The pandemic has produced forms of disruption to journalism around the world. However, understanding this disruption commonly as synonymous with negative impacts on normal journalism practice misses the observed complexities found in controlled media systems. This article provides a contrasting case of ‘disruption as diversion’ in the pandemic news work of divergent Arab journalists. Journalists surveyed (n = 1443), while negotiating their governments’ pandemic policies and information strategies, discuss the significant role of social media in their developing pandemic news work as divergent Arab journalists. Social media use as a variable practice among Arab journalists prior to the pandemic appears commonly performed by journalists surveyed in all countries and is explained as important to their newsgathering and story production. These observed journalistic work practices, it is argued, illustrate the importance of ‘disruption as divergence’ at this time alongside the added complexities of pandemic news work within controlled media systems.
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College of Social Sci Arts and Humanities
Arts, Media & Communication