Borderless activist journalism as an alternative journalism model in Turkey

This study conceptualizes borderless activist journalism (BAJ) as a distinct practice that has emerged under authoritarian repression, intensified border regimes, and restricted media freedom in Turkey. Drawing on critical border studies and alternative journalism scholarship, it develops BAJ as an analytical framework for practices operating across physical, ideological, digital, and symbolic borders when institutional journalism is constrained. Methodologically, it adopts a qualitative, multimethod approach that combines in—depth interviews and documentary analysis. Examining the Occupy Gezi movement, revolutionary neighbourhoods, and the Ditches War, this study shows that BAJ is shaped by negotiating borders through embodied mobility and networked communication, reframing journalism as a border—crossing political intervention.