Borderland

Abstract

This book tackles the sociohistorical, political, and practical aspects of one of journalism’s hardest and most necessary tasks: communicating the reality of today’s borderlands. In an era marked by an unprecedented refugee crisis and ongoing, seemingly unending, borderland conflicts, foreign correspondents could play a pivotal role in helping create a global public sphere that incorporates the perspectives of those who are most effected by ongoing resource-fueled wars—and least powerful. However, aspects of the historical development of foreign correspondence, as well as contemporary practices, do not allow the profession to reach this potential. Borderland takes insights from postcolonial studies, international relations, development studies, and philosophy and uses the site of the world’s largest UN peacekeeping presence, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as its case study. It examines the specific narrative styles, and news-gathering habits in these complex spaces and discovers neocolonial practices stymying ethical praxis. Brought to life through the autoethnographic descriptions and analysis of ‘behind the scenes’ events, Borderland seeks to introduce new, decolonized reporting techniques. And it argues for reporting that explores how local realities are impacted by global discourses. In a digital world where people access news direct from conflict zones, the role and value of foreign correspondents must be questioned. Borderland answers that question by proposing decolonized foundations from which foreign correspondents can be the storytellers needed in today’s global polity.