Boycotting in journalism: how journalists quietly protest in an authoritarian country

Abstract

A plethora of studies about boycotting exist in political science, marketing, business, and other areas of scholarship, but this theme has been largely overlooked in journalism. This case study contributes to scholarship on an underexplored aspect of journalism and its relationship with politics and public affairs by examining journalists’ boycotting behavior in a Central Asian context, focusing on Kazakhstan. This study uses interviews with journalists and editors to examine their boycotting behavior. The findings suggest that journalists and their news outlets in this politically constrained environment employ somewhat hidden, non-confrontational, or unannounced tactics to boycott certain news sources, events, and political decisions even when they consider boycotting ineffective. Accumulated professional tensions in an economically restricted and authoritarian context lead to such forms of resistance and protest, including boycotting. Financially independent journalists are more likely to boycott certain news sources, boycott the dissemination of certain language and information, challenge authorities, and protest or show resistance; their less financially secure counterparts are more reluctant to challenge external forces affecting their own professional practices. This study discusses the findings in relation to Bourdieu’s field theory.

Keywords:

• News media
• boycott
• conflicts
• Central Asia
• journalism
• Kazakhstan
• Bourdieu’s field theory

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all who participated in this study for their contributions to this research. The authors would like to thank Dr. Tim Vos (Michigan State University), Professor Patrick Schmiedt (Citrus College, USA) and Dr. Michael R. Brown (The University of Wyoming) for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bahtiyar Kurambayev

Bahtiyar Kurambayev, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Mass Communications at Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST) in Kuwait. He earned his doctorate in mass communications at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was named Top Graduate Student Teacher. His major research interests include international journalism ethics and practices with a focus on post-Soviet Central Asia. E-mail: [email protected]

Karlyga Myssayeva

Karlyga Myssayeva, PhD, is an associate professor in the Journalism Department at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan and currently a Visiting Scholar at George Washington University. She holds a PhD in Journalism from al-Farabi Kazakh National University. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Ohio University, a Research Scholar at Oklahoma State University, and a post-doctorate program (IFEAC) scholar at Strasbourg University in France. Her research interests focus on New media and Social media development in Central Asia. Email: [email protected]

Eric Freedman

Eric Freedman, JD, is a professor of Journalism and Knight Chair in Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, US. He is a former Fulbright Scholar in Uzbekistan, Lithuania, and the Republic of Georgia, and has been a guest lecturer and professional journalism trainer in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. His books include Critical Perspectives on Journalistic Beliefs and Actions: Global Experiences (Routledge), Environmental Crises in Central Asia: From Steppes to Seas, from Deserts to Glaciers (Routledge), and After the Czars and Commissars: Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia (Michigan State University Press). Email: [email protected]