"It's time to confront the tide of violence used by governments against journalists, argue two fighters for media freedom." (Abstract)
"This feminist, qualitative study sheds light on how young Arab women used cyberactivism to participate in the wave of political and social transformations widely known as the Arab Spring. It argues that these activists leveraged social media to enact new forms of leadership, agency, and empowerment
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, since these online platforms enabled them to express themselves freely and their voices to be heard by the rest of the world, particularly the global media. This resulted in a multidimensional personal, social, political, and communicative revolution. This study is based on in-depth, personal interviews with more than twenty young Arab women citizen journalists, bloggers, and activists from Arab countries that witnessed political upheaval." (Abstract)
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"Purpose: War journalists confront many dangers, leaving them at risk for mental health problems. They are, however, able to take breaks from the hazards of frontline work by periodically leaving conflict zones for the safety of home. This respite is not afforded local journalists who cover conflict
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situations. An example of this may be found in Mexico where journalists reporting on the drug cartels may under threat. This inability to seek temporary respite from grave danger may theoretically increase levels of psychological distress. The purpose of this paper is to examine this possibility.
Design/methodology/approach: The study sample comprised 104 Mexican journalists and a control group of 104 war journalists (non*Mexican, demographically matched). Outcome measures included indices of posttraumatic stress disorder (Impact of Event Scale*Revised)(IES*R), depression (Beck Depression Inventory*Revised (BDI*II) and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire*28 (GHQ*28).
Findings: Mexican journalists had higher scores on the avoidance (p=0.01), arousal (p=0.0001), but not intrusion (p=0.29) scales of the IES*R. They had higher scores on the BDI*II (p=0.0001) and anxiety (p=0.0001), somatic (p=0.0001) and social dysfunction (p=0.01) subscales of the GHQ*28.
Practical implications: Mexican journalists targeted by drug cartels have more psychopathology than journalists who cover war. News organisations that employ journalists in this line of work therefore need to be aware of this and have a mechanism in place to provide treatment, when needed. Originality/value: This is the first study to directly explore the psychological effects of violence on local journalists who do not cover war, but nevertheless live and work in areas of grave danger." (Abstract)
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"I have been asked by the Council of Europe Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) for a paper setting out the principles that can be drawn from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) relating to the protection and safety of journalists and journali
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sm. I understand that the overall objective of the CDMSI is to establish a declaration of principles and to draft an in-depth recommendation to member states which includes the positive obligations upon states in respect of journalists." (Abstract)
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"Legal and political responses to the above issues will feature centrally in this paper. More specifically, the paper will consider the role of Council of Europe as a regional body in the concerted international efforts to enhance the protection of journalists and other media actors, in particular t
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he implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity (hereafter: UN Plan of Action). It will do so in the context of an examination of some of the broader challenges of (re-)definition and (re-)orientation faced by a journalistic/media sector that is increasingly dynamic, diversified and diffuse." (Abstract)
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"Every bullet that kills a journalist in a warzone adds passion and urgency to calls for “something” to be done to better protect frontline media workers. International humanitarian law (the body of law that includes the Geneva Conventions) offers some avenues for legal redress, but problems wit
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h compliance and policing have contributed to a sense of impunity among perpetrators of these crimes. Consequently, calls for additional laws have reemerged. This article analyzes the current legal protections, examines a proposed new international convention, and discusses obstacles to ending impunity. It also analyzes whether a new convention would be a useful addition to international law and concludes that advocacy energies would be better spent promoting enforcement of existing laws." (Abstract)
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"This course aims to analyse the context in which journalists and communicators are working at local, national, regional and international level, and to help them to identify potential risks, to learn safe protocols and to know about those institutions and procedures that can help them." (Abstract)
"The years 2011 and 2012 were among the most deadly for journalists reporting from conflict situations worldwide. The numbers of assaults, arrests and attacks have been on a constant rise and portray a dramatic image of the journalistic profession. In light of the increasing threats in armed conflic
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ts, being a war reporter has become an inherently dangerous task. Journalists are not only at risk of becoming so-called collateral damage during military operations, they are also increasingly targeted. Their role as a watchdog and witness to the horrors of war, in addition to the undeniable power of the word and image they spread, has made them popular targets. It is therefore essential that the international community re-evaluate journalists' de jure and de facto protections in armed conflicts to allow for better safeguards and consequently less casualties in the imminent future. This article examines the current protections afforded to journalists and aims at detecting proposals for enhanced safeguards that are most likely to effectively improve journalists' safety in the field. In this regard, this article will argue that the legal protections are in fact sufficient and hardly amendable and that therefore, a more practical, hands-on approach to implementation of those protections must be the focus of future actions. This goal can only be achieved by a comprehensive mission jointly pursued by governments, militaries, journalists, media, NGOs and society." (Abstract)
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"Any observer of the so-called Arab Spring, the massive wave of political revolt that has been sweeping the Arab region since 2011, could not help but notice the visible role that women have been playing in it. Hundreds of thousands of Arab women throughout the region, including in some of the most
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traditional, conservative countries, like Yemen and Bahrain, took to the streets, alongside men, calling for an end to dictatorship and repression and demanding dignity and freedom (Khamis 2011; Radsch 2011, 2012). In doing so, they were not confining themselves to stereotypical gender roles, such as nurturing or supporting men in their struggle for freedom. Rather, they were often in the front lines of resistance, risking their lives, exposed to the dangers of arrest or assault. The Arab Spring unveiled “numerous examples of courageous Arab women heroes risking not only their reputation but also their physical safety for the sake of reform” (Al-Malki et al. 2012: 81)." (Abstract)
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"The nature of modern warfare has vastly changed the role of journalists in conflict and, therefore, the reliability of the protections afforded to them. Countries such as the United States have interpreted international humanitarian law in such a way that leaves journalists vulnerable to targeting
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decisions based solely on the content of their writings. International law must take afirm step forward in not only securing defacto protection for journalists, but in reaffirming their importance to the public. Such a step may best be taken by adopting a new status for journalists. Under this new status, a journalist could not be said to have directly participated in conflict without a proven intention to incite violence and would therefore remain immune from direct targeting no matter how much the content of the reporting supports or undermines the objectives of a belligerent party." (Abstract)
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"Journalists play a central role in fostering a society based on the open discussion of facts and the pursuit of the truth, as opposed to one based on rumor, prejudice, and the naked exercise of power. As a result, journalists are often literally in the line of fire and deserve special protection. T
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his article considers the characteristics of deadly attacks on journalists over the last two decades and examines how the applicable legal and policy frameworks can be used better or improved to provide a higher level of protection. Impunity, often a by-product of the politicized nature of journalistic activities, is seen as the major cause of continuous attacks on journalists. The conclusion is drawn that one of the key elements of a strategy to better protect journalists is to "elevate" the issue on a number of fronts: to move prevention and accountability from the local to the central level within domestic jurisdictions, while simultaneously heightening the level of international engagement with this issue." (Abstract)
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"Turkey is a country where democratization process has been repeatedly interrupted by military interventions in the past 50 years. Censorship and self-censorship have become ordinary practices in the media, mainly due to weak parliamentary representations followed by oppressive coup periods. Yet eve
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n though a democratically elected government is currently in charge of the country, censorship of the press remains to be a common and systematic to silence alternative views. It is also claimed that self-censorship is widespread within the press. A report published by Freedom House in 2010 argues that while Turkish officials continue to enforce strict laws, journalists are frequently jailed for discussing issues such as the Kurdish problem, the military or political Islam. The government that is led by the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi) is continuing to crack down on unfavorable press coverage. This article presents the findings of a survey titled “Censorship and Self-Censorship in Turkey, 2011.” The participants of the study were Turkish journalists and the questions revolved around their personal experiences with regards to censorship and self-censorship. Their answers reveal why Turkish media seldom makes news for public interest." (Abstract)
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"Just like in many other sub-Saharan African countries, Kinshasa's media world has opened up in the mid 1990s. Especially since 2002, local TV stations have been mushrooming. This has not only led to a proliferation of media productions, but it has also enlarged the terrain of local journalists, in
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particular allowing for more jobs. The TV stations are inserted within the larger division that governs Kinshasa's political society: a media outlet is either du centre (of the centre', also du pouvoir', of power') or not, referring to the division between pro-Kabila media and anti-Kabila media. Despite this strong polarization in the local press, many of Kinshasa's journalists share similar professional experiences. In this article, two components of the lifeworlds and work of Kinshasa's journalists are explored: the management of journalists' patron-client relationships with leaders and the experience of risk and fear in their work and in their private lives." (Abstract)
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"Given that over half the revenues of global newspaper publishing come from advertising (80% in the US and 57% in OECD countries, OECD, 2010), we study how media firms internalize the effect of their own coverage on advertisers' sales and hence on their own advertising revenues. We show, within a fr
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amework of non-localized, Hotelling-type competition among arbitrary numbers of media firms and outlets, that (i) topics sensitive to advertisers can be underreported by all outlets in the market, (ii) underreporting tends to increase with the concentration of ownership, and (iii) adding outlets, while keeping the number of owners fixed, can further increase the bias. We argue that self-censorship can potentially cover a wide range of topics and generate empirically large externalities." (Abstract)
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"Nearly 200 investigative journalists converged from all corners of the US-Mexico border at the salmon-colored Hotel Lucerna in Ciudad Juárez to discuss their targets: corrupt politicians, contaminators, criminals, rogues and wrong-doers of all stripes. The gathering came in late 1997-a high point
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in the halcyon days of border journalism. After seven decades, the ruling PRI party had loosened its iron grip on the Mexican media, and muckraking border reporters had won backing from powerful media moguls in both the United States and Mexico. Some of us quaffing Coronas around tables covered with white linen in the reception room that night believed we might finally be about to break some of the biggest untold stories of binational crime and corruption without facing much-if any-threat of retaliation." (Abstract)
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"At the beginning of 2008, the war between two powerful Mexican drug cartels generated an incredible wave of violence in some cities along the US-Mexican border. In Ciudad Juárez, located in the northern state of Chihuahua and to the west of the Texas-Mexico border, the feud over control of drug-tr
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afficking routes between the Cartel de Sinaloa and the Cartel de Juárez has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people since the war began. Figures from the Chihuahua’s State Attorney Office offer a clear picture of the escalation of violence: in 2007, 307 people were killed in cases related to drug traffi cking; in 2008, the number rose to 1,607; in 2009, it was 2,601; and by 2010, the most violent year in the period, assassinations escalated to 3,156. At the height of the drug war, killings became so randomized that anyone could fall victim, including journalists, as the next chapter details. An entire society was affected by an increase in kidnappings, extortion, robberies, and a vast array of crimes, with youth often becoming favorite targets. The massacre of 15 teenagers and football players during a birthday party the night of January 31, 2010, was an indicator of the level of deterioration of the city. In July, a car bomb exploded in the middle of a busy avenue in downtown Juárez. It was the first time that drug cartels used a car bomb to attack civilians and police. The explosion of the vehicle, packed with 22 pounds of a powerful water gel explosive, left three people dead and a dozen civilians wounded. The violence was reaching an unprecedented level, particularly on the weekends. Reports of slaughtered scores were the top stories in local newspapers every Monday morning. During one weekend in February 2010, 53 people were massacred in different incidents. The violence had yet to reach its peak." (Abstract)
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"The improvements in the Arab world were the most significant findings of Freedom of the Press 2012: A Global Survey of Media Independence, the latest edition of an annual index published by Freedom House since 1980. The gains came on the heels of eight consecutive years of decline in the global ave
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rage press freedom score, a phenomenon that has affected practically every region in the world. Furthermore, they were accompanied by positive changes in several key countries outside the Middle East and North Africa: Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Zambia. Other countries that registered progress include Georgia, Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Three of the countries with major gains—Burma, Libya, and Tunisia—had for many years endured media environments that were among the world’s most oppressive. Both Libya and Tunisia made single-year leaps of a size practically unheard of in the 32-year history of the report. At the same time, press freedom continued to face obstacles and reversals in many parts of the world. China, which boasts the world’s most sophisticated system of media repression, stepped up its drive to control both old and new sources of news and information through arrests and censorship. Other authoritarian powers—such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela—resorted to a variety of techniques to maintain a tight grip on the media, detaining some press critics, closing down media outlets and blogs, and bringing libel or defamation suits against journalists." (Page 1)
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"Ongoing political turmoil produced uneven conditions for press freedom in the Middle East in 2012, with Tunisia and Libya largely retaining their gains from 2011 even as Egypt slid backward into the Not Free category. The region as a whole experienced a net decline for the year, in keeping with a b
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roader global pattern in which the percentage of people world wide who enjoy a free media environment fell to its lowest point in more than a decade. Among the more disturbing developments in 2012 were dramatic declines for Mali, significant deterioration in Greece, and a further tightening of controls on press freedom in Latin America, punctuated by the decline of two countries, Ecuador and Paraguay, from Partly Free to Not Free status." (Introduction)
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"Aims: To investigate mental illness among journalists in five key areas: (1) journalists' mental health status; (2) journalists' personal attitudes towards mental illness; (3) attitudes and support journalists expect or have experienced from colleagues when they have a mental health problem; (4) ef
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fect of journalism's professional culture on the course of mental illness; and (5) effect of journalism's professional culture on mass media depictions of people with mental illness. Methods: We performed a systematic screening of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library regarding the study aims. Results: We identified 19, 12, seven and four studies for aims 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. No articles were found for aim 5. Conclusions: The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among journalists is higher than that among the general population. Journalists have positive personal attitudes towards mental illness, but there are perceived workplace disincentives to disclose mental health problems." (Abstract)
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