"Journalists are increasingly attacked in response to their work yet they often lack the necessary support and training to protect themselves, their sources, and their communications. Despite this, there has been limited scholarly attention that addresses how journalism schools approach digital secu
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rity education. This paper draws from an analysis of 106 US programs and 23 semi-structured interviews with journalism students and professors to examine how the next generation of journalists learn about digital security practices. Our findings show that most programs (88.7%) don’t offer formal digital security programming and that digital security skills are often deprioritized in favor of skills seen as more significant contributors to post-graduate hiring—a key priority of journalism programs. Additional barriers include a lack of space and time in existing curricula for added digital security coursework, a perception that students are not interested, and few professors with related knowledge. When security education is introduced, it’s done so in often informal and ad-hoc ways, largely led by “security champions,” both within and outside of journalism, who advocate for its legitimacy. These findings have important implications for journalism education and journalists’ capacity to carry out their work amidst a deteriorating safety environment in the United States." (Abstract)
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"This study, drawing on alternative journalism theory takes a postcolonial feminist approach to investigating the lived experiences and gender-based safety problems of women journalists working for alternative media in Turkey. It evaluates the impact on their professional and private lives of Islami
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sm, populism, nationalism and authoritarianism which intersect in this patriarchal autocracy. The thematic analysis of the data gathered qualitatively by 15 in-depth interviews reveals that most of the safety threats to alternative women journalists stem from security forces in the field and arbitrary judicial sanctions in the courthouses. According to the interviewees, the authoritarian government that sees critical journalism as the greatest enemy controls and oversees these assaults. Furthermore, women journalists suffer from the unsustainable working conditions of alternative news media. Alternative media theories would expect these institutions to be gender-equal and pro-labor, but the prevalent indifference to women’s labor and gender rights demonstrates that this normative approach is not justified. However, women still feel encouraged to continue journalism, which they consider an important tool for empowerment not only for themselves but also all “otherized” identities. Moreover, women’s solidarity backed by the feminist movement is the primary source of resilience." (Abstract)
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"This guide aims to provide information to help improve press coverage of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on issues relating to the right to freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and access to information with the purpose of improving their ability to inform the public, to a professio
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nal standard, about the various parts of the process and, in doing so, increase the accountability of the various players involved in the review. Journalists themselves are victims of human rights violations around the world. These guidelines are also relevant to helping them understand how to report any violations of their freedom of expression and/or safety that might occur." (About the guide)
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"News organizations and journalists around the world have seen an increase in threats and attacks against themselves and their work. In Latin America, this is heightened by the ongoing state of violence. To continue producing quality investigative journalism, professionals must find ways to deal wit
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h the situation. This study analyzes how journalists from small- and medium-sized outlets can perform their duties with greater security. Through 15 in-depth interviews with Latin American practitioners, this study aims to understand which safety measures are being adopted and their implications for the boundaries of journalism. Results illustrate that these professionals are assuming new roles by incorporating security measures into their daily routines. Consequently, these security procedures are merged with journalistic activity, invading other fields. Our interviewees highlighted that their news organizations are embracing collaboration and other sorts of collective actions such as advocacy to promote greater security. This study offers a new perspective on the boundaries of journalism that takes into consideration a set of tasks absorbed by journalists and news organizations that are often invisible and expands the literature on news safety in Latin America. We conclude with an agenda for future research." (Abstract)
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"GIJN’s comprehensive, 16-chapter Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes includes expert advice from more than two dozen specialists and journalists, covering everything from the legal aspects of war, attacks on civilians, conflict-related sexual violence, environmental crimes, banned weap
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ons, genocide, forced disappearances, archiving evidence, open source research, military command structures, tracing war criminals, documenting with photo and video, physical and digital security best practices, and self-care for covering traumatic events." (https://gijn.org)
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"Working in a conflict-ridden region, journalists in the Middle East have always struggled to report fairly and accurately while keeping in mind the power structures in their countries. For these journalists, practicing journalism in mostly authoritative governments has meant facing additional hurdl
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es fellow journalists in democratic societies rarely experience. Among these are low levels of professionalism, poor education, and lack of proper training, which, combined with political parallelism in an omnipresent governmental style of ruling, have left journalists with little wiggle room to perform their journalistic duties well. In the past decade, these struggles have been further exacerbated by the various episodes of conflict, political turmoil, and war, putting journalists under immediate danger. Besides the physical dangers of reporting in war zones, most journalists in the Arab region are not equipped with proper training or mental health issues, thus increasing their chances at developing PTSD. This chapter seeks to outline the various aspects of journalistic practices in conflict zones, focusing on conflict reporting and foreign correspondence in the Middle East, as well as highlight the numerous obstacles that threaten journalists’ safety not only in war zones but also in daily reporting on politics and public affairs. To accomplish this, the author approaches the topic from a media systems perspective that takes into account the various influences that impact journalistic practices of conflict reporting in the region." (Abstract)
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"Targeted attacks on journalists are internationally condemned crimes, which not only undermine freedom of expression, but also symbolize an utter disregard for basic human rights. Yet, murders of journalists occur in all types of regimes, whether autocratic or democratic. This article explores the
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conditions that enable journalists to be subject to deadly attacks by state officials and unknown perpetrators. The typology of monitoring coercive agents is useful for the distinction between private and public information. External monitors, which share the information they gather with the public and hold the coercive agents accountable, are crucial for a safe working environment for journalists. The results of the multivariate regressions demonstrate that three main indicators of external monitoring, (1) robustness of civil society, (2) independence of media, and (3) strength of the judiciary are all associated with the occurrence of murders of journalists in a country. While a robust civil society and a strong judiciary decreases the probability of journalists being murdered by state officials and unknown perpetrators, a more critical and independent media structure appears to be associated with a higher probability of murders of journalists. The risks of such murders are especially higher for scenarios where the critical media outlets are abundant, but civil society and the judiciary are particularly weak and ineffective." (Abstract)
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"Este estudio, apoyado por la UNESCO, es el resultado de una investigación de nueve meses de RSF sobre la eficiencia, el impacto y los desafíos de estas políticas públicas a nivel regional, con un enfoque específico en asegurar la protección de periodistas y comunicadores. Los resultados refue
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rzan la idea de que los mecanismos de protección son una respuesta necesaria al entorno de violencia estructural contra periodistas y comunicadores en los países analizados. En mayor o menor grado, estas políticas públicas han mejorado la capacidad de los Estados para cumplir con su obligación de proteger a este sector de la población." (Presentación)
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"In 2020-2021, UNESCO recorded a total of 117 killings of journalists worldwide, a high number in absolute terms, but a 25% drop from the previous two-year period, when UNESCO recorded a total of 156 killings. This biennium recorded the lowest death toll compared to any other reporting period since
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the first Director-General's report in 2008. The year 2021 shows the lowest annual death toll in 14 years with 55 deaths, representing a further decrease in killings compared to the previous record low of 57 killings in 2019. However, it is important to highlight that, although outside of the reporting period, as of 30 September 2022, according to the “UNESCO Observatory of killed journalists”, a total of 66 journalists have been killed in 2022." (Executive summary)
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"The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which Arab Governments limited freedom of expression and access to information for journalists while they reported on COVID-19-related issues. Design/methodology/approach: Focus group discussions were conducted with 20 journalists from Egypt
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, Jordan, Libya and Tunisia. Findings: The results of the study indicated that journalists in these countries experience violence in many forms as follows: torture, imprisonment, closure of their websites and censorship of content. In the four countries investigated, the results revealed that there is severe censorship (self-censoring and the governments) of the content presented to the public, an element that is inconsistent with the Arab Constitution, as well as international law, thus violating human rights laws. In addition, governments publish COVID-19 misinformation and at the same time, do little to support an independent media environment. Practical implications: Arab societies are in dire need of freedom of expression and the right to access information to give journalists an opportunity to cover the news during the pandemic. Originality/value: This study is important because it investigates the political changes that occurred after the Arab Spring revolutions in three countries, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya and the freedom of expression and rights is still restricted. In the same way, Jordan is a royal government that is trying to achieve democracy under a dictatorial regime. This study attempts to suggest practical solutions for journalists through various stakeholders by highlighting the importance of access to information and freedom of expression, particularly during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. These freedoms are critical for journalists to provide health officials with information, improve the efficacy of public health interventions through feedback and prevent the spread of misinformation." (Abstract)
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"This paper examines the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Nigerian journalists towards safety protocols especially within security and COVID-19 in Nigeria. The study adopted the survey methodology and relied on questionnaire as instrument of primary data collection. The population of the study
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was 305 journalists under the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abia and Ebonyi State. Sample size was 152 with 80 and 72 respondents chosen from Ebonyi and Abia State chapters respectively using Quota sampling technique. Data analysis utilized percentages, and tables. Findings show that 47.4% of the respondents have had threat of job loss from their employers while 80% consider job loss and threat to life as the most serious safety issues confronting Nigerian journalists. On safety training, 64.5% have no specific safety training; 57.9% of those who have safety training sponsored themselves, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), sponsored 42.1% while 97.4% believe that classroom safety training does not satisfy the needs of Nigerian Journalists. All the journalists take personal safety measures to protect themselves with 39.5% using self-censorship and 48% hiding their identities. All (100%) agreed that government was not doing enough to guarantee the safety of journalists in Nigeria. The paper recommends stricter enforcement of laws guaranteeing safety of journalists and greater emphasis on safety training by employers and journalism training institutions in Nigeria." (Abstract)
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"Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is generally attributed to an independent society where the basic rights of citizens are ensured. Balochistan, the western and resources rich province of Pakistan with its huge geopolitical importance has been under a strong wave of terrorism for the last
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two decades. This menace of terrorism has severely affected citizens of the province including media workers.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This research endeavor is an attempt to explore the impact of terrorism on the performance of media professionals in Balochistan. The study is based on the Hierarchy of Influence model which provides ground to explore the influence of terrorism. In this quantitative study, the researchers employing the systematic sampling technique have selected 50 media professionals out of 194 registered journalists of five press clubs: Quetta, Chaman, Noshki, Mastung, and Loralai.
Findings: The survey findings show that terrorism has badly affected the quality of their reporting. The study also reveals that objective journalism is hard to follow in the province by journalists as they are always threatened not only by terrorists but also by the law enforcement agencies to mold the reports in their favor.
Implications/Originality/Value The findings also indicate that terrorism has also affected journalists’ personal lives." (Abstract)
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"The consumer Internet of Things (IoT) is a fast-growing area of technology, increasingly embedded in the public and private spheres, including both in and on bodies. There are various security concerns and academic investigations into potential risks of this expansion, but none yet specifically add
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ressing the implications to journalists and the democratic pillar of press freedom. Not only are risks to this community not yet assessed, but IoT threats generally are not communicated without technical jargon, making them inaccessible to non-experts. Given the importance of a free press, mapping IoT devices and, crucially, communicating associated risk in ways understandable and actionable to journalists themselves, is key.
Journalists and the press are particularly at-risk from IoT devices that may feature in the environments with which they must regularly interact because of the fundamental imperative of source confidentiality. Previous research demonstrated that members of the press are largely unaware of the ways in which the IoT can threaten their work and wellbeing. The networked capabilities of IoT devices increases the ease with which well-resourced threat actors can target journalists who routinely handle confidential information and are already at risk around the world from a variety of non-IoT threats. This paper therefore presents a novel categorisation of both ambient and wearable consumer IoT devices according to the environments in which journalists are most likely to interact with them. It draws on related academic work classifying devices for technical audiences to create a system that is accessible to journalists and their sources. Its goal is to make members of the media aware of the prevalence of these technologies and which of the devices’ capabilities may increase their individual risk. Useful risk assessments cannot be undertaken without an accurate understanding of where threats may be encountered. By systematically outlining risks in numerous environments, this taxonomy can be easily incorporated into existing security training materials and risk assessments for journalists. This paper presents a novel taxonomy to codify and organise IoT present in different environments, with examples of how journalists and their work could be impacted, both passively (i.e. via surveillance) or actively (i.e. via information theft). It also discusses how different environments that may contain IoT devices are often under the control of actors whom journalists cannot easily influence, nor protect themselves against. Especially as these devices continue to proliferate, journalistic risk from IoT devices in surrounding environments are growing. It is therefore important to address the contemporary and emerging risks to journalism that are associated with connected devices. This paper enables journalists and readers to not only visualise and conceptualise how IoT devices in different environments may create risks, its user-focused language and organisation also empower journalists to begin to use this taxonomy for awareness, mitigation, and protective purposes." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this study is to assess the threats and supporting mechanisms present in the Georgian media environment in 2022. Observation of the media environment, similar to the previous year’s research, was based on the evaluation of the participants involved in the research and further compa
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rative analysis." (Abstract)
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"In this contribution, using a case-study approach, we focus on the assassination of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée and explore the impact and consequences that it had on the community of investigative journalists in Slovakia. By conducting a series of semi-structured interviews with top investigative
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journalists (N = 12), we seek to answer two questions: How have they coped with the murder of their colleague? And, how has this incident changed their everyday journalistic practices and routines when it comes to achieving and maintaining safety? We identified 12 coping actions which, based on their function, were organised into five higher order families of coping: emotional purging; sharing and support seeking; avoidance and displacement; defiance and defence; and spreading the legacy and giving meaning to the tragedy. Regarding safety and security practices, the journalists claim that their approach has fundamentally changed. A variety of measures to stay safe, both online and offline, were adopted both on the organisational and on the individual level. However, many of these measures are not used consistently, mostly because they are not deemed necessary when covering non-sensitive topics, but also because of their impracticality in everyday journalistic work, and sceptical and fatalistic approach of the journalists to safety." (Abstract)
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"With 33 journalists killed since the beginning of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidential term in December 2018, Mexico heads the list of the most violent countries for journalists in Latin America—and that of countries not at war. While journalist organizations demand a meaningful protect
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ion apparatus to safeguard their physical safety, official corruption, and criminal impunity continue to escalate the pressures to which media staff are exposed, especially in Mexican states where cartels and criminal groups have the largest footprint. This study aims to precisely identify the pressures, both internal and external, facing journalists who report on organized crime in Mexico. To do this, we drew from the Hierarchy of Influences Model, and interviewed 22 Mexican journalists who work on the organized crime beat in the country’s capital and in the most violent states in the Republic. The results suggest that the most influential forces they face are associated with the organizational level (such as editorial line or institutional censorship), and the extramedia level (e.g., anti-press violence from cartels/authorities, and government advertising contracts)." (Abstract)
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