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.

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"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
"Since 2017, 518 journalists have been attacked while covering protests (U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, 2021) which is one of the most dangerous places to be as a journalist in the United States (Sterne & Peters, 2017). Despite the volatile climate around journalists as they cover increasingly dangerou ... more
"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
"This chapter addresses the issue of harassment in the media space in Mozambique. In fact, the issue of harassment of women in the media is a complex and multifaceted problem that can manifest in many ways. One aspect of this issue is the representation of women in media. Women are often objectified ... more
"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
"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
"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
"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
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increased challenge for journalists and media professionals worldwide. However, there is a lack of information on these adversities in many developing countries, including Bangladesh. Our study aims to explore these challenges and risks associated with journalism ... more
"This research article presents an examination of the findings and recommendations drawn from a series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with senior journalists. The main aim was to develop a strategy to safeguard the skills and well-being of journalists in the face of potential future pandemics or ... more

Violence, impunity and their impact on press freedom

In: The Routledge Companion to Freedom of Expression and Censorship
London; New York: Routledge (2024), 11 pp.
"The right of journalists to work in a secure environment, without being intimidated, harassed, attacked, abused or murdered, is of fundamental importance to freedom of expression globally. Yet, in many countries around the world, journalism has become a deadly occupation and those who practise it o ... more
"This study examines the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic by the four leading newspapers of Pakistan—Dawn, The News, Daily Times and The Nation—when they were responsible for informing and educating the public during a health crisis hit by conspiracy theories. The researchers utilized content a ... more
"The media industry of Nigeria has been significantly impacted by sexual harassment and it has had a very negative effect on women media workers. One major issue which I will articulate in my chapter is the absence of an overarching media policy framework addressing sexual harassment with clear pena ... more
"The artificial intelligence (AI) tools in editorial departments have become common practice within news organisations, which poses challenges for digital journalism. It treads new terrain for both media professionals and their audiences, and it is safe to assume there is no going back to the way th ... more
"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
"This article explores how Palestinian and Kashmiri civilians engage with the everyday reality of war. The focus is on understanding how citizens temporarily adopt the roles of war correspondents, contributing to the broader conflict narrative. Employing an inductive approach, the study integrates e ... more
"The goal of this study was to examine the efficacy of art therapy in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the propensity to quit journalism among Nigerian journalists covering banditry attacks. The researchers utilized a quasi-experiment as the design for the study and sampled ... more

Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists in South Asian Countries: An Overview

In: Handbook of Digital Journalism: Perspectives from South Asia
Cham: Springer (2024), pp. 565-575
"In the digital world, every profession has seen a massive transformation in terms of working mechanisms, approaches to the problem, dealing with prospects, moving forward to conceptualising the solution and so on. Likewise, the media field has also seen a massive transformation. The working pattern ... more
"The coronavirus pandemic brought immense challenges to journalists worldwide, including new threats to media freedom, journalism safety and practice. The impact of the pandemic on journalism is yet to be fully understood and examined but this paper contributes to the field by focusing on the impact ... more
"This paper presents an exploratory study aimed at systematically mapping the public actions taken by OSCE participating States to combat online violence against female journalists. Adopting a qualitative large N research design, the study examines national policies and initiatives across all 57 OSC ... more