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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Module 7. Combatting online abuse: When journalists and their sources are targeted

In: Journalism, ‘Fake News’ & Disinformation: Handbook for Journalism Education and Training
Paris: UNESCO (2018), pp. 115-127
"The problem of disinformation and misinformation undermining credible journalism and reliable information has escalated dramatically in the social media era. Consequences include the deliberate targeting of journalists and other online publishers, along with their sources, who are seeking to verify ... more
"This paper examines the teaching of conflict-sensitive reporting, safety education and peace journalism in the curricula of institutions offering mass communication/journalism programmes in three English speaking countries of West Africa: Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. It assesses the status of r ... more
"The SAFE (Securing Access to Free Expression) Initiative is IREX’s flagship effort to enable media practitioners and social communicators to work as safely as possible in closed and closing spaces. SAFE serves to equip media practitioners and social communicators with the means to resiliently con ... more

The Future of Investigative Journalism in an Era of Surveillance and Digital Privacy Erosion

In: Digital Investigative Journalism: Data, Visual Analytics and Innovative Methodologies in International Reporting
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2018), pp. 249-261
"While the digital era has delivered unprecedented opportunities for big-data based investigative journalism—from the Snowden Files to the Panama Papers—it has also thrown up a host of new threats to the sustainability of journalism based on confidential sources. These include: mass and targeted ... more
"Cross-national research has identified crime, corruption, and human rights abuses as explanations for threats against journalists in democracies and authoritarian hybrids plagued by antipress violence. In-depth studies additionally suggest gender or occupational characteristics such as risky newsbe ... more
"This chapter investigates the relationship between civic networking coalitions and public interest communication, and an opportunity to explore how the coalitions produce 'public interest-forming practices'. It examines the ability of civic networking coalitions to act and, next, to investigate whi ... more
"The ability of the media and especially journalism to operate freely is crucial in order on the one hand to hold governments and other institutions accountable for their actions and on the other to allow citizens to make informed decisions. To discuss the current state of affairs for media and jour ... more
"On 16 October 2017, the editors of two popular Ugandan newspapers—the Daily Monitor and Red Pepper—were summoned to the Criminal Investigations Directorate in Kampala following the publication of stories revealing the allocation of a Ugandan Shillings 715 m (almost £150,000) budget for a plann ... more
"The Arab world was taken by surprise when mass protests erupted in Tunisia in December 2010, followed by mass protests in Egypt in January 2011. Much optimism was expressed towards a new era for journalism freedom in the Arab world, in Egypt specifically with the fall of Hosni Mubarak and the long ... more
"The introductory chapter of this volume situates the role of news media in Latin America within the context of the environmental, economic, and sociopolitical challenges that countries in the region face. The authors review the current practical challenges faced by the media and journalists in the ... more
"The imprisonment of Al Jazeera English (AJE) journalists (Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed) in Egypt between 2013 and 2015 highlighted the safety of journalists in conflict zones. Building on other studies (Baker, 2014; 2016), this is the third paper in a longitudinal study analysing t ... more

How Journalism Responds to Right-wing Populist Criticism

In: Trust in Media and Journalism: Empirical Perspectives on Ethics, Norms, Impacts and Populism in Europe
Wiesbaden: Springer VS (2018), pp. 137-154
"Right-wing populists often criticise the established media for being untruthful or censoring what critics consider to be important information—for instance, the ethnic background of perpetrators—and for being biased against right-wing populist actors. That hostility towards journalism can be un ... more
"Mention journalists' safety in a conversation, and the spontaneous mental image is often that of a war correspondent. However, in 2017 at least, 55 per cent of the killings of journalists registered by UNESCO were not in countries with significant armed conflict (UNESCO, 2018a). In addition, and as ... more
"The article is an overview of the growing concerns about escalating violence against journalists in India and a matching lack of interest in Indian academy to understand the various implications of such violence both pedagogically and sociologically. The fact that about six journalists were killed ... more
"Urge poner por delante el respeto a la vida, a la integridad física, mental, emocional y a la dignidad de los periodistas de medios privados y comunitarios. Pero este principio no se cumple en una región flagelada por el narcotráfico, las pandillas y la corrupción. Informar y opinar hacen parti ... more
"This article examines some of the cultural differences between news ‘fixers’ and foreign reporters, focusing specifically on the expectations and experiences of the fixers, rather than the correspondents whose own perspectives have already been fruitfully explored. Drawing upon qualitative, sem ... more
"Although war journalism has existed for centuries, changes in the nature of armed conflict and its coverage have put the danger for modern journalists at an all time high. The traditional war correspondent has been replaced in recent years by the independent freelance journalist. While the former r ... more

Risk and Resilience among Journalists Covering Potentially Traumatic Events

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression
Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 235-240
"Journalists covering crises are at high risk of experiencing potentially traumatic events. This chapter presents a study with 375 journalists who covered the 2011 terror attack in Norway. The purpose was to investigate whether social support (SS) was related to psychological distress (posttraumatic ... more

Violence against Indigenous Journalists in Colombia and Latin America

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression
Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 191-204
"This chapter explores mechanisms and causes that put indigenous journalists at risk in Latin America. It seeks to explain the nature of “indigenous journalism” as well as the differences and similarities between “indigenous journalism” and the journalisms found in mainstream media in Latin ... more