Co‐producing fieldwork under fire: collaborating with journalists in S yria and I raq

This commentary discusses the co‐production of fieldwork with journalists in conflict zones. Although this type of collaboration can produce rich and novel datasets on the workings of chaos, security and conflict, it has received very little attention within geography and related disciplines. This commentary therefore focuses on the author's experience of cooperating with journalists in M arch and O ctober 2014 in the K urdish‐held S yrian territories called Rojava (the W est), and in J une 2014 when visiting the K urdish P eshmerga forces at the frontlines with the Islamic S tate (by then still I slamic S tate of Iraq and al S hams) outside M osul and K irkuk, Iraq. Following a brief discussion about the advantages of an academic–journalist co‐production of fieldwork, the commentary lists the practicalities of such collaboration based on the experiences made in the field, including a section on more problematic issues encountered. Given the nature of this kind of fieldwork, which is not without risk, the discussion of personal safety plays a central role in the commentary.