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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"This study explores contemporary journalists’ autonomy and role in the Ethiopian contested media practice by taking journalists working in Amhara Media Corporation (AMC). A qualitative research approach was used to collect data from journalists and admin staff. For triangulation, this study combi ... more
"This multidisciplinary reference work examines ethical challenges arising from digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, data use, online platforms and digital governance. Its relevance to COMMBOX lies especially in chapters on AI ethical principles, fairness and transparency, exp ... more
"Outside of the occasional inclusion of a handful of prominent South African media cases, African journalism is generally under-represented in studies of journalism practice and safety. Community media in Africa is even more neglected, and is often omitted entirely from consideration despite the pre ... more
"This report presents preliminary results from an online survey of 282 journalists across 18 countries, with a qualitative phase planned to deepen these insights. Our focus was on symptoms related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and burnout, as well as organizational a ... more
"Twenty-nine (29) countries are implementing fifty-six (56) national mechanisms for the safety of journalists, media workers and social media producers. Over two thirds of operational national mechanisms implement measures in at least two of the safety areas – prevention, protection or prosecutio ... more
"Practicing journalism is dangerous. Until the wars in Ukraine and Gaza broke out, Mexico continued to rank as the deadliest locale for reporters, with too many other countries close behind, including Afghanistan, Syria, India, and the Philippines. More journalists have been killed in Gaza since Oct ... more
"While online harassment directed towards women journalists are under wide discussion, the mechanism of audience intervention in stopping online harassment is less explored. Integrating bystander invention, ambivalent sexism, and social identity theories, we propose and test an integrative framework ... more
"The transformations in the media and political landscapes in Egypt over the last decade and their implications on media pluralism and freedom of expression are well documented. However, less is known about how Egyptian journalists themselves experience these changes; how their relationships with au ... more
"During the COVID-19 crisis, journalists doubled efforts to keep societies informed, safe, and disease-free. The study examines and compares specific challenges that journalists, based in diverse world regions, confronted during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted with 215 journalists work ... more
"This article examines the lived experiences of conflict reporters to unpick the pitfalls and perseverance in journalism practice in dangerous places. It uses the case of covering the Boko Haram conflict to unpack the risks journalists encounter in reporting on violent extremism. Drawing on individu ... more
"This report presents findings from the third wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS3), conducted between 2021 and 2025. In this iteration, we focused on journalists’ perceptions of risk and uncertainty in their profession and sought to identify key factors that shape how journalists navigate ... more
"Despite the pervasiveness of workplace sexual harassment, the connection between sexual harassment and job satisfaction in the news industry remains insufficiently researched. This 16-country and one state study (N*=*1583) sampled news personnel from Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Arab ... more
"Amid growing threats to journalists around the world, this study examines the nature of repression, harassment and attacks on full-time employed journalists and freelance writers in Eswatini. Given that harassment ranges from doxing, surveillance, religious prejudice, threats to harm family members ... more
"This study explores journalism students’ responses to hazards and hostility in the profession within a Safety of Journalists course. The research uses focus group interviews, field notes, study diaries, written tasks, and Teams’ chat logs of 11 students. Students’ reactions to the hazards hig ... more
"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
"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
"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 ... more
"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
"This chapter examines the digital surveillance and harassment experiences faced by female journalists in Zimbabwe in the 2023 pre-election period covering the year 2022 up to August 2023. The examination is based on interviews conducted with seven purposefully selected female reporters and editors ... more