CPCR Seminar: Reporting in Conflict Zones by Dr Fatima el Issawi
Guest Speaker: Dr Fatima el Issawi
Title: “Reporting in Conflict Zones”
Time/Date: 4pm Tuesday 23rd September 2025
Room: F301 Newman Building
RSVP: (opens in a new window)dawn.walsh@ucd.ie by 5pm Friday 19th of September
Fatima el Issawi is a Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Essex (UK). Her research investigates the interplay between journalistic practices, media policy, social movements and conflicts in the Global South, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Her expertise crosses journalism, public communication, policy and academia. She has over fifteen years of experience as international correspondent in conflict zones in the MENA region. She is the author of “Arab National Media and Political Change” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) and the co-editor of “The Unfinished Arab Spring: Micro-Dynamics of Revolts between Change and Continuity” (Gingko, 2020).
The talk will present a case study on reporting conflict in extremely dangerous conditions, based on interviews with a sample of Lebanese journalists who covered the latest war with Israel from the frontlines. The aim is to question the normative ideal of detached journalism and its applicability to non-Western conflict-ridden context. The talk employs anthropological analytical frameworks to explain journalists’ resilience as an act of belonging and survival.