Seemingly contradictory, fiction and war journalism are nevertheless interconnected. Taking various forms and serving different purposes, the intrusion of fiction into reporting – especially in photojournalism – raises questions. The classical concept of journalism is associated with a specific mission and ethics, namely the pursuit of truth, immediacy, and witness. It is important to analyze the metaphorical function of fictional elements within the field of journalism. What realities do they represent? How do they reveal fragments of the reality of war and the reality of information work? In light of contributions from psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and the history of journalism, combined with three public cases of the revelation of fabricated reports and interviews conducted as part of research on psychological and psychopathological issues among journalists in high-risk areas, we will analyze the role and functions of fiction in the journalistic process. From this perspective, the quest for “aura” (Benjamin, 1931) in the realm of information will be discussed, followed by an analysis of the use of fiction when presented as true in doctored and fabricated reports. The aestheticization of violence as fiction and its relationship to reality will then be addressed. Finally, the theme of negative fiction – fiction created by the removal of key elements in a scene – will be studied in an attempt to understand what it reveals about its creator and the individual and collective context in which they operate.