Examining the Figure of the Digital Freelancer in the Global “War on Terror”

• In Event: Marginality, Vulnerability, and Protest in Journalism and Media Practices

Abstract

This article examines the challenges faced by two freelance war reporters covering the "war on terror," looking first at Kevin Sites' controversy in Iraq and then at Paul Wendle's nearly fatal experience in Afghanistan. The freelance correspondent’s role in the transnational production of political knowledge needs more scrutiny from critical communication scholars, not only because of this figure’s status as a socially-inscribed media producer, but also because of the freelancer’s potential circulation as a discursive figure—one that reinforces or troubles the transnational public’s understanding of war. Freelance reporters are not staff employees, and thus their journalistic authority can either be bolstered or disavowed by the organizations that selectively invoke or erase their involvement in the process of reporting on transnational conflict. Because they increasingly work across media platforms and without large crews, the freelancers of the 21st century are lucrative replacements for staff correspondents, especially since news organizations can opt out of paying for their insurance or safety training. Yet, freelancers can also be abused and discarded as soon as they begin to trouble accepted notions of journalistic authority—authority that is both a discursive and a political-economic construction.

Author

• Lindsay Palmer, UW Madison