Written by Neha Rashid and Noor Odeh. 

The difference between an activist and a journalist is not a clear line, though it should be, said Wahyu Dhyatmika, managing editor at Tempo.co, an Indonesian news website, during Sunday’s panel titled, “How to Cover Violent Extremism and Survive.”

The panel focused on various responsibilities that journalists have while reporting in conflict and war zones.

Activists are very opinionated and biased in their reporting, the panelists agreed. When a photo of a dead child is taken, a journalist’s job is to report what has happened, said Mariam Oubaiche, senior journalist at Al Jazeera Media Network in Qatar. However, she added, an activist might also incite hatred and insult the opposing side. She referred to this as “adding weapons to the war.”

In Pakistan, various political parties and extremist groups use social media to spread their message to a wide audience, who would assume the information to be true, said Jahanzaib Haque, editor and chief digital strategist at Dawn.com, Pakistan’s oldest media conglomerate. On the other hand, journalists would be critical of such information, he said.

Combatting the Effects of Activism

            Due to the digital nature of Haque’s team at Dawn.com, verifying the truth and contextual information behind these sources is an achievable feat. However, convincing the audience is difficult.

“The power of Twitter and Facebook is such that, no matter what we do as media groups, we really can’t tackle it,” Haque said. Trying to convince millions of the truth can be very ineffective and a “losing battle,” he said.

            Pakistani media is also very partisan, so the public’s trust is almost nonexistent, Haque added. Therefore, when news websites do try to publish the truth, they are viewed very critically, more so even than the activists.

Citizen vs. Activism

The panelists agreed a fine line exists between citizen journalism and activism. Citizen journalism is when citizens post footage or information from a conflict zone. News organizations can then use this to contextualize the conflict, if they do not have their own reporters on the field and as long as they credit it. Activists, on the other hand, are not trained to be unbiased and likely have extremely one-sided views and opinions.

Sue Turton, a freelance journalist and the moderator of the panel, said that using this footage is acceptable, as long as the journalist verifies them.

On the contrary, activists post footage and information that is very one-sided in the conflict. Often, they lack training so they do not always know if they are posting the truth, Haque said.

Collaboration and Cooperation

Many of the panelists agreed collaboration can occur between activists and journalists. Activists may provide contextual information that the journalist may not have, Dhyatmika said.

Journalists should verify all information provided by the activist and edit it to ensure it is unbiased before it is published, Oubaiche added.