Examining Diaspora Journalists’ Digital Networks and Role Perceptions: A Case Study of Syrian Post-Conflict Advocacy Journalism

Abstract

Using digital ethnography and in-depth interviews, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of how diaspora journalists maintain connections with their conflict-torn homeland and advocate for transnational human rights and political reforms after fleeing its repressive political sphere. To this end, the paper examines how anti-regime Syrian diaspora journalists engage in transnational advocacy practices through building digital networks that blur boundaries between journalism, activism, human rights advocacy, social movements, and civil society work. The paper further investigates how these advocacy practices shape the diaspora journalists' perceptions of their roles as well as their understanding of the different political, economic, procedural, organizational, and professional factors that influence how they perform them. Findings demonstrate that diaspora advocacy journalism poses various challenges to traditional journalism paradigms as journalists' roles go beyond news gathering and publishing to include petitioning, creating transnational solidarity, collaborating with civil society organizations, and carrying out various institutional work. In so doing, the paper rethinks hybridity in journalistic role perceptions proposing two unique approaches for serving democracy from exile. A novel definition of diaspora advocacy journalism and comprehensive discussion of the various sources of influence on news reporting and advocacy networking in the unique transnational conflict context are further proposed. The increasing violence and turmoil following the insurrections that started in 2011 against Bashar Al-Assad's regime have led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times with various armed factions fighting against each other (Al-Rawi & Fahmy, 2018). The Syrian government's security forces and cyber-army used surveillance tools to monitor and silence dissidents and control the online flow of information (Reporters without Borders, 2011). Due to the increasing number of attacks targeting journalists, Syria has become one of the most dangerous countries for reporters (Yousuf & Taylor, 2017) with almost 138 killed, 71 imprisoned, and 77 missing journalists since 2011 (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2020).This led to the migration of Syrian journalists and independent media outlets, mainly to neighboring Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon (Omari, 2016).Diaspora journalism refers to "the collective, organized, sometimes individual, sporadic practices, of diasporic subjects to purposively engage in activities of news and information gathering and dissemination as a tool for self-expression and for engaging in the socio-political and cultural interests of self, and of community, in the contexts of their homeland and host country" (Oyeleye, 2017, p. 24). Empowered by digital technologies, diaspora journalists use their new locations to continue their truth-telling mission, support the human rights initiatives, provide unfiltered independent news to local, diasporic, and international audiences, and dewe...

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