Naziha Réjiba, 2009

“I am neither a hero nor a victim, but a journalist who wishes to work under normal conditions.”

Tunisian editor Naziha Réjiba, also known as Um Ziad, used these words in her prepared remarks for the 2009 International Press Freedom Awards. She co-founded the independent online journal Kalima after authorities denied it permission to publish in print. The site was blocked inside Tunisia, while Réjiba faced surveillance, monitored telephone calls, police questioning, threats, and a fabricated smear campaign involving her family. Her sentence refuses the idea that reporting under repression should require either martyrdom or heroic mythology. Journalism should be lawful, sustainable work protected by ordinary institutions.

Calling a reporter a hero can honor courage, but it can also hide failures that made exceptional risk seem inevitable. Newsrooms should treat safety as an organizational responsibility: document threats, establish check-ins, provide secure devices, fund legal counsel, plan temporary relocation, and give employees authority to pause an assignment. Editors should not reward avoidable exposure or assume that commitment is measured by suffering. Contracts, insurance, trauma care, and paid recovery time matter because independent reporting cannot rely indefinitely on personal sacrifice.

Réjiba’s experience also shows how repression can target reputation rather than only publication. When authorities or aligned media circulate fabricated intimate material, responsible coverage should verify provenance, avoid reproducing degrading imagery, and focus on the actors, methods, and public purpose of the attack. Journalists must distinguish evidence of a coordinated campaign from ordinary criticism. Digital specialists can preserve forensic records, document account intrusions, and trace distribution patterns without amplifying the false content. Family members should be consulted about identification because they may face consequences despite having no role in the reporting.

Normal working conditions require more than the absence of arrest. They include access to records, permission to publish, secure communications, fair courts, open distribution, and the ability to investigate officials without economic or personal retaliation. When a site is blocked or hacked, mirrored hosting, distributed archives, multiple administrators, and verified alternative channels can keep reporting available. International partners can provide technical support and broader reach while leaving editorial authority with the local newsroom. The quote remains relevant because audiences often celebrate resilience after institutions have failed to prevent abuse. Admiration should lead to practical standards and measurable support. News organizations can publish safety policies, disclose attacks on their operations, correct false narratives with evidence, and track whether investigations produce consequences. Governments and professional bodies should be judged by whether journalists can perform routine tasks without surveillance or coercion. Réjiba’s formulation restores the proper baseline: asking questions, publishing verified information, and criticizing power are not exceptional acts. The exceptional condition is a system that turns ordinary journalism into a test of survival.