In the seven months since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines, his war on drugs has left more than 7,000 dead. Nonoy Espina, Senior Editor at InterAksyon in the Philippines writes that the task of documenting this horrific killing spree has taken a heavy toll on his colleagues.
In coming to terms with this election, journalists must examine the failure of our reporting to seriously account for the single feature of the Trump operation distinguishing it most profoundly from any modern U.S. presidential campaign: The tactical embrace of violence.
When journalist Fadah Jassem was asked to contact "Jihadi John" and his companions on social media, she did not know what to expect.
On August 26, 2015, Alison Parker, a television reporter for WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, and Adam Ward, Parker’s videographer, were shot and killed on camera by a former colleague. Now Chris Hurst, the evening news anchor for WDBJ and Parker’s boyfriend at the time of her death, asks how American newsrooms could cover gun violence differently.
Yamiche Alcindor, Donna DeCesare, Danny Spriggs and Bruce Shapiro discussed practical tactics for assessing risk and and staying safe while reporting. They shared lessons from covering protests, youth gangs, earthquakes and toxic environmental sites among others.
New security information sharing, training, insurance and communications initiatives also launched.
An overview of current research on the occupational hazards for journalists covering traumatic events, the risk factors that aggravate those effects, and some suggestions for mitigating those factors. Originally published by River Smith and Elana Newman in January, 2009; Updated by Susan Drevo in May, 2016, and by Autumn Slaughter in March, 2019.
Psychologist Anthony Feinstein examines a confluence of factors that can undermine the emotional well-being of journalists, including the emergence of new threats in Syria, the relentless nature of the conflict and those predominantly tasked with covering it. This piece was originally published in The Globe and Mail.
Among the many risks journalists face, they are often targets of harassment and aggression. While harassment is a concern for all journalists, female journalists in particular are more likely to be targets [Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 2011]. Despite increasing awareness of the issue, little is known about journalist-specific risk factors and consequences. Most recently updated in December 2017, this fact sheet summarizes key information about harassment of journalists. (Note: The topic of online harassment is not included in this review).
In his native Pakistan, investigative journalist Umar Cheema has endured kidnapping, torture, and intense criticism. Following his support of colleague Hamid Mir, who was nearly assassinated in April, Cheema reports that surveillance and harassment of him and his colleagues have markedly increased. This article was originally published by the Global Investigative Journalism Network.