Institutionalised hybridity has consequences that go deeper than the political configuration of the media, which we explored in Chapter 2. It also affects the daily working life for journalists in multiple ways. In this chapter, we step inside the hybrid system and ask what it is like to be a journalist in the grey zone. Our account is based on experiences recounted by Lebanese and Tunisian journalists in interviews we conducted in 2016–19. Like the broader political picture itself, the environment for journalism consists of mixed and ambiguous conditions. On the one hand, most journalists affirm that they have freedom of expression. On the other hand, their ability to use that freedom as they wish is undermined by structural constraints. Speaking about Tunisia, Murad summed up the paradox:

Both countries can look back on a recent past during which restrictions on the freedom of speech were harsh. In Lebanon, the civil war and the ensuing Syrian occupation constrained the exercise of journalism and left journalists vulnerable to attack. Those who went too far, like Samir Qasir and Jubran Tuwayni, paid for it with their lives. According to one senior journalist, Adam, ‘self-censorship ended in 2005 when Syria left. The margin of freedom became a lot better’ (L2, 27 May 2016). Kamal, Adam's junior by some twenty years, confirmed Adam's impression, saying: ‘Freedom of expression is there for sure. I have never experienced someone calling to instruct me what to say or not. If the army, security forces or someone tried to interfere, I could yell at them’ (L8, 27 January 2018). Similarly, in Tunisia, the turning point was the fall of Ben Ali's regime. The editor-in-chief Musa was emphatic about its importance, saying: ‘Tunisians have enjoyed freedom of speech since 14 January 2011. Nobody can control the freedom of speech because Tunisians won't allow it’ (T27, 22 November 2018).