Abstract
This rigorous 5-year study examines humanitarian journalism and the deviation from classical humanitarian journalism, exploring the dangers and consequences of departing from established journalistic norms. The volume is partially an urging for aid, using over 150 interviews (beginning from 2015) to reveal the dangers of the ‘boundary zone’ between humanitarianism and journalism to maintain funding and support for the growing need of such journalism. In the preface of the volume, readers will find the fictional ‘Sophia’ who personifies the issues of being a humanitarian journalist and seeks to illicit not only an insurgence of research and support, but also an emotional response from readers and scholars as humanitarian journalists’ ‘peripheral position’ (p. 6) causes them to suffer financially and lack public recognition. The book discusses why journalists choose to engage in the field despite the decrease in rewards systems and asks other questions such as:
How do humanitarian journalists define their professional practices? (Chapter 2) What news values and sourcing practices do humanitarian journalists adopt? (Chapter 3) How do humanitarian journalists understand the concept of ‘humanitarianism?’ (Chapter 4) How do humanitarian journalists relate to each other? (chapter 5) (pp. 10–11)
Whilst there is a partial evaluation of the need for funding and aid to these journalists, the concluding chapters also warn of these practices not only as a ‘space of opportunity’ but also ‘a space of marginalisation, precarity and potential co-option’ (p. 12). They talk of the potential stripping of journalistic value if there was to be a strengthening of their professional value that could consequently result in the institutionalization of a type of journalism that is currently absent of an institution. This volume is rich in material and would prove useful for those interested in humanitarianism, journalism, and neglected global crises.