"The physical and digital safety of journalists is an important parameter to assess basic conditions for a plural media environment. If one examines the situation in Germany based on the given categories, it becomes clear that there are problems in various areas. At the same time, however, ideas alr
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eady exist that could help to tackle the identified issues." (Abstract)
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"This conceptual paper focusses on two fronts forming a broad assault on journalism, extending from more autocratic settings to include liberal democracies, and leading to what is now widely perceived as a crisis in news. We analyze these two attacks by presenting a framework integrating their sourc
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es and causes. We argue that the first attack emanates from commercialized media, occurring at economic and normative level, and has created, at least in part, the conditions that have enabled the more recent attack, which is more directly political, associated with the re-emergence of forces that are loosely categorized as populist. What is new in the second front is the geography and the constitutional nature of the societies in which this antagonism has grown. It extends now to long-established representative democracies that have come to be governed, or where new influence is wielded, by emergent right movements and parties who seek to cast the press as the enemy within. Abuse and even mortal danger increasingly have become part of the occupational reality of news-making. We conclude that this development is inscribed in the current material conditions under which journalists work, as well as in the materiality of the media through which they do so." (Abstract)
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"The 2020 law for “global security” and the National law enforcement plan (Schéma national du maintien de l’ordre), presented by the Minister of the Interior, meant to address, among other questions, the issue of the safety of journalists during demonstrations. Considering growing defiance an
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d recent cases of violence against journalists during several Yellow-vest demonstrations, this is an important issue. Various organisations criticised the law for not addressing the question of police violence. The latest version of this regulation took into consideration some of Reporters without borders’ recommendations on the protection of journalists during demonstrations. Worrying declarations by the Minister of the Interior that journalists covering demonstrations had to be accredited by prefectorial authorities created an outcry. Such provisions do not appear in the law." (Abstract)
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"With attacks against storytellers increasing year-on-year, concern has grown about the lack of safety and security resources available to them. This is the focus of our study. Through a series of 120 interviews with artists, filmmakers, journalists, funders, activists, academics and others, along w
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ith desk research, we have sought to identify how storytellers can be better resourced to continue to confront and speak truth to power. The study is global in its overview, with a spotlight on Central and South America where in-depth research and interviews were conducted." (Abstract)
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"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
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the creation of a public Internet-based Platform for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists. The Platform receives alerts from non-governmental organisations such as journalist associations and this serves as an early warning mechanism for the Council of Europe. Non-governmental organisations act as partners of this International Organisation and in that way they protect the rule of law from below. A simple search of the Platform permits to see the many threats journalists face in Europe every day. This paper assesses how the Platform works. It is a positive initiative to co-operate with civil society that still has to improve its results mainly through a more effective engagement of the Member States of the Council of Europe." (Abstract)
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"There is a growing recognition that journalists are exposed to dangerous or hazardous working conditions in many places worldwide. These conditions are suggested to be linked to greater macro-related structural risks, including changes to the political economy of news that increase labor precarity,
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cultural and identity-based risks from oppressive normative systems, aggressive partisans and extremists, and risks originating from weak or changing enforcement of the rule of law that increases journalists' vulnerability to corrupt officials, security forces and criminal groups. While previous research has linked these structural risks to acts of workplace victimization of journalists, it has not considered how structural risks are connected to the subjective experience of victimization, which includes emotional upheaval and varying coping strategies. Anchoring this study in the sociology of risk literature with general strain theory, this study considers how greater, macro-level structures are tied to journalist’s victimization, emotions and coping using open and closed survey response data from 21 Mexican and 33 Brazilian journalists. Survey data was collected through matched subnational context designs and snowball sampling strategies. Findings show that journalists recalled victimization experiences that were linked to labor market and workplace risks, risks associated with the rule of law, culturally based risks, and identity-based risks. As a result, journalists engaged in short and long-term coping strategies. Coping strategies were also either individualistic or collectivist in nature, with coping strategies ultimately being influenced by country and regional contexts." (Abstract)
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"Previous research finds that journalist killings are more likely to occur in democracies rather than non-democracies. While these results provide an important first step in exploring regime type's effect on journalist's safety, they assume no variation in how long countries have remained a regime t
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ype. In this paper, I argue that as a country's regime type endures, the likelihood of seeing journalists killed for their work will decrease. My theory also examines the process in different regime types and argues that this effect should hold for autocracies and anocracies, but not democracies vertical bar though democratic consolidation should decrease journalist killings there. Using an original sample of journalists killed for their professional work in countries worldwide from 1992 to 2014, I evaluate my theory using regression and survival analyses and find evidence that as regime types endure, journalist killings decrease, on average. As expected, the result holds for autocracies and anocracies but not democracies. However, the data show democratic consolidation does decrease journalist killings. The results provide a broader understanding of the working dynamics between regime type and journalists' safety in a country's media system." (Abstract)
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"How did the home of freedom of expression become a very dangerous place to report the democratic process? Elena Cosentino, director of the International News Safety Institute, says the American experience is a lesson for us all." (Abstract)
"Journalists, across the world, are ever more at risk of surveillance from state and non-state antagonists. However, to work safely in a monitored environment is a substantial challenge for journalists. In such regimes, journalists and media organizations are often prone to attacks by the state auth
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orities. Surveillance, no matter real or implied, the presence of state panopticon power is felt strongly by the journalists, especially in competitive authoritarian countries like Pakistan. While international organizations monitoring media freedom and journalists’ protection do regularly highlight the increasing surveillance of Pakistani journalists, it is imperative to investigate the way they experience it in their real lives and its implications for them. Thus, informed by the theoretical approaches of panopticism, post-panopticism and competitive authoritarianism, this study aims to address the journalists’ lived experiences of surveillance and its impacts on their professional and personal lives in Pakistan. To accomplish these aims, this study uses the qualitative methods of document review and in-depth interviews, and offers a thematic analysis of the gathered data." (Abstract)
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"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
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rovides new and updated insights into patterns of self-censorship and free speech, focusing on a variety of factors that affect these issues, including surveillance, legislation, threats, violent conflict, gender-related stereotypes, digitisation and social media. The contributions examine topics such as trauma, risk and self-censorship among journalists in different regions of the world, including Central America, Estonia, Turkey, Uganda and Pakistan. The book also provides conceptual clarity to the notion of journalist self-censorship, and explores the question of how self-censorship may be studied empirically." (Publisher description)
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"As detailed in this paper, the analysis revealed that most online security guides for journalists do not prioritize their content effectively, and provide no clear path for users to improve their security in a time-efficient way. The advice provided was also inconsistent across the guides. This pap
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er concludes with recommendations to make guides and security education of journalists overall more effective: 1. Always start with risk .. 2. Integrate security practice with the journalist’s workflow [...] 3. Security as a competitive advantage [...] 4. Newsrooms and journalism schools should integrate security education into their programs." (Executive summary)
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"Comprising several interviews with women journalists both inside and outside of Afghanistan, the report highlights the threats to life and livelihood imposed by the new regime. As the Taliban imposes new restrictions on the media, including a dress code on women journalists, there is continued resi
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stance, with women journalists determined to continue their work and tell the world their stories. According to UNHCR estimates, as of November 2021, 3.4 million people in Afghanistan have been uprooted by conflict, with a large majority being women and children. In September, a group of UN human rights experts identified Afghan journalists and media workers, particularly women, at heightened risk and called on all States to provide urgent protection to those seeking safety abroad." (https://www.ifj.org)
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"Bulgarian journalists are under pressure. Although the country has been a member of the EU for 13 years and the legislation on freedom of speech corresponds to Western practices, the country ranks 111th in the annual Freedom of Speech Index. While the cases of work-related physical violence against
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journalists are rare, the cases of direct political pressure are increasing. The unification of ownership into large media cartels and the lack of transparency in the movement of financial flows from the state to certain media are among the main factors affecting the freedom of speech. The analysis of publications covering six cases of physical and verbal aggression on the websites of the five most visited online media in Bulgaria outlines the scheme for inducing self-censorship and the transition from active to passive news coverage within a short period of time. The survey, conducted with students in journalism and professional journalists, aims to show their experience with aggression, as well as to identify the forms of pressure they face on a daily basis." (Abstract)
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"This Situation Report on the “Impact of COVID-19 on Media Freedom, Media Business Viability, and the Safety of Journalists in Southeast Asia” offers an insight into the key impacts of the pandemic on the media across nine countries. The report proposes recommendations for enabling sustainable a
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nd effective media standards to improve media freedom and the safety of journalists. It also explores potential solutions, and innovations for media business viability in the region. The publication comes at a time when news organisations have been forced to accelerate their move to providing more extensive digital services due to various lockdown restrictions, with some not having the resources to make this transition successfully. These additional financial pressures caused by COVID-19 are happening against a backdrop of broader threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists. Another challenge facing media freedom in the region is the introduction of laws purporting to combat the spread of disinformation and misinformation. While such laws have been introduced under the guise of protecting the public, they are more often used as tools to limit the ability of journalists to hold power to account. As countries geared up to fight COVID-19, a crackdown on independent journalism and critical reporting ensued. Many news outlets and media workers, notably journalists, have faced unprecedented risks to their physical and mental well-being, amid unrelenting, and intensified crackdowns on media freedom. Creating a safe and enabling environment for media and journalists to be able to work independently is a prerequisite for democracies to flourish. The issues pertaining to the safety of journalists and media sustainability during a time of crisis such as COVID-19, require attention from all stakeholders, including both state and non-state actors." (Summary, page 115)
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