Abstract

This article develops the concept of engaged journalism outside a US context, comparing how engaged journalists in Brazil and Egypt discursively negotiate their professional positions in the face of far-right governments’ constraints. Engaged journalists are professional journalists working in alternative media and strongly committed to a political position. Inspired by Bourdieu’s field theory, the article investigates how engaged journalists legitimise themselves by contesting legacy journalism from the margins through innovative digital formats in times of blurred boundaries. A qualitative content analysis of 21 articles (editorials and op-ed pieces) published in The Intercept Brasil and MadaMasr from 2015 to 2020 (a) develops the concept of engaged journalism in alternative media, (b) reconstructs how two media initiatives in the Global South discursively negotiated editorial actions and distinguished themselves from legacy journalism, and (c) proposes a global transferable understanding of engaged journalism based on research in two media systems. Three themes emerge: raison d’être and purpose, tensions between democratic and authoritarian norms, and the establishment of legitimacy through an emphasis on journalistic practices, revealing that engaged journalists are driven by media criticism, but still position themselves within journalism, offering a radical new path. This article contributes to theory-building about engaged journalism in the Global South.

摘要

本文在美国背景之外发展了参与新闻的概念，比较了巴西和埃及的参与记者在面对极右翼政府的限制时如何通过话语协商他们的专业立场。敬业的记者是在另类媒体工作并坚定致力于政治立场的专业记者。受布迪厄场域理论的启发，本文研究了在界限模糊的时代，参与的记者如何通过创新的数字格式从边缘与传统新闻竞争，从而使自己合法化。对在The Intercept Brasil和MadaMasr 上发表的 21 篇文章（社论和评论文章）进行定性内容分析从 2015 年到 2020 年，(a) 发展了在另类媒体中参与新闻的概念，(b) 重构了全球南方的两个媒体倡议如何通过话语协商编辑行动，并将自己与传统新闻区分开来，以及 (c) 提出全球可转移的理解基于对两种媒体系统的研究从事新闻工作。出现了三个主题：存在的理由和目的、民主和威权规范之间的紧张关系以及合法性的确立通过强调新闻实践，揭示了敬业的记者受到媒体批评的驱动，但仍将自己定位于新闻业，提供了一条全新的道路。本文有助于建立有关全球南方参与新闻的理论。