Abstract
In this essay, I offer a perspective on the consequences of reporting from a marginalized
trade position called „fixer‟. Fixers are daily wage workers hired in global news
production to help international journalists report from conflict-hit zones. Back in 2009,
the New York Times hired me as a fixer to co-produce a documentary on Malala, a preteen activist struggling for her right to education in the Taliban-controlled Swat valley
at the peak of terrorism in Pakistan. The project was the first of its kind to introduce the
protagonist to a global audience. In 2012, the Taliban led by Molvi Fazlullah shot
Malala in the head. Though the girl survived and also won the Nobel Peace prize in
2014, popular discourses held the global media responsible for exposing the child
activist to violence. This essay takes up the issue of news source security without
limiting my perspective to Malala. I highlight, while using Marxist framework, how
working as a fixer reduces a journalist to a vulnerable status, exposing him/her to
threats, and jeopardizes news sources' security. I argue that the role emerged in tandem
with the wider practices of decontextualizing local events, people and stories to fit the
consumption patterns of free market economy.
Syed Irfan Ashraf. (2020) Media, Molvi and Malala: A perspective on the ethics of news fixing, The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Volume-28, Issue-2.
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