The hidden toll and mnemonic cost of crisis reporting: Journalists’ memory, identity, ethnicity and geographic proximity

This article interrogates how identity, memory, and proximity shape journalists’ reporting on the ongoing secessionist crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, as well as Southeastern Nigeria, where reporting on contemporary Biafra issues is shaped by the memory of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 Anglophone Cameroonian journalists and 10 journalists from Southeastern Nigeria, we note that ethnic/linguistic identities and geographic proximity influence crisis reporting. English-speaking journalists in Cameroon find that their proximity to the Anglophone crisis is a double-edged sword, enabling them to amplify community voices and advocate for equality with on-the-ground details and background knowledge, but also exposing them to threats of violence and censorship. Southeastern Nigerian journalists, who possess sufficient knowledge of the Biafran War, bring personal memory and historical consciousness into their reporting of present-day crises. This article also highlights the advantage of geographic distance in sustaining journalists’ drive to report on crisis-related events. By situating memory, identity, and geographic proximity as both strengths and constraints, this article underscores the tension between expected standards of journalistic neutrality and the enticement to advocacy when issues being reported are directly or indirectly linked to journalists.