Year

2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

School of The Arts, English and Media

Abstract

This thesis explores both the role and experience of the modern conflict journalist in the new media paradigm of the internet. It does so by proposing a novel way of understanding what it means to be a conflict journalist in an environment where the lines between content mediator and combatant are becoming increasingly blurred. The objective of this thesis is twofold: Firstly, it aims to highlight the key characteristics of the modern conflict journalist by comparing data collected from the Syrian Civil War and the 2014 and 2022 conflicts in Ukraine. Secondly, the thesis is accompanied by a portfolio of work created by the author, designed to help further understand the creative process that underpins the experience of the individual conflict content mediator. This portfolio includes digital compositions and performances that are publicly available online, alongside the written dissertation.

This thesis finds that conflict-generated content mediators face a unique set of challenges, particularly as they now find themselves at the focal point of fifth-generation, information-based conflicts. The significance of this project extends beyond conflict journalism because it both conceptualises and demonstrates the procedural logistics of collaborative online information generation. This project merges a conceptual understanding of media and sociological studies with the lived and practical experience of those contributing to, and making sense of, conflict-generated content.

FoR codes (2008)

200102 Communication Technology and Digital Media Studies, 190301 Journalism Studies

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Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.