Country and Region-Specific Safety Issues

Google Scholar (9)

Reporting the Covid-19 Pandemic: Trauma on Our Own Doorstep

Stephen Jukes, Karen Fowler-Watt, Gavin Rees

Digital Journalism, volume 10, issue 6 (2022), pp. 997-1014

"The political and media rhetoric of the pandemic is that of conflict and a call to arms in face of a hidden enemy. But this is not a distant war where journalists are parachuted in to report on the action for a few weeks and then fly home. It is on our own doorstep. Many of those covering the globa ... more

Shifting Cyberfeminism and Gendered Activisms in the Gulf: A Saudi Feminist Spring?

Sahar Khamis

Journal of Arabian Studies, volume 12, issue 1 (2022), pp. 1-23

"This qualitative feminist study sheds light on women’s shifting identities, struggles, and resistances in the most conservative Gulf state, Saudi Arabia, unpacking the shifting socio-political and mediated environments in this country and their impact on gendered activism. Through conducting in-d ... more

External Link (11)

Google Scholar (11)

Moving Barriers to Investigative Journalism in Latin America in Times of Instability and Professional Innovation

Vanessa de Macedo Higgins Joyce, Lourdes Cueva Chacón, Rosental Calmon Alves

Journalism Practice, volume 16, issue 9 (2022), pp. 1890-1908

"Latin American journalism has experienced recent transitions marked by digital affordances, including a growth of investigative journalism. The region has also experienced more political and economic instability, giving rise to a wave of threats and harassment against journalists. This repeated cro ... more

Understanding Nascent Newsroom Security and Safety Cultures: The Emergence of the “Security Champion”

Jennifer R. Henrichsen

Journalism Practice, volume 16, issue 9 (2022), pp. 1829-1848

"This paper utilizes concepts from new institutionalism to help explain journalists’ and news organizations’ resistance to implementing security-related practices despite a deteriorating safety and security environment for journalists in the United States. Through 30 interviews with journalists, ... more

Journalists, harassment, and emotional labor: The case of women in on-air roles at US local television stations

Kaitlin C. Miller, Seth C. Lewis

Journalism, volume 23, issue 1 (2022), pp. 79-97

"At a time of growing threats to the press worldwide, including in supposedly ‘safe’ developed democracies, this article explores the nature of harassment perpetrated by strangers, one-time sources, and viewers against women broadcast journalists working at US local television stations. The stud ... more

Digital (In)Security in Latin America: The Dimensions of Social Media Violence against the Press and Journalists’ Coping Strategies

Summer Harlow, Ryan Wallace, Lourdes Cueva Chacón

Digital Journalism, volume 11, issue 10 (2022), pp. 1829-1847

"As the journalism industry faces increasing risk and insecurity in the digital environment, there is still much to know about how journalists are reacting to and internalizing online harassment, and what the consequences are for their routines. Approaching the problem from a socio-technical perspec ... more

Harassment of Journalists and Its Aftermath: Anti-Press Violence, Psychological Suffering, and an Internal Chilling Effect

Changwook Kim, Wooyeol Shin

Digital Journalism (2022), [no pag.]

"Anti-press sentiment based on negative emotions of disgust and hatred has prevailed in Korea since the mid-2010s. Through in-depth interviews with ten journalists working for Korean news organizations, supplemented with an analysis of self-reflective articles, this study investigates how journalist ... more

External Link (8)

Working Under the “Sword of Damocles”: Experiences of Journalists in a Hybrid Regime

Ali Riaz, Fahmida Zaman

In: Masks of Authoritarianism

Arild Engelsen Ruud; Mubashar Hasan (eds.)

Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan (2022), pp. 37-55

"In the past decade, Bangladesh has witnessed severe erosion of democratic practices and weakening of democratic institutions. Incumbent has demonstrated its penchant for executive aggrandizement. These have transformed Bangladesh into a hybrid regime, which is marked with various characteristics in ... more

Embedded authoritarianism: The politics of poor press freedom in Indian Kashmir

Tawseef Majeed

Media, Culture & Society, volume 44, issue 3 (2022), pp. 613–624

"The current article explores journalism practice amid waning press freedom in Indian Kashmir. Contextualising the recent renovation and introduction of authoritative new media policy 2020, the article maps the constant struggles of the journalists in the region. I consulted five working journalists ... more

Evaluation of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists in Nigeria

Olushola Mary Okpodu

American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research, volume 6, issue 2 (2022), pp. 125-133

"The freedom of expression and Journalists* safety, as well as other media practitioners have become an issue of debate on press freedom and the working condition of reporters following untoward development on the media space which has become a preoccupation with journalism professional organization ... more

Media Environment and Safety of Journalists During the Crisis in Georgia: Threats and Supportive Instruments

Mariam Gersamia, Maia Toradze

Environment and Society, volume 5, issue 5 (2022), 1 pp.

"Viable, free media is a crucial component of democratic progress in Georgia. Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and gaining independence, the safety of journalists while carrying out professional duties continues to be one of the critical indicators of progress in the country's med ... ia democracy. This research was triggered by the actualization of the acute and, in some ways, spontaneous media threat that arose during the pre-election period. More specifically, on July 5, 2021, two months before Georgia's local self-government municipal elections, media workers fell victim to a premeditated attack by pro-Russian radical groups during the coverage of demonstrations. As a result, 52 journalists from more than ten media outlets, camera operators, and photographers were assaulted. A TV Pirveli cameraman, Lekso Lashkarava, died a few days later due to severe injuries received during the demonstration. The research aims to distinguish the traits prevalent in the media environment during times of crisis and, even more specifically, during the pre-and post-election periods (particularly during the 2021 local government elections in Georgia). The research also responds to how political polarization and crises affect media and the macro and micro threats they reveal. The study identifies these media threats and assesses the reality of the media environment as seen through journalists' eyes. The research covers topics recommended by UNESCO (Towards a Research agenda on the safety of journalists) and examines seven of those ten recommended issues. A mixed research methodology was chosen for research design, more specifically, a sequential explanatory design. The research was conducted in two phases: the first phase involved the accumulation of quantitative data (through an online survey of 183 respondents from 56 media sources) and analysis, followed which the second phase involved qualitative research (3 focus group discussions). The research answers the questions as follows: How safe do media workers feel when performing their professional duties? What kind of threats have emerged during the 2021 pre-election media environment, and what are the expectations? What are some of the support mechanisms for improving the media environment, and what needs to be done to create a safer environment for media workers? Macro (4) and micro (6) media threats were identified during the research process. They are analyzed in sub-chapters in greater detail. These threats are interconnected and have their structure and aims. Media threats, which emerged during the discussion, contribute to self-censorship and escalation of fear, media credibility, reduction of support, and destabilizing media institutional viability. Political polarization and polarization between media organizations were identified as major macro media threats. Micro threats that were identified as a result of polarization are: Stigmatization of journalists and media (labeling them as biased towards certain political parties) and attempted smear campaigns; They are disrupting the execution of journalist duties. Among such actions are creating obstacles to providing a balanced narrative and bringing a quality media product to the public, primarily reflected in a premeditated restriction to sources and surveillance to disrupt the work process. One macro threat that emerged from the online survey and focus-group analysis was the incitement of physical and verbal violence towards journalists (this includes hate speech and the use of aggressive rhetoric by the state). These media threats reinforce self-censorship and fear, destabilize media institutions' viability and negatively affect the demonstration of solidarity and support toward media. One identified macro-threats towards journalists was the lack of investigation of crimes committed against journalists and impunity as an encouraging factor. Additionally, we could consider the malign nature of the Russian propaganda and malign influence in general as an additional factor, which serves as a leitmotif for the entire discussion on another macro threat. As a result of this study, recommendations have been put forward for various stakeholders. Implementing these recommendations will help create a supportive media environment, encourage solidarity, and improve coordination between different stakeholders during and after crises. Research conducted is by the Media and Communication Educational and Research Center (Georgia) with support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s South Caucasus Office and the Federal Republic of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office." (Abstract) more

Precariously Employed Climate Journalists: The Challenges of Freelance Climate Journalists in South Asia

Mushfique Wadud

Journalism Practice, issue 2-3 (2022), pp. 262-280

"Declines in the number of foreign correspondents and bureaus have caused media to rely on freelance journalists, particularly on coverage of complex and topical issues such as climate change. This study examines the challenges freelance climate journalists in South Asia face and how they negotiate ... more

Google Scholar (9)

Perception of journalists reporting in conflict zones: Labour situation, working conditions and main challenges in information coverage in contexts of violence

Santiago Tejedor, Laura Cervi, Fernanda Tusa

Media, War & Conflict, volume 15, issue 4 (2022), pp. 530–552

"A total of 324 journalists have been killed in the world in the last decade. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the situation is alarming. Based on these statistics, this work presents an investigation with journalists from 10 countries. Based on in-depth interviews and the Delphi method, the stud ... more

External Link (13)

Google Scholar (6)

A Matter of Organisational Silence: Media Managers Struggling to Make Sense of the Online Harassment of Journalists as a Collective Issue in Journalism

Sylvain Malcorps, Manon Libert, Florence Le Cam

Digital Journalism, volume 11, issue 10 (2022), pp. 1868-1885

"The online harassment of journalists is a phenomenon which has been on the rise in Europe over the last decade and it affects journalists' working lives. As an expression of mob censorship, online harassment raises questions about how media organisations react to online aggressions targeting their ... more

External Link (13)

The Assassination of Sardasht Osman: Debunking the Official Story

Free Press Unlimited;Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ);Reporters Without Borders (2022), 42 pp.

"Sardasht Osman was a courageous and talented 23-year-old citizen journalist, who wrote about corruption and political mismanagement within the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in a period of political upheaval. On 13 December 2009, Sardasht wrote a satirical article accusing the family of Presiden ... more

Google Scholar (9)

Mapping Anti-Press Violence in Latin America: Challenges for Journalists' Safety

Mireya Márquez-Ramírez

In: The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism

Stuart Allan (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2022), pp. 469-477

"In global surveys, Latin America is all too often identified as one of the regions with the highest number of journalists killed for practicing their profession in the world. To explore the issues at stake, this chapter begins with a brief overview of the various faces of anti-press violence in thi ... more

External Link (7)

Reckoning With #MeToo and the Aftermath: Perception of Workplace Harassment, Sexism, and the #MeToo Movement Among Journalists in India

Prabhjot Kaur Sohal

In: Handbook of Research on Discrimination, Gender Disparity, and Safety Risks in Journalism

Sadia Jamil; Baris Çoban; Bora Ataman; Gifty Appiah-Adjei (eds.)

Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2021), pp. 104-118

"In 2017, following the #MeToo movement stirred by the public outing of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the safety of women at the workplace became a prime agenda for international news media. Although far from being truly inclusive, the #MeToo movement rapidly spread to other parts of the worl ... more