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.

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Periodistas en México: Encuesta de sus perfiles demográficos, laborales y profesionales

Frida V. Rodelo, Mireya Márquez Ramírez, Grisel Salazar Rebolledo, Celia del Palacio Montiel, Martín Echeverría, Armando Gutiérrez Ortega, Karles Daniel Manzo, Julieta Brambila, Josefina Buxadé, Rubén Arnaldo González, Sallie Hughes, José Luis Lemini Camarillo

Global Media Journal - México, volume 20, issue 39 (2023), pp. 110–159

"Para que el periodismo pueda realizar su función democrática, es preciso que el contexto político, social y económico le permita su desarrollo en toda forma. Aunque en el pasado estuvo caracterizado por la cooptación y la censura, el periodismo mexicano reciente ha mostrado prácticas innovado ... more

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The “Price You Pay” and the “Badge of Honor”: Journalists, Gender, and Harassment

Kaitlin C. Miller

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, volume 100, issue 1 (2023), pp. 193–213

"This article utilizes theoretical concepts of sensemaking and affective events theory to analyze and interpret what type of harassment events journalists experience from readers, viewers, and strangers, and their subsequent emotional responses. Findings indicated journalists experience three forms ... more

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Between Shadows and Stories: Navigating the Journey of Afghan Journalists, from Aug. 15, 2021 to Aug. 15, 2023

Afghanistan's National Journalists Union (2023), 17 pp.

"The Afghan media landscape stands at a crossroads, navigating a landscape rife with challenges and uncertainties in the wake of the Taliban's resurgence. The post-Taliban era, marked by a thriving media sector with 160 television channels, 311 radio stations, 90 print newspapers, and 26 news agenci ... es, has witnessed a drastic transformation. The current media landscape, with 70 television channels, 211 radio stations, 11 print newspapers, and 9 news agencies, reflects a significant decline in numbers and diversity. Under the de facto rule of the Taliban, the media sector has encountered substantial constraints. Censorship and self-censorship have become rampant, with journalists and media outlets navigating the perilous territory of permissible content. Threats, intimidation, and violence against media professionals have created an atmosphere of fear, leading to an exodus of skilled journalists. Investigative journalism, once a cornerstone of accountability, has been stifled, and access to unbiased information has dwindled, leaving citizens ill-informed. The closure of media outlets has far-reaching implications, including restricted information flow, suppressed free speech, and diminished content diversity. The narrative has further fragmented between Kabul and the provinces, where media freedom varies significantly. Female journalists remain conspicuously absent in many regions, underscoring the entrenched gender disparity in the field. International media outlets, under surveillance and restraints, grapple with maintaining their operations and integrity in an increasingly controlled environment. Social media, once a platform for open dialogue, faces censorship and restrictions, hampering the exchange of ideas. As Afghanistan's media landscape evolves, the absence of comprehensive legal frameworks has exacerbated challenges. The suspension of the Mass Media Law and the Access to Information Law during the transitional phase has left media professionals in a legal gray area. The need for inclusive consultations with media stakeholders to shape these laws cannot be overstated. In this complex milieu, it is evident that safeguarding the media's role as a communication bridge between the government and the people is paramount. Collaborative efforts between the Islamic Emirate, the international community, and media support organizations are essential to prevent the collapse of Afghanistan's media landscape." (Conclusion, pages 16-17) more

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Investigative Journalism in the Digital Age: An Online Safety Checklist

Public Media Alliance (2023), 1 p.

"This ten-point checklist highlights key tips for journalists undertaking digital approaches to investigative journalism." (Introduction)

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Developing Psychological Capital to Support Journalists' Well-Being

Maja Šimunjak

In: Happiness in Journalism

Valérie Bélair-Gagnon, Avery E. Holton, Mark Deuze, Claudia Mellado (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), pp. 69-77

"This chapter seeks to enhance journalists’ psychological capital with targeted interventions." (Abstract)

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GIJN Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes
Key Guides

Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) (2023)

"GIJN’s comprehensive, 16-chapter Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes includes expert advice from more than two dozen specialists and journalists, covering everything from the legal aspects of war, attacks on civilians, conflict-related sexual violence, environmental crimes, banned weap ... more

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Preparing for Risks and Building Resilience

Elsebeth Frey

Journalism Studies, volume 24, issue 7 (2023), pp. 1008-1025

"Journalists confront terror and war to report and document what is happening. Covering traumatic events is dangerous for the reporters on the scene and may leave them with distress responses. The aim of this study is to investigate the coping strategies journalists use to deal with danger and traum ... more

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National Mechanism for the Safety & Protection of Journalists in Kenya

Media Council of Kenya; Kenya Media Sector Working Group (2023), 5 pp.

External Link (96)

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Constraints on Journalistic Practices in the Arab World Post–Arab Spring and Post-Covid-19

Sahar Khamis, Khalid Al-Jaber

In: The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South

Bruce Mutsvairo, Saba Bebawi, Eddy Borges-Rey (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), pp. 179-186

"Over a decade ago, the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings erupted in six Arab countries. They were accompanied, initially, by high hopes for democratic transformation and reform (Lynch, 2012). These hopes and aspirations also included widening the margin of freedom of expression in general and press freedo ... more

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Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom
Deep Insights

Joel Simon, Carlos Lauría, Ona Flores

Thomson Reuters Foundation; Tow Center for Digital Journalism (2023), 50 pp.

"The purpose of this report is to provide the first step towards a global overview of the weaponization of the law as a prominent threat to media freedom. In doing so, we offer a resource that can be used to empower those seeking to navigate the shifting legal environment and support those working t ... more

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Exploring Trauma Literacy Quotient Among Indian Journalists and a Way Forward in Post-Pandemic Era: A Case Study of India

K. Shilpa, A. Kumari, M. M. Das, Tanushree Sharma, S. K. Biswal

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, volume 78, issue 2 (2023), pp. 267–288

"The American Psychological Association defines trauma as “an emotional response to a terrible event. . . .” Trauma can be experienced as a response to either physical or emotionally disturbing circumstances. The Journalism and the Pandemic Project from the International Center for Journalists ( ... ICFJ) and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, in their global survey of journalists, have studied the impact of the pandemic on journalists across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused varying degrees of disruptions in the personal and professional lives of journalists. Traumatic experiences like covering traumatic events up close, COVID-induced health issues, job loss, pay cuts, and insecurity at the workplace have consumed journalists like never before. Overwhelming emotions like shock, helplessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety are some of the reactions observed by mental health experts. Indian journalists, too, like their counterparts across the globe, have had to take on the challenges posed by this unprecedented crisis. This article intends to study the impact of the pandemic on Indian journalists both from physical and emotional perspectives. The objectives of the study include—(a) to analyze the journalists’ response to traumatic experiences during the pandemic, (b) to study the nature of trauma experienced by journalists during the pandemic, (c) to analyze how traumatic experiences affected the journalists, and (d) to explore and analyze how journalists managed to cope with the traumatic experiences. The study adopts social cognitive theory (SCT) as the framework. SCT comprises four goal realization processes: self-observation, self-evaluation, self-reaction, and self-efficacy. The four components are interrelated, and all influence motivation and goal attainment. Social cognition includes diverse processes linking the perception of social information with a behavioral response, including perception, attention, decision-making, memory, and emotion. The post-traumatic reactions include re-experiencing the traumatic event in flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and intrusive memories, hypervigilant arousal, impaired concentration, depression, sleep disturbances, self-devaluation, avoidance of reminders of traumatic experiences, emotional detachment from others, and disengagement from aspects of life that provide meaning and self-fulfillment, which impair intrapersonal, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. The scope of the study covers the journalists’ responses to traumatic experiences specific to the pandemic. The study adopts a mixed research method with a thematic analysis of the qualitative data from interviews of journalists followed by a factor analysis of the quantitative data from the survey of the journalists." (Abstract) more

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¿Cómo realizar coberturas seguras en Ecuador? Guía práctica para periodistas

Quito: Periodistas Sin Cadenas (2023), 36 pp.

"[...] En Ecuador no existe una cultura de seguridad institucional para ejercer el trabajo periodístico. El Estado no se responsabiliza, una muestra de ello es la falta de creación del Comité de Protección de Periodistas, que fue una de las recomendaciones que hizo el Equipo de Seguimiento Espec ... ial de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos que visitó el país en 2019 para realizar un informe sobre el secuestro y asesinato de los periodistas de diario El Comercio y entregar recomendaciones a los gobiernos de Ecuador y Colombia. La impunidad en cuanto a las agresiones a periodistas en Ecuador es evidente. Después de 5 años, el asesinato del equipo de El Comercio en la frontera norte sigue impune. El caso sigue en investigación previa, sin detenidos y con el cambio de fiscales en cuatro ocasiones. Respecto a los asesinatos de los tres periodistas en 2022, hay una sentencia condenatoria para los autores materiales del crimen del periodista Gerardo Delgado; sin embargo, aún se desconocen a los autores intelectuales y el motivo de su asesinato. Toda cobertura requiere una evaluación de riesgos para identificar vulnerabilidades y fortalezas antes de reportear un tema. No se debe olvidar realizar un mapeo de actores para evaluar a qué amenazas puede exponerse la prensa. Es importante que los periodistas y los medios identifiquen y mitiguen los riesgos asociados al oficio antes de realizar las coberturas en terreno. Los periodistas no son intocables y Ecuador ya es escenario de amenazas graves y asesinatos. Habrá momentos en los que los periodistas deban desistir de hacer ciertas coberturas porque no se den las condiciones de seguridad necesarias. No hay que olvidar que ninguna cobertura es más importante que la vida. Es necesario crear protocolos de seguridad en las redacciones y pensar estrategias para seguir haciendo periodismo en zonas complejas, apoyándose en el periodismo colaborativo y las alianzas periodísticas. La salud mental y el autocuidado son fundamentales para sobrellevar la presión y el estrés que suponen las coberturas de riesgo. Evaluar el estado emocional antes, durante y después del trabajo es fundamental para mantener el equilibrio." (Conclusiones y recomendaciones) more

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“I thought You Are Beautiful”: Uganda Women Journalists’ Tales of Mob Violence on Social Media

Gerald Walulya, Florence Namasinga Selnes

Digital Journalism, volume 11, issue 10 (2023), pp. 1962-1981

"This article contributes to our understanding of the notion of mob censorship from the Ugandan context by examining the nature and consequences of harassment targeting women journalists on social media. Drawing on research about online harassment and censorship, we link mob violence in physical spa ... more

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Post-traumatic Mental and Physical Consequences of Frontline Reporting in the MENA Region

Lakhdar Chadli, Farooq Muhammad Haq, Ahmed Okasha, Rafik Attou

Open Public Health Journal, volume 15 (2023), 12 pp.

"Background: A current need in journalistic frontline work is to understand the potential psychological and physical traumatic consequences that may result from on-duty appointments. Journalists are active in frontline zones to report on conflicts, crises, and natural disasters. In the Middle East a ... more

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Championing a Security-Sensitive Mindset

Jennifer R. Henrichsen

In: Happiness in Journalism

Valérie Bélair-Gagnon, Avery E. Holton, Mark Deuze, Claudia Mellado (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), pp. 105-114

"This chapter examines the intersection of journalist security and safety with the condition of happiness to proffer solutions at the individual and organizational levels, including vis a vis boundaries, mental models, and security champions, with the aim of contributing to journalistic happiness, s ... more

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Swedish journalists' perceptions of legal protection against unlawful online harassment

Oscar Björkenfeldt

Frontiers in Sociology, volume 8, issue 1154495 (2023), 12 pp.

"This study examined journalists' perceptions regarding the legal system's ability to protect them against online harassment. By utilizing open-ended survey responses from respondents with varying levels of trust in the legal system, the findings suggested a need for increased technical proficiency, ... more

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Reporting the MENA as Conflict: Political Influences, Routine Practices, and Journalists' Struggles in the Field

Claudia Kozman

In: The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South

Bruce Mutsvairo, Saba Bebawi, Eddy Borges-Rey (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), pp. 260-268

"Working in a conflict-ridden region, journalists in the Middle East have always struggled to report fairly and accurately while keeping in mind the power structures in their countries. For these journalists, practicing journalism in mostly authoritative governments has meant facing additional hurdl ... more

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Workplace Happiness, Journalism and COVID-19 in South Asia

Achala Abeykoon, Archana Kumari, Mohammad Sahid Ullah, Pallavi Majumdar, Sajjad Ali, Mou Mukherjee Das, Santosh Kumar Biswal, M. C. Rasmin, Shilpa Kalyan, Mohd Shahid, Mamunor Rashid

In: Happiness in Journalism

Valérie Bélair-Gagnon, Avery E. Holton, Mark Deuze, Claudia Mellado (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), pp. 166-174

"This chapter explores some of the positive strategies employed by South Asian media institutions to enhance workplace happiness and help journalists to cope with stress and traumatic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Happiness is crucial for media institutions because journalism is one of t ... more

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Global Media Defence Fund

Paris: UNESCO (2023), 11 pp.

"The Global Media Defence Fund (“the Fund”) is a UNESCO Multi-Partner Trust Fund/Programme developed with the goal of enhancing media protection and improving the access of journalists to specialized and gender-sensitive legal assistance. Administered by UNESCO, the Fund was established thanks t ... more

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Exploring the Attitudes of Journalism Educators to Teach Trauma-Informed Literacy: An Analysis of a Global Survey

Olatunji Ogunyemi, Lada Trifonova Price

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, volume 78, issue 2 (2023), pp. 214-232

"Literature notes that most journalists will witness trauma and human suffering during the course of their careers, yet journalism education is lagging behind in preparing students to cope with the effects of exposure to traumatic events. This paper examines the attitudes of journalism educators/tra ... more

GIJN Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes Key Guides

Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom Deep Insights

GIJN Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes
Key Guides

Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom
Deep Insights