Two University of Liverpool academics attended the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day in Lusaka, Zambia, on 4 May, and shared their research into journalist safety and press freedom.
Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Reader in Global Journalism and Media, and Dr Richard Stupart, Lecturer in Communications and Media, have made the study of press freedoms and the dangers faced by journalists around the world the focus of their work for many years, and were honoured to be able to share their insights with fellow delegates.
Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova was the only academic invited to speak at the main event alongside UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information Mariya Gabriel, Zambia's Minister for Information and Media, ambassadors, and civil society representatives. She also co-organised the academic conference at which she presented, alongside Dr Stupart.
Championing press freedom and journalists' safety
Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova spoke about the importance of taking action to improve journalists' safety beyond simply making commitments to it. She emphasised that a holistic approach, rather than just focussing on physical safety and killings, as important as this work is, should also consider other key dimensions such as psychological, digital, and financial safety.
At the academic conference she presented a paper on women journalists' safety based on the results from the representative surveys with more than 32,000 journalists in 75 countries as part of the Worlds of Journalism study. The key findings of this research included that a much higher percentage of women journalists report having experienced sexual harassment or assault (21.2% women vs. 7.3% men) on average per country (the global average is 20.7% for women vs. 8.4% for men), as well as significant workplace bullying.
Dr Stupart presented a summary report from a roundtable discussion of journalists working in some of Africa's least free countries. Dr Stupart said: "In the longer term, government attitudes to the press are a policy challenge, but for journalists working in many repressive contexts, governments and their agents are often obstacles to be avoided or overcome".
Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova said: "It was wonderful to be able to represent the academic community at World Press Freedom Day. We need more evidence-based action. Our one-stop platform on journalists' safety (safetyofjournalists.org) provides a key space for academics and civil society organisations to share their resources on the issue to inform evidence-based policy making.
"It is disheartening to see that globally one in five women journalists have experienced sexual abuse and harassment. The Worlds of Journalism Study is the most comprehensive study of journalism worldwide and we hope our findings would be useful for policy makers to address these issues."
