‘Our ears and our eyes’

Abstract

News from Iraq in the Western media is highly dependent upon Iraqi journalists and coworkers, especially fixers. This is partly due to the degradation of the security situation since the 2003 invasion, and partly due to language: few Western journalists speak Arabic at a professional level of competence. Interviews with Western journalists and fixers in Iraq reveal the high level of dependence involved. They also reveal some commonalities of understanding of the relationships between journalists and fixers and some significant differences. The dependence upon fixers is seen in the light of changes in foreign news gathering in Western media, especially the use of ‘parachute’ journalists.