Journalism ‘fixers’, hyper-precarity and the violence of the entrepreneurial self

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dc.contributor.authorAshraf SI
dc.contributor.authorPhelan S
dc.date.available24/01/2022
dc.date.issued1/07/2023
dc.descriptionSyed I Ashraf, Sean Phelan, "Journalism ‘fixers’, hyper-precarity and the violence of the entrepreneurial self" First Published in "Journalism" January 24, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211065306,
dc.description.abstractThe figure of the so-called journalism ‘fixer’ has received overdue academic attention in recent years. Scholars have highlighted the role played by fixers in international news reporting, a role historically obscured in the mythos of the Western foreign correspondent. Recent research has produced useful insights about the work done by fixers in ‘the shadows’ of the international news economy. However, it has also tended towards a domestication of the role, where the local ‘fixer’ finds their place in a collaborative relationship with those officially consecrated as ‘journalists’ from elsewhere. This article presents a critical theoretical analysis of this functional role, building on the image of the fixer as a kind of ‘entrepreneur’. Rather than interpreting the latter designation as a source of empowerment or agency, we approach it as a euphemism for the hyper-precarious and exploitative underpinnings of fixer-labour. Our argument draws on different theoretical sources, including Foucault-inspired work on the entrepreneurial rationality of the neoliberal self, Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic violence, and Rancière’s concept of politics. The theoretical argument is supported by the first author’s reflections of working as a Pakistani-based ‘fixer’ during the U.S-led war on terror.
dc.description.publication-statusPublished
dc.identifierhttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000751427100001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=c5bb3b2499afac691c2e3c1a83ef6fef
dc.identifierARTN 14648849211065306
dc.identifier.citationJOURNALISM, 2022
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/14648849211065306
dc.identifier.eissn1741-3001
dc.identifier.elements-id451283
dc.identifier.harvestedMassey_Dark
dc.identifier.issn1464-8849
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10179/17031
dc.relation.isPartOfJOURNALISM
dc.subjectFixers
dc.subjectjournalism labour
dc.subjectwar on terror reporting
dc.subjectentrepreneurial self
dc.subjectsymbolic violence
dc.subjectneoliberalism
dc.subjectRanciere
dc.subject.anzsrc1903 Journalism and Professional Writing
dc.subject.anzsrc2001 Communication and Media Studies
dc.titleJournalism ‘fixers’, hyper-precarity and the violence of the entrepreneurial self
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.notesNot known
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/Massey Business School
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/Massey Business School/School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing
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