"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
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try recommendations for refresher courses every 3 years. Recommendations include more sexual violence and harassment training; that safety trainers should be knowledgeable about gender and cultural issues; that psychological trauma needs to be addressed in training; and that more digital security training is needed." (www.gfmd.info)
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"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
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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)
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"Too many journalists are victims of violence and impunity, and more should be done in academia to prepare media students for the perils they are likely to face. I urge all faculty members at this conference to incorporate a course on safety for journalists in their curricula. It’s not a luxury; i
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t’s an urgent necessity. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), one journalist is killed every five days in the line of duty and the impunity of such acts is unabated." (Abstract)
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"The article recaps the main findings of the investigations presented in this special issue and seeks to answer the question “What can Northern journalism educators do to improve safety during fieldwork in the Global South?” The article builds mainly on qualitative interviews with former journal
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ism students who have done journalism fieldwork in dangerous situations as part of journalism education in Norway. It concludes by recommending the building of networks of mutual aid across countries and continents to research journalism safety and enlist the help of educators around the world in the training of journalism students." (Abstract)
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"Introduction: journalists in Latin America continue to face numerous threats in the exercise of their journalistic profession, which has increased the concern of the international community over its protection in recent years. Methodology: The objective of this research is to analyse nearly 500 cas
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es of murders and disappearances in Latin America from 2000 to the present, as well as to elaborate on a profuse bibliographic review of the main sources of information and national and international programs in this regard. Results and conclusions: The results show a considerable gap between the international willingness to create programs for the protection and fight against impunity, the complex and insecure national realities in the region, and the number of information professionals who died or disappeared violently in Latin America." (Abstract)
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"A decade long civil war ended with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2006. To address the political developments, the Interim Constitution was promulgated in 2007. Though the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 guarantees press freedom, every year various incidents of press freedom violation
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are recorded by various national and international organizations. This article evaluates the situation of press freedom in Nepal since the signing of CPA 2006 by analyzing all the incidents of press freedom violation from 2007 to 2014 as recorded by International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The analysis of those events shows lack of sufficient evidence and information to justify them as the press freedom violation. No matter where and how the journalist or media owner is killed, threatened or harmed physically, it is termed as press freedom violation. The situation of Press freedom after peace agreement in 2006 is not that critical as projected in various reports and there is no government censorship in media. However, if the mechanism by which press freedom violation cases are recorded could be reviewed and more details are included, those reports will be much reliable. This tendency of reflecting critical situation of press freedom by projecting every incident without an adequate investigation might deviate from other issues related to journalist’s profession and further it might not motivate journalist and media to adhere to the code of ethics and become responsible to their profession. Though, the issue of professional safety of journalists could not be ignored, not all the incidents related to journalist are the cases of press freedom violation." (Abstract)
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"This paper studies how the training of journalists has been approached in Spain. Since 2003, the Army War College has held annual Training Courses for War Correspondents. Over three hundred journalists have been trained on these courses. This study analyses and reflects on how the Spanish Army carr
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ies out the training of journalists; how this training has evolved; and how it is assessed by Spanish journalists. It also examines the role of Spanish universities in this regard. In order to do so, our research required an analysis of curriculums for both undergraduate and graduate studies of the Communication Faculties at Spanish universities. In-depth interviews were conducted with journalists who had taken part in the courses and army members who had designed and taught them. One of our main findings is that the Spanish army is the leading institution in safety training for journalists; neither the media nor Spanish universities play a role in it. The army designs, runs and provides the financing for this training, which is very positively assessed by journalists, to the point where they consider it has determined their safety at work." (Abstract)
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"Research on journalists working in contexts of risk has examined either war correspondents on temporary assignments or the psychological effects of covering traumatic events, usually after the events have ended. Although these studies are important, they fail to account for the growing importance o
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f ongoing violence in insecure democracies and its possible consequences for national journalistic practice. We address these issues by examining journalists' risk-reduction practices in Mexico, including self-censorship, following company censorship policies, curtailing street reporting, and concealing sensitive information. Using logistic regressions, we tested occupational, organizational, normative, and contextual conditions as predictors of engagement in these practices. Findings reveal the pervasiveness of risk-reduction practices in Mexico and the complexity of conditions prompting their use, including conditions related to antipress violence, dangerous newsbeats, and the economic insecurity of media firms but also voicing greater support for assertive professional norms. The research sets a baseline for future comparative research that includes greater attention to subnational conditions, dangerous newsbeats, and how violence and uneven state capacity may undermine the economic conditions of media firms." (Abstract)
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"A journalist is a person who involves in activities such as writing/ reporting for newspapers, magazines or on news websites in order to be published/ broadcasted. The journalists have social responsibility i.e. objective reporting. Media is the "Fourth Estate" and journalists are the watchdogs of
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society. In order to carry out the healthy practice of journalism the journalists need to be free and the circumstances need to be safe. Journalist safety is the most important aspect of press freedom. The other question that arises time and again is about the representation of women in Media. Even the concept of gender inequality might have changed over the course of time and the representation of women is still minimal. Women have not gained parity with men in terms of participation and decision making." (Abstract)
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"This study will contain an analysis on the international and regional standards in the field of freedom of expression, as stipulated in the United Nations conventions and in the European Convention of Human Rights. Further we will establish a link between the breach of the freedom of expression whe
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n cases of violence against journalists arise, especially tackling the impunity problem. The paper will focus on the study of the ECtHR judgements regarding freedom of expression and cases of violence against journalists. Also, we will address the recent recommendations at the Council of Europe level. Concluding, the study will attempt to express some recommendations in solving the problem of violence against journalists." (Abstract)
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"In the last Afghan solar year (22 March 2015 – 21 March 2016), twelve journalists and media workers were killed, exceeding any previous year in recent history. In June 2016, the US photographer David Gilkey and his interpreter, journalist Zabihullah Tamanna, were killed in a Taliban attack in Maj
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rah, southern Afghanistan. Approximately three hundred journalists left Afghanistan in 2015. More may follow. The journalists who left last year are relatively few considering the quarter million Afghans who came to Europe in 2015 to seek asylum. Nevertheless, they all share some of the same reasons for leaving. Most important are the high level of threats and the lack of security, both of which affect media workers seriously. In a broad-based Deutsche Welle-report, journalists complain of being “under suspicion from all sides”, and claim that besides the Taliban, the government as well “puts journalists under pressure. Then there are the mafia and the warlords”. The situation has parallels in other countries ravaged by conflict, today not least in Syria and Iraq, but also in neighbouring Pakistan. The difference is that Afghanistan has been in a situation of constant war, occupation, and violent conflict for close to forty years, meaning that a vast majority of the country’s population has not experienced any lasting period of peace and stability. This may be one of the more profound explanations for the current exodus. Hopes have been raised too many times, only to be dashed. Many journalists do not see a future for free media and journalism in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Constitution guarantees free expression." (Introduction)
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"Both long-standing and innovative partnership models suggest that collaborative newsgathering by international and local journalists has been an invaluable practice to get the news in unsafe environments and out to global audiences. As violence, often deadly and nearly always unpunished, multiplies
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against all journalists, and foreign correspondence is cut back while many news media struggle financially, this safety mechanism is at risk precisely when it is most necessary." (Abstract)
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"The Iraq War was a landmark in war reporting. The design and implementation of the embedded system enabled nearly 700 journalists to live and work alongside soldiers of the United States and British armies. Nearly 30 countries took part in the system, including Spain, one of the main supporters of
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the USA in its decision to start the war. This article discusses the advantages and drawbacks of the embedded system and the risks it entails for the security and protection of journalists. It offers a reflection on the challenges to be faced now that the embedded system has been consolidated as a way of covering a conflict… and has also proved to be the most economical way of doing so. This research focuses on the situation in Spain, where this debate has not been addressed by either academia or journalism. An in-depth interview method was chosen as the principal research tool." (Abstract)
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"This study investigates the challenges faced by local journalists caught between the global “war on terror” and its local consequences in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Threats and impunity are commonplace in this buffer zone bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, compell
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ing scores of native journalists to flee with their immediate families to the relative peace of nearby Peshawar, where they continue to report on issues back home. In-depth interviews with local journalists reveal how threats and impunity work as structural constraints that affect reporting. Working under the logic of neoliberalism, media outlets extract what they can out of these reporters, but the risks are often considered journalists’ personal responsibility and add to their dependence on colleagues. This chapter offers valuable insight into the concerns of local journalists, and demonstrates how they resist the power holders in Pakistan and adapt to the complicated intersections of state, militant and foreign interests." (Abstract)
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"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
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cals (CPJ 2015). CJs are among the most affected journalists because they are locally based; therefore, their protection is essential. This article explores the legal instruments available to protect CJs during armed conflicts, and how distortions in the interpretation of norms can put them at risk. First, I present the legal arguments supporting the simultaneous application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, and the protection mechanisms available for the legal protection of CJs. Second, I highlight the problems that arise when CJs are identified as combatants (spies), rather than as civilians, and discuss the effects this has on the conflict." (Abstract)
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"José Luis Benítez provides an overview of the safety situation in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador." (Abstract)
"To support joint efforts to protect journalism, there is a growing need for research-based knowledge. Acknowledging this need, the aim of this publication is to highlight and fuel journalist safety as a field of research, to encourage worldwide participation, as well as to inspire further dialogues
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and new research initiatives. The contributions represent diverse perspectives on both empirical and theoretical research and offer many quantitatively and qualitatively informed insights. The articles demonstrate that a new important interdisciplinary research field is in fact emerging, and that the fundamental issue remains identical: Violence and threats against journalists constitute an attack on freedom of expression." (Back cover)
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"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
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stress symptoms, PTSS) or to personal posttraumatic growth (PTG). Results showed that 9 per cent (n = 33) were at risk for a posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis. Journalists who perceived organized SS to be beneficial reported fewer symptoms. Receiving recognition from colleagues and managers promoted PTG. The study shows that newsrooms that implement openness to stress as a natural post-trauma reaction support resilience among their journalists." (Abstract)
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"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
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ons of media freedom, pluralism and independence, as well as the safety of journalists (UNESCO 2014b). As the holder of a global mandate in the field of work with the safe practice of journalism, the Organization has led the initiative to develop the UN Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity (2012). Grasping the complexity of the safety issue, the Plan defines a wide range of actions to be carried out by a variety of stakeholders to enhance the overall safety of those involved in journalism practice in a broad sense, including “journalists, media workers and social media producers generating a significant amount of public interest journalism”, in both conflict and non-conflict situations, online and offline, and with a view to strengthening peace, democracy, and development worldwide." (Abstract)
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"I would like to begin by stating the obvious. Any way forward has to be based on a clear understanding of the possibilities for change in the environment and context of the press in India. While there is a lot to celebrate about the press in India, its institutional location within the market, its
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shapings by economic criteria and its cohabitations with business, politics and power have arguably compromised its ability to act as the Fourth Estate. So there is a sense in which the press has internal issues that it needs to deal with, although it also has to deal with external issues. When extra-journalistic pressures impinge on reporting, when power is levied to instil fear, encourage the nonreporting of scams and scandals and when those with the temerity to hold truth to power pay the ultimate price – death, the way forward simply has to reckon with and find solutions within a consideration of these home truths." (Abstract)
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