Citizen journalism from within a conflict zone is the focus of Zayyan and Carter’s (Chapter 6) discussion, which explores how bloggers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories “have helped to tell a truth different from the one frequently related in the mainstream media in many countries.” Many of these citizen journalists choose to write in English instead of Arabic so as to reach a global audience with their message and to plea for basic human rights. Zayyan and Carter argue that in so doing, “Palestinian citizen journalism is shifting the terms of debate on the conflict in the Middle-East.” This reporting embodies a “simple hope,” namely that by raising awareness of their suffering, “pressure will be brought to bear on politicians around the world to help end it.”
Authors: Heba Zayyan and Cynthia Carter