Fixers & Stringers

30/09/2023

Is Marxism suitable for the analysis and critique of news fixing (or creative labor more broadly)? And why not?

Read this review of Syed Irfan Ashraf's book "The Dark Side of News Fixing" on fixers and journalists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The review of Syed Irfan Ashraf'sThe Dark Side of News Fixing: The Culture and Political Economy of Global Media in Pakistan and Afghanistan (London: Anthem Press, 2022, 240 pp., ISBN ISBN:9781839981371) was originally published in Mass Communication and Society. This version is the Accepted Manuscr...

21/09/2023

📢Save the date!

On 12 and 13 October, we're bringing together journalists, fixers, producers, the OSINT community, war crime investigators, and academics to discuss Covering Russia's War on Ukraine (and other wars and conflict areas): safety, ethics, collaborations, and more. Join us in Amsterdam or online!

We'll talk about the Fixers & Stringers research + the event is also a part of a project on OSINT that we've been working on at UvA with the fantastic Olya Burlyuk, Lonneke van der Velden, Guillén Torres, and Yaroslava Tymoshchuk.

✨Speakers include the amazing Dariya Orlova, Noah Arjomand, Oleksandra Hrybenko, Koen Vidal, Anton Skyba, Natalia Vlasenko, and Andrew Kolesnyk.

Global conflicts are increasingly documented and covered by people outside of the journalistic mainstream: locally hired media professionals, remote open-source investigators, local eyewitnesses, activists, and data publics. Together, they create complex and heterogeneous ecosystems. These groups ha...

29/08/2023

Some research news!

❤️Are local media professionals in conflicts ‘too emotional‘ to be trusted?
💭How to decolonize thinking about conflict journalism?
🇺🇦 A full series of five testimonies by Ukrainian journalists available on the project website
📍 Save the date: Hybrid workshop on local media professionals and ethics in OSINT practices on 12-13 October

The Fixers & Stringers research project – focused on the collaboration among journalists, media organizations, fixers, producers, and stringers – got to its second half and finally has brought some tangible results! I am happy to share these with you in this newsletter, as well as an invitation ...

06/06/2023

Very cool!✨
2402 Fund is organizing a VR Safety, Medical and Resilience Training for journalists - including freelance journalists, fixers, and field producers. The program works with VR immersion of participants in stressful situations without exposing them to danger.

🇺🇦 English text below
⚡️Друзі, ми раді нарешті поділитися з вами дуже крутими новинами — в Україні відбудеться перший у світі інтерактивний VR тренінг, створений журналістами для журналістів!⚡️

3-5 липня Фонд 2402 організовує унікальне навчання для українських журналістів - триденну SMART (Safety, Medical and Resilience Training) програму від американської компанії Head Set, яка занурює учасників у реальну стресову ситуацію і створює умови для переживання аналогічного досвіду, не наражаючи на небезпеку.

SMART фокусується на загрозах, ризиках та безпекових випадках, типових для журналістських відряджень. Контент VR подорожей розробляється разом із сертифікованими фахівцями з безпеки, екстреної медичної та першої психологічної допомоги, використовуючи досвід цілодобової роботи на фронті.

Програма навчання будуватиметься на трьох основних темах, адаптованих під реалії війни в Україні: безпека, медицина, психологічна стійкість.

ВАЖЛИВО!
Взяти участь в тренінгу можуть працівників ЗМІ, які регулярно працюють в «полі» або тільки починають працювати, і які зазвичай не отримують належної підготовки перед відрядженням у «гарячі» точки.
Це журналісти-фрілансери, фіксери, локальні продюсери.

Щоб подати заявку на участь, будь ласка, заповніть форму: https://forms.gle/FvB46p25mSNMRWHP9

Кількість місць обмежена. При затвердженні учасників, перевага віддаватиметься тим, хто потребує навчання найбільше. Дякуємо за розуміння.

🇬🇧
Friends, we are happy to finally share with you very cool news - the world's first interactive VR training, created by journalists for journalists, will take place in Ukraine!

On July 3-5, the 2402 Fund organizes a unique training for Ukrainian journalists - a three-day SMART (Safety, Medical and Resilience Training) program from the American company Head Set, which immerses participants in a real stressful situation and creates conditions for experiencing a similar experience without exposing them to danger.

SMART focuses on threats, risks, and security incidents typical of journalistic missions. Travel VR content is developed with certified safety, emergency medical, and psychological first aid professionals, drawing on 24/7 frontline experience.

The training program will be based on three main topics adapted to the realities of the war in Ukraine: security, medicine, and psychological stability.

IMPORTANTLY!
Media workers who regularly work in the "field" or are just starting to work and who usually do not receive adequate training before traveling to "hot" spots can take part in the training. These are freelance journalists, fixers, and local producers.

To apply for participation, please fill out the form: https://forms.gle/FvB46p25mSNMRWHP9

The number of seats is limited. When approving participants, preference will be given to those who need training the most. Thank you for understanding.

01/05/2023

📣Happy Labour Day!
Let's take a moment to remember the tough yet invisible labour of local media professionals who make foreign reporting across the globe possible, often while risking their lives.

Tip ➡️ Celebrate the work of local media professionals by watching this new short on Ukrainian fixers:

Одне з надважливих, але неочевидних завдань, завдяки якому Україна вигравала інформаційну війну з перших днів повномасштабного вторгнення, виконували фиксери...

20/02/2023

📢 Join us this Friday for a day-long seminar on journalism, trauma, and resilience in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The hybrid event brings together policymakers, journalists, editors, and journalism educators to discuss the many challenges faced by local and international journalists covering the war, the Ukrainian diaspora, and survivors.
Join us online or offline! Register here:

This hybrid event is organised to remember the suffering of the Ukrainian people and acknowledge the challenges of reporting the war.

22/07/2022

"Shielding our fellow citizens from what sometimes feels like insensitivity of the international news machine has been another responsibility many fixers have assumed on the job."
A great (!) op-ed by Sasha Dovzhyk. 🙏

Two days after Russia launched its invasion, Sasha Dovzhyk got a call from a Ukrainian friend who was leaving her film job in Paris. 'A French radio crew is coming to Lviv,' she said. 'Would you like to work with them as a fixer?' Dovzhyk is now one of many Ukrainians in their 30s who have shifted t...

21/06/2022

Researchers: Do you work on heartbreaking studies/stories? 💔

On 1 July, we are organizing a seminar on the methodological, ethical, and personal questions that emerge when you study difficult/traumatizing topics, vulnerable subjects, or work with emotionally charged data. We will discuss researchers' responsibility, emotions, closeness to research participants, and more.

Speakers: Yazan Badran (VUB, Brussels), Maena Berger (EHESS, Paris), Richard Stupart (University of Groningen), and Johana Kotišová (UvA, Amsterdam). Any researcher who sometimes feels that their fieldwork/analysis is ‘too much’ or ethically complicated is welcome to join.

The event is free, hybrid (in Amsterdam at UvA's OMHP + on Zoom), without registration. Feel free to come by physically or virtually for one or more sessions!

Organized by Johana Kotisova. Details will follow. | Location: E 013 in the Oude Manhuispoort

13/04/2022

📢 We have launched a new podcast series *F&S Ukraine*!

In this series, Dr. Richard Stupart (University of Groningen) talks to a range of people and organizations involved in journalism and journalist safety about the things freelancers need to know in order to navigate reporting in Ukraine more safely.

Episode #1 with Andrii Degeler deals with accreditation, logistics, and safety. Teaser below ⬇️

Listen to the full episode at the Fixers & Stringers website: https://fixersandjournalists.humanities.uva.nl/podcasts/ or at SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-340152626/fs-ukraine-episode-1-accreditation-and-logistics-with-andrii-degeler.

03/04/2022

❗️Psychological help for Ukrainian journalists arranged by the fabulous Lviv Media Forum. ⬇️

🙌🏻 Перший місяць повномасштабної війни позаду, а спринт перетворився на марафон.
⠀
Для нього потрібні сили та вміння справлятися з емоціями. Під час війни це особливо нелегко. Тому важливо подбати про внутрішній стан та за необхідності звернутись до спеціалістів.
⠀
У межах Програми невідкладної підтримки медіа пропонуємо психологічну допомогу для журналістів та журналісток.
⠀
Ми співпрацюємо з акредитованими психотерапевтами та психологами, які працюють в методі когнітивно-поведінкової терапії. Вони допоможуть втриматися на плаву та протистояти тому, що на вас тисне або пригнічує.
⠀
📍 Щоб дізнатися деталі та отримати фахову допомогу, пишіть нам у дірект або на email [email protected].
⠀
Програму невідкладної підтримки медіа Lviv Media Forum реалізовує у співпраці з Міжнародний фонд "Відродження", National Endowment for Democracy, Prague Civil Society Centre, U.S. Embassy Kyiv Ukraine та Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

31/03/2022

A comprehensive, emotionally strong article on the many ways how hierarchies of war reporting manifest themselves during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By Alik Sardarian.

As international media try to cover the horror of Russia's attack on Ukraine, they are failing the people who are helping them do it: Ukrainian journalists and producers