In an age of rapid information exchange, digital journalism has become both a powerful force for truth but also a space where disinformation thrives. Humanitarian crises, particularly those involving refugees, have come to exemplify this tension.
While digital tools allow for unprecedented access to first-hand testimonies, they also amplify false narratives, political propaganda, and harmful stereotypes. Irish freelance journalist Sally Hayden’s book My Fourth Time, We Drowned emerges as a critical example of the potential and responsibility of digital journalism to bear witness to the hidden realities of the refugee crisis while pushing back against misinformation and systemic neglect.
Your phone is your lifeline
Sally Hayden’s reporting demonstrates how digital platforms have transformed the way journalists uncover and amplify humanitarian crises. In My Fourth Time, We Drowned, much of her groundbreaking work begins with a single Facebook message in 2018. An Eritrean man, imprisoned in Libya, contacted Hayden, asking for help. At the time, she did not realize she would soon, as she puts it, ‘inadvertently stumble across a human rights disaster of epic proportions.’ Through further communication, she learned that around 6,000 people were being held in migrant detention centers in Libya, many of whom had been caught attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe and were now being abused by their captors.
Messages she received were harrowing. One read: “There’s no food, no water. The children are crying. We are suffering, especially the children.” These messages highlight the desperate realities of life in detention centers, where refugees face conditions that violate their basic human rights. The book reveals that these individuals had been intercepted by the Libyan coastguard – a force trained and equipped by the European Union. According to Hayden: “This allowed the EU to circumnavigate international law, which says people cannot be returned to countries where their lives are in danger.”
Hayden’s use of digital tools underscores a broader shift in humanitarian journalism: the move from relying on institutional spokespeople to prioritizing personal testimonies. In doing so, she challenges traditional narratives shaped by governments, NGOs, and mainstream media. Her reporting gives voice to those often marginalized in global conversations, reclaiming their agency and humanity.
Who do we trust?
Despite the transformative potential of digital journalism, the information ecosystem surrounding refugees is fraught with disinformation and propaganda. As Tony Roberts and George Hamandishe Karekwaivanane point out, “In recent years the rapid expansion in the ownership of mobile phones and the falling cost of mobile internet has meant that social media including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter have become more popular mediums for disseminating disinformation.” This dynamic raises an important question: how can journalists verify claims made through digital communication?
For Hayden, this was a challenge she took seriously. As a journalist based in London, geographically distant from Libya, she understood the inherent risks of disinformation. Yet, as she explains, she found “many ways to confirm what I was told,” including multiple direct migrant sources and a network of contacts among local and international aid workers. Interestingly, her geographical distance became an asset: “My geographical distance from Libya was exactly the reason refugees trusted me to do this,” she explains. Her impartiality and inability to intervene directly offered a measure of safety to those reaching out.
Ethical storytelling and the ‘digital savior’ complex
One critical strength of Hayden’s work is her ethical approach to storytelling. In contrast to sensationalist portrayals often seen in mainstream media, Hayden prioritizes the dignity and agency of those she reports on. She avoids reducing refugees to passive victims or abstract figures and instead amplifies their frustrations, resilience, and humanity. Digital journalism, when practiced ethically, has the capacity to humanize crises that are otherwise presented as distant or abstract.
However, it’s a tough position to be in as a journalist, hearing of people in danger and suffering human rights abuses ‘without any ability to intervene’. Hayden addresses this ethical dilemma directly, explaining her limitations as a journalist: “The first thing I always say to people who contact me is that I cannot help them directly. I am just a journalist, I don’t have the power to do anything except report.”
This dilemma is reflective of a broader tension in digital humanitarianism. Bhakti Shringarpure, in the essay “Africa and the Digital Savior Complex,” writes: “Digital humanitarianism indeed presents new visions and new approaches to ameliorate humanitarian work but it also reinforces the divide between those doing work on the ground and those who choose to contribute, help, save while being far from the reality of the events.” The digital, Shringarpure argues, has become “a vital component of doing humanitarian work,” but it also highlights the limits of digital proximity to real-world crises.
The role of digital in amplifying truth
Hayden’s work underscores the importance of independent, investigative journalism that resists these pressures. Unlike clickbait-driven news cycles, her reporting is slow, meticulous, and deeply embedded in the experiences of those she covers. This approach offers a counter-narrative to the quick, reactionary content that dominates digital spaces. It also serves as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of digital journalism when it is practiced with integrity, empathy, and courage. As Hayden reminds us in her book: “Refugees are humans too.”
References:
Hayden, Sally (2022). My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route. London: HarperCollins.
Roberts, Tony; Karekwaivanane, George Hamandishe (eds.) (2024): Digital Disinformation in Africa-Hashtag Politics, Power and Propaganda. 1-24.
Shringarpure, Bhakti (2020): Africa and the Digital Savior Complex, Journal of African Cultural Studies, 32(2), 178-194.