ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we ask – how do humanitarian journalists describe themselves and their work? Do they consider themselves to be journalists, humanitarians, both, or neither? What kinds of journalists and/or humanitarians do they see themselves as, and how do they distinguish themselves from other professionals in these – and other – fields? What implications does such ‘boundary work’ have for their status, financial security and professional practices? We show that humanitarian journalists are peripheral actors in both the journalistic and humanitarian fields. They want to ‘make a difference’ – but without being seen as ‘advocates’, since this would compromise both their journalistic and humanitarian norms. Significantly, their peripheral field position, and the combination of journalistic and humanitarian norms, generally leads them to adopt the role of constructive, rather than severely critical, watchdogs (though there are exceptions).
