Safety of Journalists CFOM Sheffield

The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield (UK) is an interdisciplinary research centre with global outreach on issues of media freedom, journalism safety, editorial standards and impunity. During the 2022 Academic Consultation on the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, CFOM conducted a literature stocktake to scope out academic literature published in the area of media freedom, journalism safety and impunity. CFOM collated this information and produced a literature database organised by themes or countries for accessibility. The collection is especially strong on country- and region-specific safety issues and on surveys of emotional wellbeing of journalists. This special collection is curated by gemma.horton@sheffield.ac.uk.

Filter

1011

Sort by:

Direction:

Download (16)

Proteção dos jornalistas: Segurança e justiça na América Latina e no Caribe

Rosental Alves (coord.)

Knight Center (2022), 101 pp.

"Neste livro, propomo-nos a percorrer essas tentativas, realizadas em diferentes frentes: redações, grupos de jornalistas, associações de mídia, governos ou promotores. E são os próprios jornalistas que contam como foram essas experiências. Este livro é produto de uma série de reportagens ... more

Download (18)

External Interference in a Hybrid Media Environment

Ilmari Hiltunen

Journalism Practice, volume 16, issue 10 (2022), pp. 2106-2124

"Contemporary journalists face a multitude of external pressures and threats, ranging from political and commercial interference to online harassment and increasing anti-press hostility. This empirical article examines how the hybridization of the media environment is reflected in journalists’ exp ... more

External Link (88)

Improving Monitoring for Crimes Against Journalists: Report on Monitoring Workshop

Manizja Aziz, Leon Willems

Free Press Unlimited (2022), 10 pp.

"This report is part of a UNESCO-financed project entitled “Improving monitoring for crimes against journalists”, which fits into the framework of the wider SDG 2030 Agenda. The first pillar of this project was a survey and in-depth interviews with civil society organisations involved in monitor ... more

External Link (85)

Killing with Impunity: Vast Majority of Journalists’ Murderers Go Free. 2022 Global Impunity Index

Jennifer Dunham

New York: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (2022), 5 pp.

"The 2022 Global Impunity Index found that no one has been held to account for nearly 80% of 263 journalist murders over the past 10 years worldwide. CPJ seeks justice for these slain journalists, including full and timely investigations and the convictions of those who carry out and order the murde ... more

Download (30)

The Pen and the Camera Are Not Enemies: Neither Are Uniforms

Eduardo Bertoni

Paris: UNESCO (2022), 27 pp.

"The relationship between journalists and the security forces shows, almost universally, permanent tension. This document explains […] the reasons why both the press and the exercise of journalism, on the one hand, and the existence of the security forces and their action respecting human rights, ... more

External Link (81)

Google Scholar (76)

WorldCat (82)

Shifting Cyberfeminism and Gendered Activisms in the Gulf: A Saudi Feminist Spring?

Sahar Khamis

Journal of Arabian Studies, volume 12, issue 1 (2022), pp. 1-23

"This qualitative feminist study sheds light on women’s shifting identities, struggles, and resistances in the most conservative Gulf state, Saudi Arabia, unpacking the shifting socio-political and mediated environments in this country and their impact on gendered activism. Through conducting in-d ... more

Download (18)

A Thematic Consultation on the Safety of Journalists in a Digital Age: Challenges and Solutions. 10th Anniversary of the UN Plan of Actions on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity

UNESCO (2022), 17 pp.

"This consultation on the safety of journalists in the digital age focused on developing risk assessment frameworks and enhancing transparency of online platforms. The consultation took place in a hybrid format on 13 September 2022, virtually and in Copenhagen, Denmark. Online disinformation, hate s ... more

External Link (81)

Global Case-law on Violence Against Journalists

New York: Columbia University, Global Freedom of Expression (2022), 46 pp.

Download (29)

A Guide to Protecting Newsrooms and Journalists Against Online Violence

Ela Stapley

International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) (2022), 45 pp.

"This guide is designed for newsroom management who want to create and implement online abuse policies to better protect their staff. The guide will: help you think through which policies are best suited to your newsroom; provide you with stand-alone policy templates you can adapt to the needs of yo ... more

External Link (86)

Google Scholar (83)

WorldCat (79)

UNESCO’s Judges’ Initiative: Training the Custodians of the Legal System on Freedom of Expression, Access to Information and the Safety of Journalists

Guilherme Canela, Namara Burki, Samrita Menon

Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online, volume 25, issue 1 (2022), pp. 54-76

"Human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Within the framework of international human rights law, the right to freedom of expression particularly stands out, as it constitutes a pre-requisite for the fulfilment of other fundamental rights. In this regard, ... more

Download (27)

National Human Rights Institutions and Journalist Safety

Binod Bhattarai

Copenhagen: International Media Support (IMS) (2022), 98 pp.

"This report explores the role of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in South and Southeast Asia – Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan – and how their engagement in supporting national protection mechanisms for journalists can contribute to upholding their mandate of promoting ... human rights for all. Indonesia has an estimated 100,000 journalists in a population of over 271 million people. Its geography represents a challenge for monitoring violations of press freedom and the safety of journalists. In Indonesia, journalists’ and civil society groups have begun to support vulnerable journalists and to collaborate on setting up a national safety mechanism for them. Such a mechanism could involve existing organisations of journalists, the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia, the Press Council and other state agencies. Preliminary consultations are assessing which institutions might anchor such a mechanism and whether the existing legal framework is appropriate or adequate. Nepal saw a rise in the persecution and assassinations of journalists during the Maoist government conflict (1996-2006) and the long transition to a new constitution (2006-2015). Some perpetrators were prosecuted successfully, but many cases remain open. Nepal was one of the first countries whose NHRI considered the establishment of a mechanism for journalists’ safety. The Nepal National Human Rights Commission and the Federation of Nepali Journalists began working towards this in 2012, and their efforts culminated in 2019 when the Nepal National Human Rights Commission approved a directive to establish a multi-stakeholder mechanism for upholding the freedom of expression of all citizens, including journalists. Pakistan has one of the world’s highest rates of impunity for crimes against journalists, despite the formidable efforts of journalists’ and civil society groups. For example, out of over 140 journalist deaths, only three perpetrators have been prosecuted and all three verdicts were overturned on appeal. However, change could be in the air: Pakistan enacted a new national law in 2021 – based on one adopted earlier by a provincial government – to protect journalists’ safety. While this legislation is welcome, those laws do not include a role for the Pakistan National Commission of Human Rights and thus could be more robust, according to journalists’ and civil society groups. The Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, but the government has begun working with its NHRI on a multi-stakeholder mechanism to protect them. Since 1986, 234 journalists and media professionals in the Philippines have been killed, including 19 after President Rodrigo Duterte took charge of the administration in October 2016. According to media and civil society groups, state agencies have allegedly been involved in 114 attacks and threats against journalists and civil society advocates who had first been “red-tagged” by the authorities for their supposed links with armed communist insurgents and/or “terrorism”. In July 2018, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) adopted a resolution to form a taskforce with a mandate to monitor and investigate media-related extrajudicial killings. This led to more collaboration between the CHR, media and civil society groups. As a result, the Philippine Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists was launched in November 2019, as part of a threeyear European Union project that seeks to establish a national multi-stakeholder mechanism for the safety of journalists." (Executive summary, pages 9-10) more

External Link (79)

Google Scholar (70)

WorldCat (69)

Reporting the Covid-19 Pandemic: Trauma on Our Own Doorstep

Stephen Jukes, Karen Fowler-Watt, Gavin Rees

Digital Journalism, volume 10, issue 6 (2022), pp. 997-1014

"The political and media rhetoric of the pandemic is that of conflict and a call to arms in face of a hidden enemy. But this is not a distant war where journalists are parachuted in to report on the action for a few weeks and then fly home. It is on our own doorstep. Many of those covering the globa ... more

External Link (94)

Google Scholar (76)

WorldCat (86)

Sedition and Freedom of Expression for Journalists in Botswana: A Comment on Mokone v Attorney General and Others

Badala Tachilisa Balule

Journal of African Law, volume 66, issue 2 (2022), pp. 355-366

"Journalists play an important role in promoting and facilitating the right to freedom of expression. To promote and facilitate freedom of expression effectively, they should be free to perform their duties without fear of reprisals, intimidation or harassment. Journalists should carry out their dut ... more

Download (16)

Outcomes of the Regional and Thematic Consultations to Mark the 10th Anniversary of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity

UNESCO (2022), 21 pp.

"This report produced by UNESCOs shows an assessment of the achievements and best practices derived from the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity over the last decade. It also offers recommendations to combat emerging challenges going forward.” (commbox)

External Link (69)

Security Considerations When Engaging Sensitive Sources

Lukasz Król, Harlo Holmes

Internews (2022), 5 pp.

"These recommendations are targeted towards individuals working with sensitive sources on high-level projects that uncover government or corporate misdeeds. We have drafted a few additional steps you should keep in mind if you will be communicating with sensitive sources. Following the below steps w ... more

External Link (58)

Google Scholar (50)

WorldCat (58)

Working Under the “Sword of Damocles”: Experiences of Journalists in a Hybrid Regime

Ali Riaz, Fahmida Zaman

In: Masks of Authoritarianism

Arild Engelsen Ruud, Mubashar Hasan (eds.)

Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan (2022), pp. 37-55

"In the past decade, Bangladesh has witnessed severe erosion of democratic practices and weakening of democratic institutions. Incumbent has demonstrated its penchant for executive aggrandizement. These have transformed Bangladesh into a hybrid regime, which is marked with various characteristics in ... more

External Link (77)

Media Environment and Safety of Journalists During the Crisis in Georgia: Threats and Supportive Instruments

Mariam Gersamia, Maia Toradze

Environment and Society, volume 5, issue 5 (2022), 1 pp.

"Viable, free media is a crucial component of democratic progress in Georgia. Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and gaining independence, the safety of journalists while carrying out professional duties continues to be one of the critical indicators of progress in the country's med ... ia democracy. This research was triggered by the actualization of the acute and, in some ways, spontaneous media threat that arose during the pre-election period. More specifically, on July 5, 2021, two months before Georgia's local self-government municipal elections, media workers fell victim to a premeditated attack by pro-Russian radical groups during the coverage of demonstrations. As a result, 52 journalists from more than ten media outlets, camera operators, and photographers were assaulted. A TV Pirveli cameraman, Lekso Lashkarava, died a few days later due to severe injuries received during the demonstration. The research aims to distinguish the traits prevalent in the media environment during times of crisis and, even more specifically, during the pre-and post-election periods (particularly during the 2021 local government elections in Georgia). The research also responds to how political polarization and crises affect media and the macro and micro threats they reveal. The study identifies these media threats and assesses the reality of the media environment as seen through journalists' eyes. The research covers topics recommended by UNESCO (Towards a Research agenda on the safety of journalists) and examines seven of those ten recommended issues. A mixed research methodology was chosen for research design, more specifically, a sequential explanatory design. The research was conducted in two phases: the first phase involved the accumulation of quantitative data (through an online survey of 183 respondents from 56 media sources) and analysis, followed which the second phase involved qualitative research (3 focus group discussions). The research answers the questions as follows: How safe do media workers feel when performing their professional duties? What kind of threats have emerged during the 2021 pre-election media environment, and what are the expectations? What are some of the support mechanisms for improving the media environment, and what needs to be done to create a safer environment for media workers? Macro (4) and micro (6) media threats were identified during the research process. They are analyzed in sub-chapters in greater detail. These threats are interconnected and have their structure and aims. Media threats, which emerged during the discussion, contribute to self-censorship and escalation of fear, media credibility, reduction of support, and destabilizing media institutional viability. Political polarization and polarization between media organizations were identified as major macro media threats. Micro threats that were identified as a result of polarization are: Stigmatization of journalists and media (labeling them as biased towards certain political parties) and attempted smear campaigns; They are disrupting the execution of journalist duties. Among such actions are creating obstacles to providing a balanced narrative and bringing a quality media product to the public, primarily reflected in a premeditated restriction to sources and surveillance to disrupt the work process. One macro threat that emerged from the online survey and focus-group analysis was the incitement of physical and verbal violence towards journalists (this includes hate speech and the use of aggressive rhetoric by the state). These media threats reinforce self-censorship and fear, destabilize media institutions' viability and negatively affect the demonstration of solidarity and support toward media. One identified macro-threats towards journalists was the lack of investigation of crimes committed against journalists and impunity as an encouraging factor. Additionally, we could consider the malign nature of the Russian propaganda and malign influence in general as an additional factor, which serves as a leitmotif for the entire discussion on another macro threat. As a result of this study, recommendations have been put forward for various stakeholders. Implementing these recommendations will help create a supportive media environment, encourage solidarity, and improve coordination between different stakeholders during and after crises. Research conducted is by the Media and Communication Educational and Research Center (Georgia) with support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s South Caucasus Office and the Federal Republic of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office." (Abstract) more

Google Scholar (39)

WorldCat (42)

Periodismo SOS: Del filantrocapitalismo al poder que mata

Aurora Labio-Bernal, Lorena R. Romero-Domínguez

Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide (2022), 232 pp.

"Las autoras desarrollan una investigación para encontrar los orígenes del filantroperiodismo como un nuevo escenario laboral. Al igual que la persecución de los poderes extralegales a los periodistas que cuentan la realidad. Como consecuencia, el libro desarrolla un análisis de la situación de ... more

Download (22)

More than just collateral damage. Ramifications of the pandemic for freedom of the press

Christina Holtz-Bacha

Publizistik, volume 67 (2022), pp. 31–50

"Confronted with a situation that was new to everyone, world leaders sought the best way to contain the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. The measures introduced, with lockdowns and curfews, affected fundamental rights such as freedom of movement and assembly, with implications for freedom of expr ... more

Download (17)

Caught in the Middle: Internal and External Pressures on the Coverage of Organized Crime in Mexico

Elba Díaz-Cerveró, Daniel Barredo-Ibáñez, Rubén Arnoldo González Macías

Sage Open, volume 12, issue April-June (2022), 11 pp.

"With 33 journalists killed since the beginning of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidential term in December 2018, Mexico heads the list of the most violent countries for journalists in Latin America—and that of countries not at war. While journalist organizations demand a meaningful protect ... more