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 media play an essential role of informing and mobilising voters as well as facilitating a two-way communication process between citizens and those vying for electoral offices during elections. This allows citizens to get information on various issues from the contenders, which largely informs t ... more
"Rising numbers of online attacks against journalists have been documented globally. Female, minority reporters and journalists who cover issues interwoven with right-wing identity anchors have been primary targets. This trend reflects growing forms of mob censorship linked to the demonization of jo ... more
"Afghanistan is one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists. There are, however, no data on the mental health of Afghan journalists covering conflict in their country. The study aims to determine the degree to which Afghan journalists are exposed to traumatic events, their perceptions ... more

What Compels Journalists to Take a Step Back? Contextualizing the Media Laws and Policies of Bangladesh

In: Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety
Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2020), pp. 38-53
"Reports by international organizations suggest that physical violence and threats against journalists and bloggers continued with impunity in Bangladesh, resulting in the country being ranked as 146 in the World Press Freedom Index 2018. Considering the increasing incidents of violence against jour ... more
"This article assesses the multiple factors which are barriers to media freedom in South Africa. These include crises of financial sustainability of the media sector which have recently been compounded by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; widespread job losses in journalism; and harassment and phy ... more
"The present study brings together a unique collection of open testimonies from 20 journalists working in different member states of the Council of Europe. Each of these journalists spoke about the risks and pressures they perceived and experienced in exercising their profession, as well as their st ... more

Practices of Self-Censorship Among Nepali Journalists

In: Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety
Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2020), pp. 72-82
"Although Nepal has entered a new era of democracy and press freedom since 2006, self-censorship still exists in the reporting/editing of many Nepali journalists. Nepal has more than 100 years of press history, most of it has faced pressure from the government if not censorship. Drawing upon intervi ... more
"This study seeks to investigate different types of threats which affect the journalists' safety in Egypt and how do they manage their work in the presence of the diverse threats. The study analyzes the Egyptian legislative framework in order to explain whether it protects media freedom and journali ... more
"Amid growing threats to journalists around the world, this study examines the nature of online harassment, the types of journalists most likely to experience it, and the most common forms of response to such abuse. Through a representative survey of U.S. journalists, we find that nearly all journal ... more
"Over the last two decades, Nigeria has been struggling to consolidate its democratic processes to ensure peaceful campaigns and free and fair polls. But electoral processes require the free flow of verified electoral information and citizen's participation – phenomena that only free media can gua ... more
"While much research on Arab and Muslim diasporas in the West focuses on the War(s) on Terror, in this article, we explore how two particular diasporic groups, Egyptian and Saudi activists, work to shape public perceptions of the authoritarian regimes in their countries of origin. Contextualizing th ... more
"Media freedom is primarily the freedom of diverse forms of media and sources of communication. Traditionally, freedom of the press is conceptualized as the freedom to publish; however, the notion of media freedom is much broader as it encompasses the freedom both to publish and to broadcast, emphas ... more
"Due to the fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Rohingya militant group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in August 2017, hundreds of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh. The Myanmar Army was accused of committing torture, atrocities, arson and gang-rapes against the ... more
"Despite widespread condemnation of assaults on journalists in Ghana and elsewhere in the past, there is increasing evidence of brutality against journalists. When perpetrators of such assaults go unpunished, it fosters a culture of impunity. The article throws searchlight on incidences of assaults ... more
"Gender-based violence against women journalists has increased dramatically, both offline and online. These professionals face more barriers to performing their roles in safe conditions. Slow progress has been made by governments and news media industries to protect women journalists. Most of the pr ... more

Journalism in Violent Times: Mexican Journalists' Responses to Threats and Aggressions

In: Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety
Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2020), pp. 278-297
"The aim of this chapter is to describe Mexican journalists' responses to constant threats and aggressions. In doing so, it draws on 93 semi-structured interviews conducted in 23 of the most violent states of the country. The results indicate that violence against news workers has a twofold set of i ... more
"Journalists have long been the targets of both physical and cyber-attacks from well-resourced adversaries. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are arguably a new avenue of threat towards journalists through both targeted and generalised cyber-physical exploitation. This study comprises three parts: Fi ... more
"Journalists are often exposed to potentially traumatic content through their profession. High levels of exposure have been found to predict high levels of psychopathology among journalists, including posttraumatic stress, alcohol use, and depressive symptoms. Predictors of such outcomes have not be ... more