0000-0003-1430-8703, University of Washington, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume17
Issue4
Pages401-416
Publication date2015-01-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1464884914568077
OpenAlexW2040813368
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited21

This article explores the role that nongovernmental organizations play in the changing landscape of international news. Drawing on archival analysis and 65 interviews with nongovernmental organization professionals, it examines the resource commitments and values guiding research at leading humanitarian and human rights nongovernmental organizations. It finds that staff size, country coverage, and reporting capacity have increased substantially over time and now rival the resources found in major news organizations. Interviews reveal that nongovernmental organization work is guided by values of accuracy, pluralism, advocacy, and timeliness. These values overlap with and sometimes extend commonly held journalistic values, but they are not reducible to them. Findings suggest that nongovernmental organizations provide important ‘boots on the ground’ coverage of international affairs, even as their imbrication with journalistic practices raises important normative questions for nongovernmental organizations, journalists, and news audiences

Human rights · Normative · Pluralism (philosophy · Political science · Public relations · Work (physics · Media Studies and Communication · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Social Media and Politics · Law · Public Administration

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