Transcending the Protest Paradigm: Rearticulating Journalism and Activism During Political Upheaval

Abstract

Based on interviews with 23 Guatemalan journalists and activists and using the 2015 nationwide protests in Guatemala as a case study, we use articulation to understand the discursive construction of journalism and activism. We explore how journalists and activists temporarily united under a shared Guatemalan identity, creating contingent alignments that disrupted traditional power hierarchies and highlighting how professional norms, political dynamics, and social identities intersected to redefine roles and move beyond delegitimizing protest coverage patterns. By examining context, social actors, content, contingencies, and constraints, this study adds to scholarship on protest coverage in the Global South, contributing to theoretical and practical understandings of how journalism and activism intersect, particularly in politically charged environments, and how these intersections can challenge or reinforce existing journalistic norms and narratives.