The invisible journalists: a study into fixers’ professional journalistic practices in Pakistan post 9/11 US terrorist attack

<p>Despite journalism fixers being micro-level influencers and keystone pieces in the jigsaw that completes the picture in international news, they receive neither credit nor acknowledgement in news stories. Fixers' influence on the framing of international news and public knowledge of international affairs at the global level has not been adequately discussed in academic studies.</p> <p>This thesis examines the role of fixers in international news by investigating the role of journalism fixers in Pakistan during the first ten years of the "war on terror" (the US-led post-9/11 war in Afghanistan). The thesis aims to answer, "How does fixers' professional journalistic practice influence news production at the micro level in the case of Pakistan, post-9/11?"</p> <p>News/journalism fixers are the local eyes, ears and knowledge banks for people working in foreign countries. This study addresses them as invisible journalists. Pakistan, an immediate neighbour of Afghanistan, was declared a frontline state in the war on terror by the US. People related to the news-production process in Pakistan are an ideal sample for examining the role and influence of fixers in the framing of international news.</p>     <p>This study develops a new theoretical framework to analyse the influences at the micro level in international newsgathering, as the existing models of news production are not adequate in examining influences at the micro level. This study applies the proposed theoretical framework to investigate the role of fixers by deconstructing the news production process, to identify at which point(s) fixers influence news selection and dissemination. At the first step, this study explores the typology of fixers and classifies them into subgroups on the basis of their social capital as defined by Bourdieu. This study finds there are different types of fixers on the ground and for better understanding of their role they need to be classified into subgroups.</p> <p>This research further draws the conclusion that fixers play a foundational role and influence news production at the micro level.</p>