Abstract
Drawing on my trade experiences as a local journalist reporting on the Pashtun Belt—a war-torn Pak-Afghan
borderland—this paper problematizes the concept of journalistic objectivity. Working for national and
international media, local Pashtun reporters are the only source of connecting their war-torn ethnic community to
the world. But reporting here poses a dilemma. Not only these journalists face threats from state and non-state
actors, but adherence to objectivity also alienates them from their community. The paper argues that instrumental
objectivity forces the local ethnic reporters to present news-data in a top-down fashion, and also hinders them
from feeling the pain of their own community. Offering self-reflective approach as an alternative to conflict
reporting, this paper gives primacy to occupational experience over technical rationality.
Syed Irfan Ashraf. (2020) An Alternative Theoretical Perspective To Understand The Perils Of Objectivity In Doing Journalism In The Conflict-hit Pashtun Belt, Pukhtunkhwa Journal, Volume-05, Issue-2.
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