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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Unwarranted Interference, Fear and Self-censorship among Journalists in Council of Europe Member States

Marilyn Clark, Anna Grech

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 221-226

"Journalists may be exposed to a number of risk factors for unwarranted interference. This is often compounded by a culture of impunity. The extent of unwarranted interference, the experience of fear associated with such interference, and the consequent possibility of self-censorship among journalis ... more

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Collaboration is the future: Doing research in the network era

Thomas Hanitzsch

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 71-80

"The study of journalists’ safety around the world is one of the areas that clearly require international collaboration. This chapter highlights three distinct models of scientific collaboration: the centralized, the correspondent, and the coordinated cooperation model. The Worlds of Journalism St ... more

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Gendering War and Peace Journalism: New challenges for media research

Beri von der Lippe, Rune Ottosen

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 61-70

"The article addresses in what way gender matters when dealing with war – and peace journalism. Issues discussed are to what extent the experiences of male and female reporters differ when they cover stories from the front line, especially regarding safety and working conditions. One important que ... more

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Journalist Killings and the Responsibility to Report

Simon Cottle

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 21-32

"More journalists are being killed and threatened around the world than at any time before. How do we account for these disturbing trends and why do journalists increasingly put themselves in harm’s way? This chapter argues that if we are to better understand the motivations of journalists and the ... more

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Fearing the Majority: Catholic Media in Muslim Indonesia

Wijayanto

Media Asia, volume 44, issue 1 (2017), pp. 33-39

"It was 16 June 2016, during the fasting month of Ramadhan. Inside the Kompas newsroom, tens of uninvited guests, mostly wearing white, were visiting the office of the media group. They were members of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a hardline Islamic group well known for its sporadic sweeping of In ... donesia, mostly in the name of defending Syaria law. Two days before, a letter had been sent to Kompas newsroom from the FPI, saying they wanted to seek clarification about some of the paper’s coverage. That night, one of the journalists said to me with a bitter smile, “This is a special exception where a guest determined the date and time of the visit without waiting for approval.” As planned, around 1 pm on June 16, those special guests were seated in one of the newspaper’s conference rooms, welcomed by chief editor of Kompas daily newspaper, Budiman Tanuredjo, as well as some other chiefs of the media group from Kompas.TV and Kompas.com. In a video that went viral on YouTube, people could see that the discussion was rather one-sided. The FPI members spoke while the journalist were mostly listening to them. Munarman, the FPI’s spokesperson, accused the media group of unfairly covering recent events. He highlighted the news about the latest swoop in Serang Regency, which caught a middle-aged woman, Saeni, selling food during the day during the fasting month. It was carried out by Satpol PP, the municipal police of the local government specifically functions as public order enforcers. Munarman believed that the raid was virtuous, to enforce Syaria law. He said Kompas had reported the news in a way that portrayed Saeni as a victim and the Satpol PP as the aggressor. Thus, in the view of FPI, Kompas had hurt the feeling of Muslim people. They demanded the coverage to be stopped. They also warned the news organization to never again do such reportage. The FPI members did not stop there. Munarman and other FPI members also incited violence. In an aggressive tone, Munarman warned that such coverage could provoke a repeat of the incidents of 1998. This was a reference to the mass riots in the days before the forced resignation of President Suharto on 21 May 1998. The riot involved ethnic violence against the Chinese minority. Thousands of stores owned by Chinese Indonesians were destroyed, robbed and burnt. Furthermore, tens of Chinese women were sexually abused. There is still ongoing debate about the underlying reasons why the Chinese were targeted, but one theory suggests that it was part of a regime strategy to channel public anger away from President Suharto. Interestingly, despite believing that Kompas was not wrong in a journalistic sense, their journalists responded to the accusations with submission. Responding with smile and a lower tone, Budiman Tanuredjo said, “If we were seen as already crossing the boundaries (kebablasan), please kindly let us know” (Budiman Tanuredjo, 23 June 2016). In the same vein, the journalists from Kompas TV responded that “we were advised that we might have crossed the boundaries in our way, our news routine, we really make it as a lesson”. The other senior journalists who acted as a spokesperson of the media said, “Thank you for your reminder.” Instead of arguing that they were acting according to their journalistic judgment, they decided to admit that they were wrong and apologise to the hardliners. The submissiveness of Kompas becomes more interesting when viewed against the fact that it was not the only media to report the incident. There were at least 10 other online media that reported the raid on Saeni. Those media were Republika, SindoNews, DW, BBC, BeritaSatu, Detik, Tempo, The Jakarta Post, Media Indonesia and Viva. Republika – an Islamic newspaper – was one of the most critical of the raid, explicitly describing Saeni as a victim. On 13 June 2016, they wrote that the spokesperson of the President said that the President had given support to Saeni, “who had been the victim of Satpol PP”. The article’s title was, “Jokowi Gave Charity to a Mother Who Sold Food.” The use of the word “victim” implied that there was a perpetrator, which was the Satpol PP. Yet, FPI did not attack Republika or any other media. Only Kompas became their target. This article argues that the allegations against Kompas and its response were a result of historical factors. Kompas has been repeatedly attacked by Islamic groups due to its Catholic roots. This tendency is exacerbated by the fact that existing blasphemy law provides immense space to prosecute anyone deemed to be offending the feelings of religious believers. Kompas journalists end up internalizing a belief that being minority Catholic is an “original sin” in a majority Muslim country." (pp.33-34) more

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Freedom of expression and threats to journalists’ safety: An analysis of conflict reporting in journalism education in Pakistan

Sadia Jamil

Journalism Education, volume 6, issue 2 (2017), pp. 7-16

"This article has addressed the level of journalists’ safety in Pakistan, revealing the diverse threats to journalists’ safety and their right to freedom of expression in the country. Freedom of expression is an individual right, for which no one should be attacked or killed. However, in this st ... udy, journalists’ feedback reveals that not only their lives but their right to freedom of expression is at risk because of the prevailing unsafe environment in Pakistan. The study suggests journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan because of physical, psychological, financial, social, emotional and topic-specific risks, which constrain journalists’ right to freedom of expression and affect them most while doing their routine jobs. Despite the unsafe environment and constant threats, this study indicates that only 18% of surveyed journalists have received safety training to protect themselves in conflict and non-conflict situations. The following questions need to be addressed when analysing issues around journalists’ safety training in Pakistan, namely: who are the trainers? Are trainers themselves trained for journalists’ safety training, bearing in mind the local safety circumstances? What is the role of local and international NGO’s in promoting journalists’ safety education either at university or media organisational level? Further research on these aspects is crucial for the better training of journalists. This study reveals that the education of conflict reporting and peace journalism is not the major part of journalism curricula in Pakistan’s public and private sector universities. The curriculum in most of the universities do not reflect distinctively the local aspects of journalism teaching and approaches, which is important for enabling journalists to understand the context within which they perform their work. As highlighted by Abit and Kenneth in their article, the case of Kosovo is quite similar to Pakistan – where journalism education lacks local teaching approches. Therefore, in this article, I emphasize certain initiatives such as: the inclusion of journalists’ safety and peace journalism modules in curriculum; collaboration with international universities for innovative pedagogical models; regular curriculum revision and local-context teaching and research within this field. Others have underlined the need for a few more significant inititatives that I think are crucial as far as journalists’ safety education is concerned, such as: enhancing journalists’ awareness of their rights and physical and psychological safety; protection of their equipment, and legal protection while covering war or conflict." (Conclusion) more

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Journalists as Victims and Perpetrators of Violence

Matt Carlson

In: News of Baltimore: Race, Rage and the City

Linda Steiner, Silvio Waisbord (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2017), 17 pp.

"This chapter explores the complicated ways in which journalists became subjects within the stories of Ferguson and Baltimore through a particular focus on the discursive identification of journalists as either victims or perpetrators of violence. It focuses on two evaluative frameworks: journalists ... more

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Safety concerns in the Nigerian media: What gender dynamics?

Lilian Ngusuur Unaegbu

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 171-184

"This chapter focuses on gender dynamics in media safety in Nigeria. It critically examines the safety challenges journalists in Nigeria face in executing their duties in a country that has experienced different forms of conflicts, ranging from political instability, organized crime, terrorism, and ... more

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Media professionals and armed conflict: Protection and responsibilities under international humanitarian law. Handbook

Nicole Urban

British Red Cross; british Institute of international and Comparative Law (2017), vi, 129 pp.

"This Handbook is primarily for use by media professionals who report from conflict zones. It is a practical and accessible guide to the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) that protect media professionals and their work in armed conflict. It also considers the IHL responsibilities that me ... more

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The ghost in the news room: The legacy of Kenya’s 2007 post-election violence and the constraints on journalists covering Kenya’s 2013 General Election

Lisa Weighton, Patrick McCurdy

Journal of Eastern African Studies, volume 11, issue 4 (2017), pp. 649-669

"Domestic journalists covering Kenya’s 2013 General Election worked in an exceptionally challenging media environment; one which was significantly shaped by the 2007 election and post-election violence (PEV). Rooted in literature on peace journalism (PJ), we examine how the PEV of Kenya’s 2007 p ... more

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Field Guide: Media Professionals and Armed Conflict. Protection and Responsibilities Under International Humanitarian Law
Key Guides

Nicole Urban

British Red Cross; British Institute of International and Comparative Law (2017), 57 pp.

"This Field Guide summarises the legal protection and responsibilities of media professionals operating in armed conflicts. It focuses on international humanitarian law (IHL) – also known as the ‘law of armed conflict’ – and sets out some aspects of international and UK criminal law. It is i ... more

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Security and Safety Awareness among Journalist in Nigeria

Jamila Mohammed Dahiru

In: Proceedings International Conference on Media Studies 2017

Azahar Kasim, Norsiah Abdul Hamid, Sabrina Mohd Rashid (eds.)

Sintok: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), School of Multimedia Technology and Communication (2017), pp. 389-394

"Concern on safety and security of journalist is a global phenomenon. This gave rise to security and safety policy documents and protocols for journalists and the need for journalists to know about them to better safeguard themselves while on duty. Studies were conducted on the state of journalist� ... more

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The Protection of Citizen Journalists During Armed Conflicts

Mariateresa Garrido Villareal

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 267-278

"Digital technologies are changing the way in which journalism is performed. Today, reports by citizen journalists (CJs) are extremely relevant when traditional journalists cannot access hostile and dangerous areas. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 90% of murdered reporters were lo ... more

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Training journalists in times of transition: The case of Kosovo

Abit Hoxha, Keneth Andreesen

Journalism Education, volume 6, issue 2 (2017), pp. 37-47

"With Kosovo as its case, this article explores the context and challenges of journalism education in transition societies. Journalists in Kosovo have lived through constant changes from authoritarian to democracy. In this struggle, journalism education has never been stable and steady. The past con ... more

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Byte Back: A Journalists' Guide to Combat Cyber Harassment in South Asia

Geeta Seshu, Laxmi Murthy

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ); South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) (2017), 8 pp.

"[...] This is a guide to provide support and advice based on shared experience of others worldwide and includes handy links to other research and IFJ resources. With courage, wit and sheer determination, we’ve seen many journalists demonstrate how to take on trolls, call them out, respond to pate ... more

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UNESCO’s Research Agenda on the Safety of Journalists: Call for new academic research initiatives

Reeta Pöyhtäri

In: The Assault on Journalism. Building Knowledge to Protect Freedom of Expression

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 103-108

"Within this global context, UNESCO is the UN agency with the mandate to advance “the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication” and to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image”. UNESCO has defined press freedom as designating the conditi ... more

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Google Scholar (184)

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Reporting from the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs, and an Increasingly Perilous Future

Maria Armoudian

London; New York: Routledge (2017), 165 pp.

"Journalism is a dangerous business when one’s "beat" is a war zone. Armoudian reveals the complications facing frontline journalists who cover warzones, hot spots and other hazardous situations. It compares yesterday’s conflict journalism, which was fraught with its own dangers, with today’s ... more

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Journalists and Safety Training: Experiences and Opinions

Autumn Slaughter, Bradley Brummel, Susan Drevo, Elana Newman et al.

Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma; University of Tulsa, Trauma Research Lab (2017), 57 pp.

"The report, based on answers from 247 respondents, summarises the ‘good news’, that journalists do implement changes in their behaviour when they have attended safety trainings, and the gaps and challenges, including the fact that few journalists keep their training up to date in spite of indus ... more

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Google Scholar (145)

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Journalists and Political Sources in Nigeria: Between Information Subsidies and Political Pressures

Rodney Ciboh

International Journal of Press/Politics, volume 22, issue 2 (2017), pp. 185-201

"The relationship between journalists and political sources has been characterized by a tug of war between reporters and officials where top politicians have the upper hand in the coproduction of news through their ability to provide critical information subsidies that most news media rely on. The d ... more

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Model Course on Safety of Journalists: A Guide for Journalism Teachers in the Arab States

Michael Foley, Clare Arthurs, Magda Abu-Fadil

Paris: UNESCO (2017), 172 pp.

"Safety of Journalists: A Model Course for the Arab States is a significant instalment in our UNESCO Series on Journalism Education. Developed in partnership with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the publication responds to the difficult situation of many journalists working in the ... more

Field Guide: Media Professionals and Armed Conflict. Protection and Responsibilities Under International Humanitarian Law Key Guides

Field Guide: Media Professionals and Armed Conflict. Protection and Responsibilities Under International Humanitarian Law
Key Guides