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

1003

Sort by:

Direction:

External Link (23)

"Watch out Because We're Coming for You": Transnational Repression of Iranian Journalists in the UK

Fiona O'Brien

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2024), 27 pp.

External Link (24)

Protection mechanisms in Latin America: How to stregnthen the fragile shield protecting journalists

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2024), 13 pp.

"Ensuring a safe environment for journalists continues to be a major challenge for Latin America’s democracies. At least 338 journalists have been killed in the region since 2000. These deaths have been compounded by waves of harassment, arbitrary arrests and judicial persecution, which have force ... d journalists to flee abroad. Due to this systemic violence, protection mechanisms are urgently needed. These statesector programmes aim to protect individuals who are exposed to risks because of their journalistic work or because they combat corruption, organised crime, and abuses carried out by authorities. These initiatives are often launched in response to pressure from civil society and international organisations. In the past ten years, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras all established such mechanisms. More recently, Ecuador and Peru launched protection initiatives in response to increased attacks. After several administrations that were hostile towards the media, Guatemala is now also trying to implement a protection policy, while draft laws are being discussed in Chile and Paraguay. Despite national differences, these mechanisms are built around common missions: assessing risks, determining appropriate measures and implementing protection plans for those under state protection. The methods used can take various forms, ranging from regular police patrols and emergency communication channels with law enforcement to enhanced protection measures such as bodyguards, armoured vehicles, bulletproof vests, surveillance cameras, and even relocation to safer places in the most serious situations. With support from UNESCO, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has worked to strengthen these mechanisms since 2021. In 2022, RSF published a report entitled “Protection paradigm: making protection mechanisms work for Latin American journalists” on Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras. Now, this report focuses on the initiatives emerging in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Peru. Through this report, RSF reaffirms its commitment — together with civil society and authorities — to establishing concrete responses to the threats against journalists. The number of protection mechanisms are growing, but their efficacy varies considerably and depends on an integrated approach involving various actors in order to prevent violence and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. Many programmes are cruelly lacking in resources and can offer only limited state support, meaning they often fail to react to threats or prosecute attackers." (Foreword, page 3) more

External Link (39)

Google Scholar (35)

WorldCat (32)

Safety, reactions, and organizational support: Estonian journalists' experiences with hostility

Ivask Signe

In: Global Journalism in Comparative Perspective: Case Studies

Dhiman Chattopadhyay (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 40-52

"This chapter concludes multiyear research on journalists’ safety and well-being in Estonia and focuses on summarizing journalist experiences with and reactions to hostility. In addition to categorizing and describing the problems, the chapter also provides insight into what journalists expect fro ... more

Download (3)

Infrastructural platform violence: How women and queer journalists and activists in Lebanon experience abuse on WhatsApp

Martin J. Riedl, Azza El-Masri, Inga K. Trauthig, Samuel C. Woolley

New Media & Society (2024), 20 pp.

"Technology-facilitated abuse and violence disproportionately affect marginalized people. While researchers have explored this issue in the context of public-facing social media platforms, less is known about how it plays out on more private messaging apps. This study draws on in-depth interviews wi ... more

External Link (34)

Google Scholar (28)

WorldCat (29)

Networked misogyny beyond the digital: The violent devaluation of women journalists’ labor and bodies in Turkey’s masculine authoritarian regime

Ergin Bulut, Basak Can

Feminist Media Studies, volume 24, issue 4 (2024), pp. 675-694

"Following the conservative Turkish government’s political-economic capture of the news media, educated and pro-feminist women journalists have migrated online. Despite having more publicity across platforms, they face immediate prosecution based on the tweet of an anonymous troll, an informant ci ... more

Download (5)

Shattered lives, unbroken stories: Journalists’ perspectives from the frontlines of the Israel–Gaza war

Shahira S. Fahmy, Mohamed Salama, Mona Raafat Alsaba

Online Media and Global Communication, volume 3, issue 2 (2024), pp. 151-180

"This study sheds light on the unprecedented complexities of the Israel–Gaza war, offering insights into the challenges that journalists face in this conflict zone. It employs the Hierarchy of Influences Model to analyze the factors influencing conflict reporting within the dynamic landscape of co ... more

External Link (30)

Google Scholar (31)

WorldCat (30)

Predictors of psychological distress in frontline journalists: Common denominators across three decades of conflicts

Jonas Anthony Osmann Feinstein

Traumatology, volume 30, issue 3 (2024), pp. 306-313

"Objective: To determine risk factors for symptoms of PTSD and depression in frontline journalists that traverse type of conflict, degree of exposure to stressors, language, and culture. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1,103 frontline journalists from 12 datasets (Balkans, 9/11 attacks, Iraq, M ... more

External Link (39)

Google Scholar (29)

WorldCat (27)

Who Teaches About Hostility? Examining Factors for Inclusion in Journalism Curriculum

Kelsey R. Mesmer, Kaitlin C. Miller

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, volume 79, issue 2 (2024), pp. 205-223

"Journalistic well-being is garnering increasing attention from scholars globally. Nevertheless, minimal research has explored how colleges and universities are teaching about such topics, especially as they pertain to hostility toward the press, which is on the rise. Utilizing a survey of journalis ... more

External Link (36)

Google Scholar (30)

WorldCat (32)

Threats to press freedom and journalists' safety: A comparative study of Greece, Slovakia, and Spain

Mária Žuffová, Lambrini Papadopoulou, Jaume Suau Martinez

In: Media Pluralism in the Digital Era

Elda Brogi, Iva Nenadic, Pier Luigi Parcu (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 49-63

"Free journalism is indispensable for monitoring the actions of political representation, holding it accountable, exposing the misuse of power, and defending public interests. Fulfilling these roles assumes that journalists can do their job and pursue public-interest stories to the best of their abi ... more

External Link (43)

Google Scholar (28)

WorldCat (23)

Mental Health and Wellbeing for Journalists: A Practical Guide
Top Insights

Hannah Storm

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xiv, 185 pp.

"This book offers a first-of-its-kind practical, person-centred guide to managing and contextualising journalists’ emotional wellbeing and mental health. Drawing on the author’s experience as a storyteller, journalist, and media safety consultant, this book combines significant lived personal ex ... more

External Link (31)

Google Scholar (31)

WorldCat (29)

Safety of journalists: The symbolic violence and double burden of marginalized journalists

Sandra Banjac

In: The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies

Scott A. II Eldridge, David Cheruiyot, Sandra Banjac, Joëlle Swart (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), 10 pp.

"Journalists have always worked amidst risks to their safety; risks that have become all the more exacerbated in the digital age. Scholarship has documented journalists confronting cyberattacks, various forms of harassment, verbal abuse and hate speech, as well as legal threats from a variety of act ... more

Download (2)

“Voices from the Island”: Informational annexation of Crimea and transformations of journalistic practices

Ksenia Ermoshina

Journalism, volume 25, issue 3 (2024), pp. 528–546

"After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, the peninsula experienced a progressive transition of telecommunication and broadcasting infrastructure under Russian influence, followed by a wave of repression of Ukrainian media. Between 2014 and 2015, dozens of Ukrainian media organization ... more

Download (4)

Watching the watchdogs: Spyware surveillance of journalists in Europe and the ongoing fight for accountability

Jamie Wiseman, Szabolcs Panyi, Konstantina Maltepioti, Thodoris Chondrogiannos

Potsdam; Vienna: Friedrich Naumann Foundation; International Press Institute (IPI) (2024), 18 pp.

"The surveillance of journalists, including using spyware technology, poses a fundamental threat to media freedom, the digital safety of journalists, and source protection within the European Union. The agreement on the European Media Freedom Act in December 2023 offers some further protections agai ... more

Download (3)

Media freedom and journalist safety in the UK Online Safety Act

Ricki-Lee Gerbrandt

Journal of Media Law, volume 15, issue 2 (2024), pp. 179-212

"In the digital era, journalists are targeted with online abuse including serious threats of violence. These censorship tactics are a direct threat to media freedom. Although the UK Government intended to tackle online abuse of journalists in the Online Safety Act 2023, provisions fit for that purpo ... more

External Link (30)

Google Scholar (31)

WorldCat (28)

Emergent Forms and Patterns of Online Harassment of Women Journalists in African countries

Blessing Makwambeni, Patricia Rudo Makwambeni

In: Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga, Sadia Jamil (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 49-66

"The internet and digital platforms have contributed to the democratisation of the public sphere. A number of studies have shown how the internet and new digital platforms have brought subaltern voices into the mainstream. However, recent studies show that on the flip side, the cybersphere also prom ... more

External Link (37)

Google Scholar (32)

WorldCat (37)

Monitoring journalism safety

Manizja Aziz, Leon Willems

In: The Routledge Handbook of Conflict and Peace Communication

Stacey L. Connaughton, Stefanie Pukallus (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), 10 pp.

"This chapter discusses the monitoring of violations of the right to life and safety of journalists. The safety of journalists is a prerequisite for the provision of access to reliable information to the public, but journalists worldwide face risks as a result of their work. Monitoring violations he ... more

External Link (33)

Google Scholar (28)

WorldCat (29)

Harassment and Threats Faced by Journalists in Kenya: Implications for Press Freedom and Independent Reporting

Job Mwaura, Meghan Sobel Cohen

In: Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga, Sadia Jamil (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 141-157

"The freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy and a critical component of a functioning society. In Kenya, like many other countries, journalists face a myriad of challenges when reporting on sensitive issues, including corruption and government wrongdoing. These challenges include physica ... more

External Link (33)

Google Scholar (34)

WorldCat (30)

Gendered Threats and Attacks in and outside the Newsroom: Nigerian Female Journalists' Experiences with Harassment

Moyosore Omowonuola Alade

In: Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga, Sadia Jamil (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 67-87

"This chapter explores Nigerian female journalists’ lived experiences with harassment in and outside the newsroom. Using a qualitative approach, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with female journalists in broadcast media houses in Nigeria, and themes that emerged from the data obtained via in ... more

External Link (38)

Google Scholar (34)

WorldCat (30)

“There Were No Repercussions, Nothing, Life Continued”: Experiences of Harassment by Female Journalists

Shepherd Mpofu, Trust Matsilele, Trevor Hlungwani

In: Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga, Sadia Jamil (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 15-27

"The chapter explores the challenges associated with harassment for entry-level to mid-career journalists across South Africa’s hybrid media platforms. The study employed a qualitative methodology consisting of semi-structured interviews with 12 entry-level and mid-career journalists with industry ... more

Download (5)

Press Freedom in the Time of COVID-19: The Philippine Experience Under the Duterte Administration

Candace Noreen Bagalawis, Rose Marie Villanueva, Jovito Jose Katigbak

Advances in Southeast Asian Studies (ASEAS), volume 17, issue 1 (2024), pp. 63-84

"The media plays an important role in disseminating vital information and being ‘watchdogs’ of government misconduct. Press freedom is constitutionally guaranteed in the Philippines, but the space for journalists and media companies continues to shrink. This is because constant attempts have bee ... more

Mental Health and Wellbeing for Journalists: A Practical Guide Top Insights

Mental Health and Wellbeing for Journalists: A Practical Guide
Top Insights