Press freedom and the space for independent media are under threat, as stipulated in various UN resolutions addressing journalist safety. UN Sectary-General Guterres stated that ‘civic space has been shrinking worldwide at an alarming rate. And with anti-media rhetoric on the rise, so too are violence and harassment against journalists, including women … When media workers are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price.’ Governments practise legal intimidation and censorship of dissenting voices, also in the digital space. Criminal gangs threaten those who report on corruption. The result is that journalists exercise self-censorship, leave the profession, disappear into exile or stay silent. This is a deliberate attack on civic space that requires a cross-cutting approach to safety of journalists.
This Safety Resource Space is the place to find information on the safety of journalists. It includes information on Free Press Unlimited’s safety-related activities, background information on the safety of journalists, practical resources, and best practices and examples of successful projects and approaches.
Explore the following topics:
Free Press Unlimited believes that a safe work environment is a basic need for independent media. It is imperative that journalists carry out their work free from violence and free from obstruction. A commitment to safety cuts across all of Free Press Unlimited’s activities.
Free Press Unlimited believes that safety should be approached as a comprehensive concept that has physical, psycho-social, digital and legal dimensions. As these dimensions of safety impact on each other, it is important to adopt an inclusive approach, that also takes gender into account.
Free Press Unlimited directs its efforts to address safety along four different pillars, being support to journalists in distress, capacity development, tools and resources, and advocacy and campaigning.
Free Press Unlimited’s work on the safety of journalists builds upon a number of key international instruments, which reflect international commitments to further the safety of journalists.
Free Press Unlimited works together with other like-minded organisations in a number of international networks and coalitions in order to contribute towards journalist safety, both locally and internationally.
Evidence base: Safety of journalists
| Source | Year | Country | Organisation | Author |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journalist Jones Abiri: tortured and two years in detention | 2019 | Nigeria | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| ‘This Can Save Our Lives’: Safety Training for El Salvador’s Local Journalists | 2019 | El Salvador | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| Melanio Escobar: Press freedom in Venezuela in ‘a downward spiral’ | 2019 | Venezuela | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| Online Harassment of Journalists: Attacks of the Trolls | 2018 | Global | Reporters Without Borders (RSF) | Reporters Without Borders (RSF) |
| Women Journalists and Freedom of Expression: Discrimination and gender-based violence faced by women journalists in the exercise of their profession | 2018 | Americas | Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | Lanza, E. |
| Women’s Rights: Forbidden Subject | 2018 | Global | Reporters Without Borders (RSF) | Reporters Without Borders (RSF) |
| Safety training for journalists in Central America | 2018 | El Salvador | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| Help desk improves the safety of journalists in Nepal | 2018 | Nepal | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| Internal Evaluation Somalia Country Programme (Pilot) | 2018 | Somalia | Free Press Unlimited | Pavicic, M. |
| Daphne Caruana Galizia: Malta’s ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’ | 2018 | Malta | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| The murder of Ján Kuciak and freedom of the press in Slovakia | 2018 | Slovakia | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |
| Online Safety for Female Journalists in Pakistan | 2018 | Pakistan | Free Press Unlimited | Free Press Unlimited |