Medium-Specific Threats for Journalists: Examples from Philippines, Afghanistan and Venezuela

Abstract

Between 2012 and 2016, UNESCO registered 530 deaths of journalists. They also published a statistic showing that television journalists were the most killed, followed by print media, radio and online journalists. Hinted in this statistics is the need to understand the relationship between the medium through which and in which the journalists produce news and the threats and dangers posed to them. In this article, we discuss this interlinkage and call it medium-specific threats. As examples of this interlinkage, we describe the cases of community radio journalists in the Philippines, photojournalists in Afghanistan and online journalists in Venezuela. Based on these examples from independently conducted studies from very different parts of the world, we make the broader case that while recognizing the prevailing political-economic and socio-cultural factors and forces at work in these media systems-in-flux, investigations of mediumspecific threats to journalists are needed for more nuanced understanding of and thus mitigation of journalists' insecurities.

Reconsidering Journalist Safety Training

“…Research suggests that safety issues depend on context in geography and culture, but also journalistic practice and type of assignment (Garrido V., Høiby, & Mitra, 2019). Among the manuals and content descriptions we have analysed, the 'international' ones appear to have taken geography and environment well into consideration but put less emphasis on the type of story and information involved in the assignment.…”

Impact of Hierarchy of Influence Model on Reporting from the Conflict Zone: An Assessment of the Journalists' Perceptions

“…The finding indicated that reducing conflict spots leads to reducing war and conflict prospects; it affects the quality of future journalism. Mitra et al (2019) reported in a study that working in conflict zones has led to the death of journalists. According to the study, a total of 530 journalists died during 2012-2016, as per UNESCO statistics.…”