"A través de la Red de Alerta y Protección a Periodistas, RAP, la FLIP completa una década de monitoreo ininterrumpido y sistemático de todas las agresiones a la libertad de prensa en el país; también desarrolla actividades que contribuyen a la protección de los periodistas y de los medios de
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comunicación y promueve el derecho fundamental a la información.
La línea de protección de la FLIP cuenta con un apoyo invaluable y fundamental en la atención del periodista en riesgo: el soporte sicológica de Resiliencia: Centro de Investigación y Apoyo Emocional al Periodista de la Escuela de Comunicación Social y Periodismo de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda. Desde 2003, el proyecto Resiliencia se dedicada a dar apoyo emocional al periodista que por la naturaleza de su trabajo se ve expuesto constantemente al dolor o es víctima de experiencias traumáticas. Cuando accede al programa, el periodista recibe de manera gratuita atención terapéutica personalizada. Resiliencia también desarrolla investigaciones sobre la salud mental del periodista colombiano.
Con este manual para el apoyo emocional del periodista ofrecemos herramientas prácticas y útiles para que el periodista pueda afrontar episodios traumáticos en el ejercicio de su labor. de la misma manera, pretendemos dar respuestas a algunos de los interrogantes emocionales generados en el desarrollo de esta difícil profesión." (Presentación, página 9)
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"[...] 1. As used in these guidelines, the term “crisis” includes, but is not limited to, wars, terrorist attacks, natural and man-made disasters, i.e. situations in which freedom of expression and information is threatened (for example, by limiting it for security reasons); the term “media pr
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ofessionals” covers all those engaged in the collection, processing and dissemination of information intended for the media. The term includes also cameramen and photographers, as well as support staff such as drivers and interpreters.
2. Member states should assure to the maximum possible extent the safety of media professionals – both national and foreign. The need to guarantee the safety, however, should not be used by member states as a pretext to limit unnecessarily the rights of media professionals such as their freedom of movement and access to information.
3. Competent authorities should investigate promptly and thoroughly the killings and other attacks on media professionals. Where applicable, the perpetrators should be brought to justice under a transparent and rapid procedure.
4. Member states should require from military and civilian agencies in charge of managing crisis situations to take practical steps to promote understanding and communication with media professionals covering such situations.
5. Journalism schools, professional associations and media are encouraged to provide as appropriate general and specialised safety training for media professionals.
6. Employers should strive for the best possible protection of their media staff on dangerous missions, including by providing training, safety equipment and practical counselling. They should also offer them adequate insurance in respect of risks to the physical integrity. International organisations of journalists might consider facilitating the establishment of an insurance system for freelance media professionals covering crisis situations. [...]" (Page 2)
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"Foreign correspondent Waghorn compares long-term assignments in China and Israel and observes: "Whereas in China the challenge was engaging the viewers' interest in somewhere so unfamiliar and alien, here [Israel] it is keeping them interested in somewhere they find over familiar. Rock-throwing, su
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icide bombs, helicopter gunships, funeral rallies and weeping relatives - they have seen it all before, time and time again." And in terms of physical obstacles to reporting, he writes, in Israel "they come in more dangerous forms than in China. In Gaza, for example, we operate with the risk of kidnapping and although dodging around in taxis, trying to remain unnoticed, can feel the same as ducking and diving to avoid Chinese police interference, in China a western correspondent can be fairly confident that the worst to fear is detention, losing your tapes and an occasional roughing up. Here there are more mortal dangers and neither side in the conflict has ever shown sufficient interest in the health and safety of journalists in the heat of battle." But in terms of obtaining information, Israel is light years ahead, he believes." (Abstract)
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"One thousand journalists and support staff have died trying to report the news around the world in the past 10 years: an average of two a week. Only one in four news media staff died covering war and other armed conflicts. The great majority died in peacetime, working in their own countries. At lea
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st 657 men and women were murdered - eliminated as they tried to shine light into the dark recesses of their societies - and only one in eight of their killers were prosecuted. In two-thirds of cases the killers were not even identified, and probably never will be, underlining the absence of full and proper investigations when a journalist or other news professional is killed. The figures, compiled by INSI between January 1996 and June 2006, show it is virtually risk free to kill a journalist." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"Live News: A Survival Guide for Journalists, is carefully tailored to help journalists to prepare themselves mentally, physically and psychologically before engaging on an assignment that can be very dangerous. The guiding tips provided in the text help to prepare the journalists mentally before, h
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e/she moves into a hostile environment or an area that he/she is not familiar with. In trying to bring the news “home” so many journalists have been killed in the process. Some are deliberately targeted, while others are killed in what is now termed as “friendly fire”. A lot more die in accident related cases or at times fall seriously ill while on such mission or sustain serious injuries through natural causes. Live News: A Survival Guide for Journalists tries to minimise such occurrences by giving survival tips to journalists who might find themselves in critical conditions." (Preface)
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"The very real danger in which conflict-journalists find themselves is well illustrated by the fact that during the recent conflict in Iraq proportionally more journalists were killed than members of the coalition forces (BalguyGallois March 2004 International Review of the Red Cross 37). The fact t
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hat journalists in conflict zones require protection is no new notion to humanitarian law, as is evidenced by the Geneva Convention of 1929-07-27 (relative to the treatment of prisoners of war). However, problems may arise where journalists start choosing sides. Should a journalist enter the arena of hostilities on either side, the situation will be that a person protected, at least to the same degree as a local civilian, will have a bearing on the hostilities. No better example exists than the Nahimana case (The Prosecutor v Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, Hassan Ngeze case no ICTR-99-52-T (2003) (hereinafter "Nahimana")." (Abstract)
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"This paper investigates occupational stressors amongst media personnel assigned to work on covering the Iraq War via interviews with 54 journalists from the BBC and Reuters, who worked in Iraq between February and April 2003. A range of stressors were identified that could be categorized into three
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main themes, control over the situation, support from management and grief from the death of colleagues. Journalists not embedded with military units were more likely to report negative physical and emotional health outcomes. The study concludes that hazardous work environments do not, by themselves, cause stress and poor job satisfaction. Rather, organizational factors, the imbalance between the ability to make decisions about how to carry out their job effectively and the perceived rewards of working in such environments appear to have a greater impact on work related stress." (Abstract)
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"The Russian mass media system has experienced tremendous change since the Soviet era. It has been argued that some similarities still exist between the old Soviet system and the new post-Soviet media, such as the practice of self-censorship. Pressure has been mounting on the mass media's level of e
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ditorial freedom since the late Yeltsin era, beginning with a raft of new laws introduced under the guise of keeping the media ‘honest’. One contemporary influence constraining and shaping media de velopment is Russia's ‘war on terrorism’. Ever since the infamous apartment bombings of August 1999, over 1000 people have been killed and scores more physically and emotionally scarred by acts of terrorism on Russian soil. The political, social and economic costs have been considerable. Russia's ‘war on terrorism’ has provided the authorities with ample excuses to curtail media reporting, such as protecting the work of the security forces in combating terrorist activity, stopping the spread of terrorist ‘propaganda’ and protecting victims of terrorist acts. Numerous bills have been debated in the Duma on prohibiting activity by the mass media during an incident. Senior representatives from the mass media have been involved in talks with the authorities on the issue and in drawing up industry guidelines for reporting on a terrorist act." (Abstract)
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"As journalists in Iraq and other hot spots around the world continue to face harrowing dangers and personal threats, neuropsychiatrist Anthony Feinstein offers a timely and important exploration into the psychological damage of those who, armed only with pen, tape recorder, or camera, bear witness
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to horror. Based on a series of recent studies investigating the emotional impact of war on the profession, Journalists under Fire breaks new ground in the study of trauma-related disorders." (Abstract)
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"In transitional societies where political pressure on the press is coupled with a commercial media system and a professional journalistic culture, the politics of self-censorship is likely to involve a strategic contest between the media and political actors. Language plays a significant role in th
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is contest. The present study focuses on the case of Hong Kong. It analyzes how two local newspapers, facing an important yet sensitive political issue, constructed two different overall storylines and used two different sets of discursive strategies in their editorials to handle political pressure, market credibility, and journalistic integrity simultaneously. The elite-oriented Ming Pao constructed a storyline of the debate as a factional struggle in order to posit itself as an impartial arbitrator. This approach was further sustained and justified by the discursive strategies of balanced and qualified criticisms and the rhetoric of rational discussion. The mass-oriented Apple Daily, on the other hand, constructed a storyline of a sovereign people whose rights are encroached upon by a powerful entity. The paper was therefore much more critical towards the power center. Nevertheless, it also appropriated the dominant discourse, constructed internal contradictions, and decentralized the Chinese central government to smooth out the radicalism of its criticisms." (Abstract)
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"Killing the Messenger reveals the dangerous new face of war and journalism. Covering armed conflicts has always been dangerous business, but in the past, press heroes like Ernie Pyle and Edward R. Murrow faced only the danger of random bullets or bombs. Today’s war correspondent is actually in th
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e cross hairs, a target of combatants on all sides of conflicts. In their own words, correspondents describe the new dangers they face and attempt to explain why they are targeted. Killing the Messenger reveals the dangerous new face of war and journalism. Covering armed conflicts has always been dangerous business, but in the past, press heroes like Ernie Pyle and Edward R. Murrow faced only the danger of random bullets or bombs. Today’s war correspondent is actually in the cross hairs, a target of combatants on all sides of conflicts.
In this book, correspondents describe the new dangers they face, and attempt to explain why they are targeted. Is it simply that modern combatants are more brutal than in the past, or has journalism changed, making correspondents players, rather than observers, in modern warfare? Extended interviews with correspondents who have been abducted and tortured during Middle East conflicts shed chilling light on this new face of war. These journalists, who have paid dearly to bring first-hand images of war to the public, offer some surprising insights into the nature and motivation of their kidnappers, and the reasons why reporters are targeted. They display no self-pity and little inclination to blame anyone other than themselves. At the same time, they are candid in describing the violence within Iraq and without. Ways to reduce the risks for reporters are discussed, but these editors and correspondents suggest that, short of withdrawing into isolated and protected enclaves, they may be facing an indefinite escalation of violence against journalists." (Abstract)
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"This study examines the perceptions of journalists working for two international television news agencies about this safety policy called the ‘Joint code of practice for journalists working in conflict zones’. This policy was adopted in November 2000 by five major television companies including
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the television news agencies Reuters Television and Associated Press Television News. This study finds that the policy had significant flaws in how it was formulated and how it is communicated, implemented and reviewed. Recognising the existence of unequal relations of power and conflicting interests at play in any policy process, this study stresses that in the case of the journalist safety policy, all stakeholders should have participated in the relevant policy stages. This argument arises from researching the policy document as well as from the point of view of managers, and particularly journalists who work on dangerous assignments, either full-time or on a freelance basis for either of the two television news agencies. It finds that while journalists are not generally aware of the policy, they do practice many of its elements as well as a range of their own custom-made strategies to protect themselves. The result is to make the policy less effective than it could be." (Abstract)
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"The problem of the protection of journalists is closely linked to that of freedom of information and was first considered as early as 1893/94. In 1927 a conference of press experts held in Geneva adopted various resolutions for their submission to member states. These resolutions addressed a range
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of issues, including the treatment of foreign journalists and specific proposals for the prevention of violence against journalists. Among these, in particular, was the establishment of an identity card for journalists. Unfortunately these resolutions were of no consequence and the problem was never addressed again." (Abstract)
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"Iraq has proven to be a particularly hazardous posting for journalists. More media workers have been killed there than during the two-decades-long war in Vietnam. And 15 have died at the hands of American forces." (Introduction)
"La FIJ mène depuis de nombreuses années une campagne pour le renforcement de la sécurité et pour la défense des journalistes autochtones et des freelances, car ce sont eux qui sont exposés aux risques les plus importants et qui bénéficient du moins de protection. Les choses commencent à bo
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uger avec la création de l'International News Safety Institute (voir pages 103-105). Le présent ouvrage s'inscrit dans ce processus. Il collecte les expériences de ceux qui ont couvert et filmé les événements dans des environnements hostiles et tente d'en tirer les leçons afin de sauver des vies. Mais la sécurité, ce n'est pas seulement éviter les balles. C'est aussi créer une culture de conscientisation des risques sous tous les aspects du journalisme, qu'il soit de guerre, d'investigation ou de rue. Nous avons voulu mettre en exergue les besoins des journalistes locaux, mais une grande partie des informations disponibles provient de correspondants internationaux et des cours de formation conçus pour les géants des médias électroniques. La FIJ utilisera le présent ouvrage pour diffuser le message de la sécurité, mais aidera également ses bureaux régionaux à la production de versions locales. La richesse du savoir et de l'expérience des journalistes qui vivent et travaillent sur la ligne de front et qui ont appris survivre tout en faisant leur travail est incommensurable." (Préface, page iv)
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"The current war in Iraq saw an alliance between the media and the military, a process called embedded journalism. The aim of this study was to explore whether this process affected the journalists' vulnerability to psychological distress. Eighty-five of 100 journalists approached agreed to particip
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ate; 38 (44.7%) were embedded. There were no differences between embedded and unilateral (nonembedded) journalists on demographic measures or in their exposure to traumatic events. Similarly, the two groups did not differ on indices of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, psychological distress, and substance use. Based on General Health Questionnaire scores, one third of all journalists were psychologically distressed. There is no evidence from the recent war in Iraq suggesting that embedded journalists are at increased risk for psychological problems." (Abstract)
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"The recent war in Iraq is a perfect illustration of the growing risks faced by journalists working in conflict zones. It is therefore important to call renewed attention to the fact that attacks against journalists and media equipment are illegal under international humanitarian law, which protects
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civilian persons and objects, as long as they are not making an effective contribution to military action. The media cannot be considered a legitimate target, even if they are being used for propaganda purposes, unless they are being exploited to instigate grave breaches of humanitarian law. Journalists and media personnel also benefit from precautionary measures – not confined to them alone – such as the principle of proportionality and the obligation to give advance warning. There is nonetheless an evident need for the adoption of a new instrument, on the one hand to reaffirm those elements of humanitarian law that apply to journalists and media personnel, and thus to re-establish the authority of certain basic rules that are all too often flouted, and, on the other hand, to improve existing law and adapt it to the requirements of today, for instance the phenomenon of “embedded” journalists. Such is the goal of the “Declaration on the safety of journalists and media personnel in situations involving armed conflict,” drawn up in 2003 by Reporters without Borders." (Abstract)
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"Aimed at reporters in conflict zones and hostile areas, this report provides an overview of security issues and includes information on training courses, protective equipment, and insurance policies. It also offer useful tips on assessing, minimizing and managing risk. This guide should be read not
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just by those in the field and those covering dangerous assignments, but also by the media managers who send journalists on those assignments. For managers, the safety of their journalists should be paramount. This means discouraging unwarranted risk-taking, making assignments to war zones or other hostile environments voluntary, and providing proper training and equipment." (http://www.reliefweb.int)
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