Bearing Witness Practices of journalistic witnessing in South Sudan RICHARD STUPART A thesis submitted to the Department of Media and Communications of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the de- gree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, June 2020 1 declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 97,944 words. 2 abstract This thesis explores the practices and normative tensions of journalists reporting on conflict in South Sudan, based on a combination of semi-structured interviews with journalists based in Nairobi, Kampala and Juba, as well as ethnographic observation of an investigative reporting trip to the Malakal protection of civilians site in Upper Nile state. This thesis addresses two research questions, asking how journalists’ practices are enabled and constrained in the context of South Sudan, and what normative tensions arise during their practices of journalism. To these questions, this thesis develops three arguments. In the first, I argue that risk functions as both a constraint to the practices of journalists working in South Sudan, as well as an element of the practice itself. It can afford journalists epistemic authority, material benefits and recognition as ‘professional’. I also provide an account of media intimidation in South Sudan as it appears to journalists, and some of the tactics adopted to cope with this. In the second, I argue for the importance of affect/emotion as an integral part of the practice of journalism in conflict. I make the case that emotion is not simply ‘picked up’ in the course of tiring and stressful work, but is an important part of how practices of journalism in South Sudan successfully proceed. I suggest that the case of journalists in South Sudan raises a number of important questions for research into affect/emotion in practices of news production more generally. Finally, I argue that normative tensions experienced by journalists as moral conflicts suggest that this journalism operates within a humanitarian imaginary of the type described by Lilie Chouliaraki. Perceived ‘obligations to report’ and discomfort over whether or not to help individuals in certain cases are, I argue, examples of journalists’ double-interpellation as both spectators and witnesses to the suffering of others. For Katherine, for believing in me. 4 acknowledgements Emily Callaci(2019) points out that acknowledgements betray the fiction that work like this is ever the sole product of a single mind, rather than of communities of support. This the- sis was absolutely, ultimately, the emotional and conversational work of a community much larger than me, and I would like to acknowledge, however inadequately, everyone who helped to make this possible. Most excited to see this document finished will be my partner and love, Katherine Furman, whose endless encouragement and patient listening to the thousandth ver- sion of an iteratively-improving argument over four years has been the rock on which this project was emotionally possible. To my mother, Elaine and brother, John, I’d like to thank you both for a lifetime of watching me charge at windmills and always, always encouraging such behaviour. I could not have asked for better people in my life on this journey. It has been a rare privilege to have had the supervisors I have had, and I would like to thank Lilie Chouliaraki and Wendy Willems for their patience and wisdom as they patiently and gently guided me in this project. Lilie has been a model of sympathetic, thoughtful and en- gaged enquiry, encouraging me to constantly think harder about the arguments I wanted to make, and the limits of what I could do - this project is much richer as a result. Wendy’s detailed feedback and willingness to introduce me to the world of research on journalism by African academics was both fundamental to the shape this thesis ultimately took, and felt like the bridge to home that I hadn’t realised I was looking for. As the world teetered from what felt like one disruption to another over the last four years, I could not have asked for better, more dedicated supervisors. Thanks are also owed to the cohort of PhD students at the LSE’s Media and Communications department that I was fortunate enough to be a part of. In amidst stories of PhDs being lonely and unhappy experiences, we somehow managed to create a community that made this work a shared endeavour. Thank you in particular to the writing group, Kat, Zoe and Kate for the company in the final weeks of writing, when everything seemed so impossibly far away. So too to Smithy, my elderly feline companion and reliable co-pilot each day I sat at the computer. Finally, thank you to all the journalists who graciously and generously let me be an interloper on their world. I am grateful that you trusted me with your time and your views, despite the obvious dangers that this often meant. You deserve better days ahead. CONTENTS 1 Introduction9 1.1 Contribution to knowledge . 10 1.1.1 Exploring practices of journalism in and of conflict . 11 1.1.2 Developing work on foreign correspondents . 11 1.1.3 Affect and the work of the journalist . 12 1.1.4 Distant suffering and bearing witness . 12 1.2 The structure of this thesis . 13 2 The Practices of Conflict Reporting 15 2.1 Journalists as witnesses . 16 2.2 Changes in foreign reporting . 17 2.2.1 Critiquing the straightforward account . 19 2.3 Practicing journalism in ‘AidLand’ . 22 2.4 Journalistic identity . 24 2.5 A moral economy of conflict journalism . 25 2.6 Embodied Journalism . 27 2.7 Complicating figure of the conflict journalist . 29 3 Methodology 31 3.1 Research Questions . 32 3.1.1 How are journalists’ practices enabled and constrained in the context of South Sudan? . 32 3.1.2 What normative tensions arise during practice? . 32 3.2 The case of South Sudan . 33 3.2.1 Motivation for South Sudan as a case study . 33 5 CONTENTS 6 3.3 Method ..................................... 36 3.3.1 Data collection . 36 3.3.2 Data analysis . 42 3.4 Risk management . 44 3.5 Ethics . 45 4 Context 48 4.1 Notes on the ontology of social life in conflict . 50 4.2 The geography of Juba . 50 4.2.1 Logali House . 52 4.2.2 The United Nations Mission in South Sudan . 55 4.2.3 Media organisations . 58 4.3 The bureaucracy of reporting in South Sudan . 62 4.3.1 The Media Authority . 63 4.3.2 The National Security Service . 67 4.3.3 Getting accredited to enter the country as a foreign journalist . 70 4.4 Conclusion . 74 5 Risk and the work of journalists 75 5.1 Keeping safe . 76 5.2 Safety as a practice . 81 5.3 Coping with insecurity . 82 5.4 Conclusion . 102 6 Bodies and Feelings 105 6.1 The case for thinking about bodies, affects and emotions . 106 6.1.1 Chapter structure . 107 6.2 Exhaustion . 108 6.2.1 Coping with Exhaustion . 111 CONTENTS 7 6.3 Emotions . 115 6.3.1 Moral norms and professional practice . 117 6.4 Fitting in . 118 6.4.1 The implications of fitting in . 120 6.5 Embodied Knowledge/Fast Action . 121 6.5.1 Pedagogical contexts . 122 6.6 Conclusion . 125 7 Conflicted witnessing 127 7.1 The manifestation of the humanitarian imaginary . 128 7.2 The journalist as witness . 132 7.2.1 The normative obligations of the witness . 133 7.3 Imaginary tensions as practical tensions . 138 7.3.1 Mediator and spectator-as-denouncer . 139 7.3.2 Mediator and spectator-as-actor . 141 7.3.3 Imaginary roles, material incentives . 142 7.4 Conclusion . 144 8 Conclusion 145 8.1 Findings . 146 8.1.1 RQ1: How are journalists’ practices enabled and constrained in the context of South Sudan? . 146 8.1.2 RQ2: What normative tensions arise during practice? . 148 8.2 Implications for theory . 149 8.2.1 Risk and the journalist . 150 8.2.2 Bodies and the affective work of journalism . 151 8.2.3 The humanitarian journalistic imaginary . 151 8.3 Reflection on strengths and weaknesses . 152 8.3.1 How the methods took shape in practice . 152 CONTENTS 8 8.3.2 A note on generalisability beyond the South Sudanese case . 155 8.3.3 Issues for further research . 156 8.4 In conclusion . 157 Appendices 168 A Interview schedule 169 B Sample information sheet and consent form 172 C Interview topic guide 176 C.1 Introductory questions . 177 C.2 Constraints . 177 C.3 Ethics . 178 C.4 Closing questions . 178 D Additional photographs from fieldwork 180 1 INTRODUCTION For a generation that came of age in the 1990s, Kevin Carter’s image of a vulture and a girl1 was emblematic of a form of journalism of a particularly moral kind - a practice which nav- igated danger and difficulty to produce accounts of others’ suffering that we as privileged spectators ought to see and respond to.