The Fixers

Alan Philps, Chatham House, UK, International Affairs The book is not a collection of reporters' bar-room 'WIWIs' (when I was i...). It is an attempt to define the complex nature of a little-understood feature of the media. The book is divided into five sections: conceptualising the story, logistics, networking with sources, interpreting unfamiliar languages and safeguarding the journalist.

Mel Bunce, Reader in Journalism and Director of the Humanitarian News Research Network, City, University of London The Fixers makes a major contribution to research about the international news. With rich data and sharp analysis, it dissects the often-hidden role of 'fixers' who work behind the scenes to make the news possible. Palmer shows the significance of fixers not just as news producers and cultural mediatorsbut also as an illuminating topic for research. Studying news production from their perspective teaches us a great deal about the global news system itself.

Shakuntala Rao, author of Media Ethics and Justice in the Age of Globalization Lindsay Palmer's book is unique and intriguing because it studies an area hardly understood by journalism and media scholars: perspectives from news 'fixers,' or those who do important support work for international journalists. The book is contemplative and nuanced in presenting fascinating stories about the fixers and how they influence global news on a daily basis. I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in understanding global journalism practices.

Lindsay Palmer is Assistant Professor of Global Media in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studies the labor of international reporting from a qualitative, critical perspective. Before her career in academia, she worked as a television news producer.