Monitoring Journalism Safety & Networks

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Protection mechanisms in Latin America: How to stregnthen the fragile shield protecting journalists

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2024), 13 pp.

"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 ... d journalists to flee abroad. Due to this systemic violence, protection mechanisms are urgently needed. These statesector programmes aim to protect individuals who are exposed to risks because of their journalistic work or because they combat corruption, organised crime, and abuses carried out by authorities. These initiatives are often launched in response to pressure from civil society and international organisations. In the past ten years, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras all established such mechanisms. More recently, Ecuador and Peru launched protection initiatives in response to increased attacks. After several administrations that were hostile towards the media, Guatemala is now also trying to implement a protection policy, while draft laws are being discussed in Chile and Paraguay. Despite national differences, these mechanisms are built around common missions: assessing risks, determining appropriate measures and implementing protection plans for those under state protection. The methods used can take various forms, ranging from regular police patrols and emergency communication channels with law enforcement to enhanced protection measures such as bodyguards, armoured vehicles, bulletproof vests, surveillance cameras, and even relocation to safer places in the most serious situations. With support from UNESCO, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has worked to strengthen these mechanisms since 2021. In 2022, RSF published a report entitled “Protection paradigm: making protection mechanisms work for Latin American journalists” on Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras. Now, this report focuses on the initiatives emerging in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Peru. Through this report, RSF reaffirms its commitment — together with civil society and authorities — to establishing concrete responses to the threats against journalists. The number of protection mechanisms are growing, but their efficacy varies considerably and depends on an integrated approach involving various actors in order to prevent violence and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. Many programmes are cruelly lacking in resources and can offer only limited state support, meaning they often fail to react to threats or prosecute attackers." (Foreword, page 3) more

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Monitoring journalism safety

Manizja Aziz, Leon Willems

In: The Routledge Handbook of Conflict and Peace Communication

Stacey L. Connaughton, Stefanie Pukallus (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), 10 pp.

"This chapter discusses the monitoring of violations of the right to life and safety of journalists. The safety of journalists is a prerequisite for the provision of access to reliable information to the public, but journalists worldwide face risks as a result of their work. Monitoring violations he ... more

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Conceptualizing Journalists’ Safety around the Globe

Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Jyotika Ramaprasad, Nina Springer, Sallie Hughes, Thomas Hanitzsch, Basyouni Hamada, Abit Hoxha, Nina Steindl

Digital Journalism, volume 11, issue 7 (2023), pp. 1211-1229

"Killings, as the most extreme form of violence against journalists, receive considerable attention, but journalists experience a variety of threats from surveillance to gendered cyber targeting and hate speech, or even the intentional deprivation of their financial basis. This article provides a co ... more

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International organizations that protect journalists' rights in international law

Orifjonov Shokhrukhbek Joraboy o'g'li

Proceedings of International Conference on Scientific Research in Natural and Social Sciences, volume 2, issue 6 (2023), pp. 184–190

"The protection of journalists' rights is critical for the preservation of freedom of expression, the rule of law, and democracy. International organizations play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of journalists worldwide. This article examines the international legal framework th ... more

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Whose Media Freedom is Being Defended? Norm Contestation in International Media Freedom Campaigns

Martin Scott, Mel Bunce, Mary Myers, Maria Carmen Fernandez

Journal of Communication, volume 73, issue 2 (2023), pp. 87-100

"This article analyses how international advocacy campaigns approach and define media freedom, and what influences this process. It does this through a two-year case study of the Media Freedom Coalition—an intergovernmental partnership of over 50 countries—that included 55 interviews with key st ... more

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National Human Rights Institutions and Journalist Safety

Binod Bhattarai

Copenhagen: International Media Support (IMS) (2022), 98 pp.

"This report explores the role of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in South and Southeast Asia – Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan – and how their engagement in supporting national protection mechanisms for journalists can contribute to upholding their mandate of promoting ... human rights for all. Indonesia has an estimated 100,000 journalists in a population of over 271 million people. Its geography represents a challenge for monitoring violations of press freedom and the safety of journalists. In Indonesia, journalists’ and civil society groups have begun to support vulnerable journalists and to collaborate on setting up a national safety mechanism for them. Such a mechanism could involve existing organisations of journalists, the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia, the Press Council and other state agencies. Preliminary consultations are assessing which institutions might anchor such a mechanism and whether the existing legal framework is appropriate or adequate. Nepal saw a rise in the persecution and assassinations of journalists during the Maoist government conflict (1996-2006) and the long transition to a new constitution (2006-2015). Some perpetrators were prosecuted successfully, but many cases remain open. Nepal was one of the first countries whose NHRI considered the establishment of a mechanism for journalists’ safety. The Nepal National Human Rights Commission and the Federation of Nepali Journalists began working towards this in 2012, and their efforts culminated in 2019 when the Nepal National Human Rights Commission approved a directive to establish a multi-stakeholder mechanism for upholding the freedom of expression of all citizens, including journalists. Pakistan has one of the world’s highest rates of impunity for crimes against journalists, despite the formidable efforts of journalists’ and civil society groups. For example, out of over 140 journalist deaths, only three perpetrators have been prosecuted and all three verdicts were overturned on appeal. However, change could be in the air: Pakistan enacted a new national law in 2021 – based on one adopted earlier by a provincial government – to protect journalists’ safety. While this legislation is welcome, those laws do not include a role for the Pakistan National Commission of Human Rights and thus could be more robust, according to journalists’ and civil society groups. The Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, but the government has begun working with its NHRI on a multi-stakeholder mechanism to protect them. Since 1986, 234 journalists and media professionals in the Philippines have been killed, including 19 after President Rodrigo Duterte took charge of the administration in October 2016. According to media and civil society groups, state agencies have allegedly been involved in 114 attacks and threats against journalists and civil society advocates who had first been “red-tagged” by the authorities for their supposed links with armed communist insurgents and/or “terrorism”. In July 2018, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) adopted a resolution to form a taskforce with a mandate to monitor and investigate media-related extrajudicial killings. This led to more collaboration between the CHR, media and civil society groups. As a result, the Philippine Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists was launched in November 2019, as part of a threeyear European Union project that seeks to establish a national multi-stakeholder mechanism for the safety of journalists." (Executive summary, pages 9-10) more

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Bajo riesgo: Cómo superar las deficiencias de los programas de protección de periodistas en América Latina (Brasil, Colombia, Honduras y México)

Paris: Reporteros sin Fronteras (2022), 140 pp.

"Este estudio, apoyado por la UNESCO, es el resultado de una investigación de nueve meses de RSF sobre la eficiencia, el impacto y los desafíos de estas políticas públicas a nivel regional, con un enfoque específico en asegurar la protección de periodistas y comunicadores. Los resultados refue ... more

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The Platform for the Protection of Journalists: A Mechanism for Cooperation between Non-Governmental Organisations and the Council of Europe

Ana Gascón Marcén

Utrecht Law Review, volume 17, issue 2 (2021), pp. 42-55

"The decrease in journalist safety and media freedom has a negative impact on the rule of law because journalists cannot act as public watchdogs. Its deterioration in Europe during the last decade is a worrying trend for society as a whole. The Council of Europe has tried to fight against it through ... more

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Understanding Journalist Killings

Sabine C. Carey, Anita R. Gohdes

Journal of Politics, volume 83, issue 4 (2021), pp. 1216–1228

"Why do state authorities murder journalists? We show that the majority of journalists are killed in democracies and present an argument that focuses on institutional differences between democratic states. In democracies, journalists will most likely be targeted by local state authorities that have ... more

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Framework on Police-Media Relations & Safety of Journalists in Ghana

Ghana Police Service; Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA); National Media Commission (2020), 16 pp.

"[...] the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and other media actors, in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, in 2018 began a process to improve relations between the media and the police. As a first step a forum was organised in July 2018 to discuss the safety of journalists and police ... more

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Rebuilding investigative journalism. Collaborative journalism: Sharing information, sharing risk

Pedro Coelho, Inês Alves Rodrigues

Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, volume 14, issue 4 (2020), pp. 135-157

"This article details the role of collaborative journalism during the process of rebuilding investigative journalism at its core thus assuring enduring investment in its quality. We will start by characterizing the concepts of investigative journalism and collaborative journalism, using leading scho ... more

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New Opportunities in Monitoring Safety of Journalists through the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

Guy Berger

Media and Communication, volume 8, issue 1 (2020), pp. 78-88

"This article highlights the potential for increased and more standardised monitoring of a range of aspects of the safety of journalists. This is in the light of a specific indicator that has been agreed by the UN as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The indicator concerned treats th ... more

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Strengthening the monitoring of violations against journalists through an events-based methodology

Jackie Harrison, D. Maynard, S. Torsner

Media and Communication, volume 8, issue 1 (2020), pp. 89-100

"Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 16.10.1 proposes an important monitoring agenda for the global recording of a range of violations against journalists as a means to prevent attacks on the communicative functions of journalism. However, the need for extensive collection of data on violat ... more

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Lobbying for life: Violence against the press and the public interest

Julieta Alejandra Brambila, Jairo Lugo-Ocando

In: Public Interest Communication

Jane Johnston, Magda Pieczka (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2018), 18 pp.

"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

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Measuring journalism safety. Methodological challenges

Sara Torsner

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

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 129-140

"The effectiveness of any measures taken to address the problems of journalism safety ultimately depends on our ability to understand the complex nature and dynamics of risk to journalists. Mapping the scale of the problem through the systematic collection of data on threats over time is therefore a ... more

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Global and Domestic Networks Advancing Prospects for Institutional and Social Change: The Collective Action Response to Violence Against Journalists

Jeannine E. Relly, Celeste González de Bustamante

Journalism and Communication Monographs, volume 19, issue 2 (2017), pp. 84-152

"Violence against journalists has emerged as a global human rights issue as the number of those killed in the profession has steadily risen in the new millennium. This research utilized a collective action framework, applying an adapted qualitative network model to examine organizational mobilizatio ... more

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Setting a New Research Agenda: The establishment of a journalism safety research network

Jackie Harrison

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

Ulla Carlsson, Reeta Pöyhtäri (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2017), pp. 109-112

"At a UNESCO research conference on the safety of journalists during the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day in Helsinki, Finland on 3 and 4 May 2016, UNESCO declared “that the Safety of Journalists paved the way for academic research cooperation”. To advance such cooperation the Centre for ... 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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The (Un)safe Practice of Journalism: An Analysis Based on UNESCO’s Journalists’ Safety Indicators Assessments

Reeta Pöyhtäri

In: Freedom of Expression and Media in Transition: Studies and Reflections in the Digital Age

Ulla Carlsson (ed.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2016), pp. 103-107

"Journalists around the world are being killed and threatened for doing their work. This is a serious hindrance to freedom of expression and the safe practice of journalism. UN and UNESCO have led the process to create the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity to i ... more

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Institutional Design and Effectiveness of the Agencies Charged with Protecting Journalists and Investigating Crimes Against the Press: Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala

Natalie Torres

Buenos Aires: Universidad de Palermo, Facultad de Derecho, Centro de Estudios en Libertad de Expresión y Acceso a la Información (CELE) (2012), 111 pp.