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The Impact of COVID-19 on Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability: Perspectives from Stakeholders, Communicators and Audiences

Michelle Betz, Melissa Eveleigh

London: CDAC Network (2022), 62 pp.

"This study sought to identify changes, if any, to the communication and community engagement landscape as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It did not aim to evaluate communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) during the pandemic but, rather, aimed to bring together some of the ... more

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Covid-19 Response in Africa: Together for Reliable Information. Final Evaluation

Michelle Betz, Elizabeth Adundo, Emmanuel Wongibe

Free Press Unlimited (2022), 50 pp.

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Haiti Six Months On: Good Intentions, Bad Memories and Local Frustrations. Was Communication, Community-Engagement and Accountability Considered in the 2021 Haiti Earthquake Response?

Michelle Betz

CDAC Network (2022), 28 pp.

"This review was commissioned by CDAC Network to provide a snapshot of the status of Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability (CCEA) in Haiti six months into the earthquake response. The study aims to identify common themes and critical questions that response actors should be asking t ... more

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Journalist Safety and Self-Censorship
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Ingrid Fadnes, Anna Grøndahl Larsen, Roy Krøvel (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2021), viii, 210 pp.

"This book explores the relationship between the safety of journalists and self-censorship practices around the world, including local case studies and regional and international perspectives. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from around the globe, Journalist Safety and Self-Censorship p ... more

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Fear, trauma and local journalists: Implications for media development and peacebuilding

Michelle Betz, Paul Beighley

In: Journalist Safety and Self-Censorship

Ingrid Fadnes; Anna Grøndahl Larsen; Roy Krøvel (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), pp. 148-163

"In many transitional and conflict societies self-censorship is employed as a coping mechanism or survival strategy (Skjerdal, 2010; Tapsell, 2012). Recent research has examined self-censorship by journalists in countries in which there have been and continue to be media support and safety intervent ... more

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Fear, trauma and local journalists: Cross-border lessons in psychosocial support for journalists

Michelle Betz, Paul Beighley

International Media Support (IMS) (2019), 16 pp.

"95 per cent of journalists killed in armed conflict are locally based journalists. While there has been increasing focus on the physical and digital safety issues these journalists face, there has been less attention towards the need for psychosocial support. Addressing psychosocial needs of local ... more

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Safer Together: Considerations for Cooperation to Address Safety in the Media Support, Humanitarian and Human Rights Sectors

Michelle Betz

International Media Support (IMS) (2019), 31 pp.

"Every year, hundreds of human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and journalists and media workers are killed around the world – simply for doing their job. Hundreds more are threatened, sexually harassed, kidnapped, arrested, imprisoned or otherwise targeted. This briefing paper is the preli ... more

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Commitment Amid Conflict: The Experience of Central African Journalists Covering Their Country's War

Michelle Betz

In: Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond

Allan Thompson (ed.)

Waterloo, Ontario: Centre for International Governance Innovation (2019), pp. 275-289

"The trend in international newsgathering is to greater reliance on local journalists and fixers to provide crucial information to a global audience. At the same time, these local journalists are themselves becoming targets of violence. Increasingly, local journalists are being killed in the line of ... fire. Their deaths create stress for their colleagues, families and communities. It remains a challenge to discern areas in which the global community can provide support to journalists in these circumstances. As long as we continue to rely on fixers and local journalists for news and information from hot spots around the world, we must also provide them with adequate support to mitigate risk, including to their mental health. Local journalists, such as those in the Central African Republic, are one of the most likely groups of journalists to experience psychological trauma, thanks to the implicit risks of their work, combined with public pressure to provide news from these situations. What support can be provided to these journalists and how can it best meet the specific needs of such a community? Can we promote resiliency? The first step is to acknowledge the dearth of relevant research on mental health and psychosocial support for local journalists in conflict or emergency settings. There is a need for research on the kinds of trauma (and resilience) that journalists experience and their causes, including impacts on the individual and colleagues and impacts on the work […] Second, "little has been done to develop treatments based on local coping styles, culture-specific idioms of distress, and culturally appropriate helping methods" (de Jong 2017, 209) […] Third, any training efforts of journalists should be accompanied with mental health and psychosocial support […] Finally, the United Nations has adopted the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity This may at least give some wider symbolic support to journalists who are victims of traumatic attacks. Ultimately, there must be a recognition that the mental health of the journalist can have an impact on their reporting - something that is particularly critical in conflict environments." (Conclusion) more

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Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond
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Allan Thompson (ed.)

Waterloo, Ontario: Centre for International Governance Innovation (2019), x, 637 pp.

"The book includes an extensive section on the echoes of Rwanda, which looks at the cases of Darfur, the Central African Republic, Myanmar, and South Sudan, while the impact of social media as a new actor is examined through chapters on social media use by the Islamic State and in Syria and in other ... more

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International Media Development: Historical Perspectives and New Frontiers
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Nicholas Benequista, Susan Abbott, Paul Rothman, Winston Mano (eds.)

New York et al.: Peter Lang (2019), xv, 277 pp.

"This collection is the first of its kind on the topic of media development. It brings together luminary thinkers in the field—both researchers and practitioners—to reflect on how advocacy groups, researchers, the international community and others can work to ensure that media can continue to s ... more

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Strengthening Police and Media Relations for the Safety of Journalists and Peaceful, Free and Fair Elections in West Africa

Michelle Betz

Accra; Copenhagen: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA);International Media Support (IMS) (2018), 42 pp.

"The relationship between the media and security agencies, including those in the law enforcement and intelligence services, has always been a delicate one. In the West African context, this relationship is often characterized by frequent clashes, arising from a somewhat startling inability of eithe ... more

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Renforcer les relations entre police et médias pour la sécurité des journalistes et des élections pacifiques, libres et justes en Afrique de l’Ouest

Michelle Betz

Accra; Copenhagen: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA);International Media Support (IMS) (2018), 45 pp.

"La relation entre les médias et les agences de sécurité, y compris les services de police et de renseignement, a toujours été délicate. Dans le contexte de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, cette relation est souvent caractérisée par des affrontements fréquents, résultant d'une incapacité quelque pe ... more

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Constraints and Opportunities: What Role for Media Development in the Countering Violent Extremism Agenda?

Michelle Betz

Copenhagen: International Media Support (IMS) (2016), 22 pp.

"This paper seeks to provide some initial guidance as to what Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is and what it means for the media development sector, its donors and other organizations that work with media developers. The paper also discusses challenges and implications of VE and CVE for media dev ... more

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Conflict Sensitive Journalism: Best Practices and Recommendations

Mykhailo Buromensky, Serhy Shturkhetsky, Emma Beals, Zoya Kazanji, Michelle Betz, Chris Schuepp

Kyiv: OSCE;International Media Support (IMS) (2016), 101 pp.

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Radio silence: Burundi’s media during the 2015 election crisis

Michelle Betz

International Media Support (IMS) (2015), 19 pp.

"This desk study was commissioned by International Media Support (IMS) for the purposes of providing information to colleagues in the media support sector and to donors so that they may be better informed when devising and deciding on appropriate intervention strategies [...] Research for this repor ... more

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From Crisis to Transition: Media in Burkina Faso

Michelle Betz

International Media Support (IMS) (2015), 23 pp.

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Building Digital Safety for Journalism: A Survey of Selected Issues

Jennifer R. Henrichsen, Michelle Betz, Joanne M. Lisosky

Paris: UNESCO (2015), 101 pp.

"This publication identifies at least 12 digital threats, including illegal or arbitrary digital surveillance, location tracking, and software and hardware exploits without the knowledge of the target. Further examples that are considered are: phishing, fake domain attacks, Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) ... more

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Communication and Peace: Mapping an Emerging Field
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Julia Hoffmann, Virgil Hawkins (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2015), xviii, 315 pp.

"This book analyses the use of communication in resolving conflicts, with a focus on de-escalation and processes of peacebuilding and peace formation. From the employment of hate radio in the Rwanda genocide, to the current conflict between Russia and the Ukraine following events in the Crimea, comm ... more