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Date: April 20, 2024 Sat
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Results for journalists
18 results foundAuthor: Lauria, Carlos Title: Silence of Death in Mexico's Press: Crime, Violence, and Corruption Are Destroying the Country's Journalism Summary: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) research has identified Mexico as one of the deadliest countries in the world for the press and one of the worst nations in solving crimes against journalists. CPJ researchers have traveled the breadth of the country over the course of four years, interviewing dozens of journalists about the dangers of their work and the devastating self-censorship that has resulted from anti-press violence. CPJ delegations have met with high-ranking Mexican officials, including President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, to discuss the grave problem of impunity in attacks on the press. This report examines the murders of 22 journalists and three media support workers, along with the disappearances of seven journalists, during the Calderón presidency, which began in December 2006. The report identifies systemic law enforcement failures and offers potential solutions. Details: New York: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 6, 2010 at: http://cpj.org/reports/cpj_mexico_english.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Mexico URL: http://cpj.org/reports/cpj_mexico_english.pdf Shelf Number: 119874 Keywords: CorruptionCriminal ViolenceHomicideJournalistsMurders |
Author: International Federation of Journalists Title: Gunning for Media: Journalists and Media Staff Killed in 2010 Summary: In 2010, 94 journalists and media staff were killed, victims of targeted killings, bomb attacks and crossfire incidents. Three other journalists lost their lives in accidents at work. The details of the losses are spelled out in the enclosed reports from the IFJ regional centres. They show how Pakistan tops the list of the most dangerous zones for journalists in 2010, ahead of Mexico, Honduras and Iraq. Although the numbers are down from the 139 killings recorded a year earlier and are the lowest for eight years, they reveal that regional conflicts, drug wars and political unrest continue to create killing fields for journalists and people who work with them. Details: Brussels: International Federation of Journalists, 2011. 36. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 24, 2011 at: http://www.ifj.org/assets/docs/177/253/f8badb1-e23bbfd.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.ifj.org/assets/docs/177/253/f8badb1-e23bbfd.pdf Shelf Number: 120865 Keywords: HomicidesHuman RightsJournalistsMediaMurder |
Author: Reporters Without Borders Title: Organized Crime Muscling in on the Media Summary: A total of 141 journalists and media workers were killed during the decade of the 2000s in attacks and reprisals blamed on criminal groups. Mafias and cartels today pose the biggest threat to media freedom worldwide. A transnational phenomenon, organized crime is more than the occasional bloody shoot-out or colourful crime story in the local paper. It is a powerful parallel economy with enormous influence over the legal economy, one the media have a great deal of difficulty in covering. Its elusiveness and inaccessibility to the media make it an even greater threat, both to the safety of journalists and to the fourth estate’s investigative ability. Details: Paris: Reporters Without Borders, 2011. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2011 at: http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/organized_crime.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/organized_crime.pdf Shelf Number: 121395 Keywords: JournalistsMediaOrganized Crime |
Author: Wolfe, Lauren Title: The Silencing Crime: Sexual Violence and Journalists Summary: Few cases of sexual assault against journalists have ever been documented, a product of powerful cultural and professional stigmas. But now dozens of journalists are coming forward to say they have been sexually abused in the course of their work. Details: New York: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2011. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed August 3, 2011 at: http://www.cpj.org/reports/CPJ.Sexual.Assault.Journalists.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.cpj.org/reports/CPJ.Sexual.Assault.Journalists.pdf Shelf Number: 122288 Keywords: JournalistsSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Hervieu, Benoit Title: Paraguay: Journalists Alone Facing Trafficking Summary: Last February, Reporters Without Borders released its first-ever thematic report on organized crime, the main source of physical danger for journalists since the end of the Cold War. Produced with the help of our correspondents and specialists in several continues, that report underlined how difficult it is for the media to investigate the criminal underworld’s activities, networks and infiltration of society. Aside from covering bloody shootouts between rival cartels, news media of any size usually seem ill-equipped to describe organized crime’s hidden but ubiquitous presence. Paraguay, which a Reporters Without Borders representative visited from 3 to 10 July, is a good example of these problems. Overshadowed by Brazil and Argentina, its two big neighbours in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), it has long received one of the world’s worst rankings in Transparency International’s corruption index. It is also a major way station in the trafficking of cocaine from the Bolivian Andes to the Southern Cone. While the level of violence is not as high as in Mexico, Colombia or some Central American countries, the persistent corruption, judicial impunity and influence of mafia activity on political and business activity prevent the media and civil society from playing a watchdog role. Although elections brought about a real change of government for the first time in 2008, Paraguay is still struggling to free itself from the code of silence and complicity that prevailed during the decades of dictatorship and affects the media as well. This was clear from interviews with journalists, observers and state officials in Asunción and Concepción, in the border cities of Ciudad del Este and Encarnación, and the Argentine border city of Posadas. Details: Paris: Reporters Without Borders for Press Freedom, 2011. 11p. Source: Inquiry Report: Internet Resource: Accessed February 19, 2012 at http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/paraguay_report.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Paraguay URL: http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/paraguay_report.pdf Shelf Number: 124205 Keywords: Drug CartelsJournalistsMediaOrganized CrimeTrafficking (Paraguay)Violence |
Author: Committee to Protect Journalists Title: Attacks on the Press in 2011: A Worldwide Survy by the Committee to Protect Journalists Summary: Trade and the Internet are turning us into global citizens, but the news we need is often stopped at national borders. Shadowy agents attack reporters in Pakistan, while criminals dictate the news in Mexico. Governments in Iran, China, and Turkey jail critical writers. Across Africa, authorities invoke security laws to intimidate news media. Attacks on the Press documents these and other emerging dangers worldwide. Compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent nonprofit organization, Attacks on the Press is the world’s most comprehensive guide to international press freedom. Details: New York: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2012. 462p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2012 at http://www.cpj.org/attacks_on_the_press_2011.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.cpj.org/attacks_on_the_press_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 124312 Keywords: JournalistsVictims of Violence |
Author: Farah, Douglas Title: Dangerous Work: Violence Against Mexico’s Journalists and Lessons from Colombia Summary: The job of Mexican journalists covering drug trafficking and organized crime along the Mexico-U.S. border has been called the most dangerous job in the world. And the danger has spread from journalists for traditional media to bloggers and citizens who post reports on drug cartel violence through social media such as Twitter and Facebook. In many ways the experience of Mexico today mirrors the experience of journalists in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s, when much of that country was a war zone and reporters and editors were being killed or driven into exile by drug traffickers, paramilitary squads, and Marxist guerrillas. Yet the response of the governments and media organizations in the two countries could hardly be more different, nor could the results. Many of the successful steps taken in Colombia could be implemented in Mexico in a relatively short time. This report looks at some of the lessons Mexico could learn from Colombia’s experience, as well as some reasons these lessons have not yet been taken to heart. In addition to conducting a literature review, the author interviewed more than a dozen Colombian and Mexican journalists, in person and by e-mail, to learn more directly about the experiences of those who have lived or are now living on the front lines, in situations of significant risk. Details: Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, 2010. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2012 at: http://cima.ned.org/sites/default/files/CIMA-Mexico-Colombia%20-%2004-09-12.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Mexico URL: http://cima.ned.org/sites/default/files/CIMA-Mexico-Colombia%20-%2004-09-12.pdf Shelf Number: 124945 Keywords: Drug CartelsDrug Trafficking (Mexico)JournalistsMediaOrganized Crime |
Author: Hervieu, Benoit Title: Organized Crime Muscling in on the Media Summary: A total of 141 journalists and media workers were killed during the decade of the 2000s in attacks and reprisals blamed on criminal groups. Mafias and cartels today pose the biggest threat to media freedom worldwide. A transnational phenomenon, organized crime is more than the occasional bloody shoot-out or colourful crime story in the local paper. It is a powerful parallel economy with enormous influence over the legal economy, one the media have a great deal of difficulty in covering. Its elusiveness and inaccessibility to the media make it an even greater threat, both to the safety of journalists and to the fourth estate’s investigative ability. "Organized crime” is the generic label that the post-Cold War world has given to these new predators of journalism. Mafias, cartels, warlords recycled as traffickers, paramilitaries running rackets, separatist groups that traffic and extort to fund themselves – they have replaced the world’s remaining dictatorial regimes as the biggest source of physical danger to journalists. From newspapers to TV news, from crime reports to yellow press, the media seem to be reduced to counting the number of dead, including the dead within their own ranks. While organized crime often overlaps with a violent criminality consisting of rackets, kidnapping and murder, it is the expression of an economic and geopolitical reality that the media usually do not reflect, a reality that does not admit analysis of the types of criminal organizations involved, the way they operate and their ramifications. This dimension of organized crime, which is completely beyond the scope of the 24-hour news cycle, also includes its impact on the “legal world” and its various components, including the media. Far from wanting to overthrow the political, economic and media bases of societies, organized crime has every interest in participating in them and using them. This fundamental fact suggests that the media are vulnerable not just as victims but also as actors or cogs of a parallel system for which they can serve as information and public relations outlets. Details: Paris: Reporters Without Borders, Undated. 10p. Source: Inquiry Report: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2012 at http://fr.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/organized_crime.pdf Year: 0 Country: International URL: http://fr.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/organized_crime.pdf Shelf Number: 125209 Keywords: CorruptionCriminal ViolenceJournalistsOrganized CrimeVictims of Violence |
Author: Joleby, Elin Title: The Perception of Children’s Rights in Paraguayan Press: A study of how Unicef communicates with journalists concerning child street-workers Summary: This study focused on the level of success Unicef in Paraguay had in communicating its message concerning child street-workers to the press in Asunción. We also examined how the communication works between Unicef and the journalists, and how child street-workers appear in the press according to our sources. We based our study on the theoretical understanding of media logic and planned communication. These theories were useful to explain the possibilities and obstacles Unicef faces in its communication with the press. Our study builds on qualitative research interviews with journalists, communication staff at Unicef and the coordinator of the Global Agency of News, an organization that monitors how children appear in the Paraguayan press. We found that the communication between Unicef and the journalists is very important and highly valued by both Unicef and the Paraguayan newspapers. The relationship builds on constant trade, where both parts depend on each other. Unicef needs attention from the press in order to spread its message to the general public. The journalists need Unicef because the organization works as a trustable information source to back-up their articles regarding childhood. No one in our study was satisfied with the way child street-workers appear in the press. The children are often showed as victims or criminals and children’s rights are not always considered. A central problem is that awareness about children’s rights is low, both in the Paraguayan society and among many journalists. Unicef succeeds quite well in their communication with the journalists that are already aware of children’s rights. But the organization does not succeed in communicating with a big part of the press, as a lot of articles are still discriminative towards child street-workers. Details: University of Kalmar, School of Communication and Design, 2009. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: umu.diva-portal.org Year: 2009 Country: Paraguay URL: Shelf Number: 128743 Keywords: Child Street Workers (Paraguay)JournalistsMediaStreet Children |
Author: Edmonds-Poli, Emily Title: The Effects of Drug-War Related Violence on Mexico’s Press and Democracy Summary: This working paper is the product of a joint project on civic engagement and public security in Mexico coordinated by the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego. The paper offers an assessment of the impact of criminal violence on journalists and media workers in Mexico, which is now the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalists. Dr. Edmonds-Poli concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the Mexican government, Mexican society, and the international community to address the problem of violence against the Mexican media. The wide-ranging recommendations offer concrete steps that individuals and institutions involved may undertake to alleviate the violence, thereby ensuring freedom of expression and public access to information in Mexico, and, ultimately, strengthening Mexico’s democracy. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; San Diego, CA: Trans-Border Institute, University of San Diego, 2013. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 7, 2013 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/edmonds_violence_press_0.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/edmonds_violence_press_0.pdf Shelf Number: 129002 Keywords: Drug Abuse and CrimeDrug TraffickingDrug-Related Violence (Mexico)HomicidesJournalistsMediaViolent Crime |
Author: Fink, Naureen Chowdhury Title: Mightier than the Sword? The Role of the Media in Addressing Violence and Terrorism in South Asia Summary: The media plays an important role in terrorism and counterterrorism. Because of its capacity to relay information, frame narratives, shape public opinion, and inform both politics and policymaking, the media is a critical vehicle to convey ideas that legitimize or delegitimize terrorists and violent extremist groups and narratives. Violent extremist groups have used the media, particularly the Internet, to link local grievances to global narratives, and to radicalize and mobilize supporters. South Asia has a long history of confronting violence and extremism, particularly from groups espousing a wide variety of ideologies, including ethno-national, separatist, right and left wing, and religious (or sectarian) causes. Within this environment, South Asia's vibrant and diverse media has often been at the forefront of a rich cultural and political discourse and plays an important role in framing and informing public opinion, and in challenging extremist ideas and acts. However, there have also been concerns about the use of the media to incite violence and perpetuate tensions between different communities. This report analyzes the media's important role in contemporary terrorism and argues for greater focus on the role of the media in countering violent extremism (CVE), both as a platform for communication and as a professional body that can shape perceptions, offer balanced information, and create protected spaces for critical debate and dialogue. The publication draws on a desktop literature review, discussions held during a workshop on "The Role of the Media in Addressing Terrorism and Violent Extremism in South Asia" at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore, and extensive dialogue with practitioners, experts, and government officials. This report offers a set of recommendations for actors at the national, regional, and international levels to consider when engaging with the media for CVE purposes in South Asia. Details: Goshen, IN: Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://www.globalct.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013Oct_CGCC_MightierThanTheSword_Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia URL: http://www.globalct.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013Oct_CGCC_MightierThanTheSword_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 131832 Keywords: JournalistsMediaTerrorismViolent Extremism |
Author: Owens, Kaitlin Title: Honduras: Journalism in the Shadow of Impunity Summary: This report examines the surge in violence directed against journalists following the ouster of President Jose Manuel Zelaya in June 2009. Since then at least 32 Honduran journalists have been killed and many more continue to work in a climate of fear and self-censorship. Reporters who cover corruption and organized crime are routinely targeted for their work and attacked or killed with almost complete impunity. The sources of the violence against journalists are varied. Transnational drug cartels have infiltrated the country so effectively that the present crisis in Honduras cannot be understood in isolation from its Central American neighbours. That said, it is also clear that the absence of reliable institutions has allowed the violence to escalate far more rapidly than many anticipated. Much of the violence is produced by the state itself, perhaps most significantly by a corrupt police force. In a special report on police criminality in Honduras, the Tegucigalpa-based Violence Observatory (Observatorio de Violencia) found that between January 2011 and November 2012 police officers killed 149 civilians, approximately six per month. The taint of corruption and a culture of impunity have undermined trust among state agencies and public confidence in key institutions. Public distrust of the police is so great that crimes are rarely reported. Moreover, due to widespread corruption and inefficiency among the force, only an estimated 20 per cent of crime is reported, and of that less than four per cent gets investigated. According to the State's own statistics, less than one per cent of all crime in Honduras is subject to a police investigation. Procedural flaws are evident throughout the system. Police often say an investigation is underway when there is none; the office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights (Fiscala Especial de Derechos Humanos) does not have the jurisdiction to try those responsible for the murders of journalists, and lacks resources to conduct even the most basic investigations into other human rights violations. On the other hand, while some legal initiatives are under-resourced, there is also a proliferation of competing agencies that notionally address the same problem. This has created a situation in which institutional responsibility has been so widely diffused that no one is ultimately accountable for the high level of impunity. With current levels of funding, the office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, which was nominally responsible for over 7,000 investigations in 2012, can only investigate a small percentage of these cases each year. While the office continues to operate with a serious shortage of funds, the Honduran state is able to argue that it has made progress in addressing human rights violations through the establishment of a Special Prosecutor for Human Rights. Given these crises, this report finds that the Honduran judiciary faces significant challenges in establishing an independent legal culture capable of ensuring accountability for human rights abuses. Furthermore, legal mechanisms to protect journalists are needlessly complicated and often confusing. Even international mechanisms such as the precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (iachr) are poorly understood by local police and, at least as currently implemented, offer little real protection. Deep divisions among the journalists themselves hinder the fight against impunity. A striking absence of camaraderie within the profession has impaired its ability to collaborate effectively in protesting violence against journalists and in promoting protection mechanisms. Mutual suspicion is evident in many journalists' scepticism towards the official Association of Journalists of Honduras (Colegio de Periodistas de Honduras - cph) - an institution that has noticeably failed in its legislative mandate to "promote solidarity and mutual assistance among the media." This failure has meant that there is no united front pressing for greater accountability and an end to the violence. The coup that unseated President Zelaya in 2009 brought these problems into the spotlight, but the roots of the crisis lie further back in Honduras' history, notably in its failure during the demilitarization process that began in the 1980s to hold those who had committed serious human rights violations accountable for their actions. A legacy of failed reforms left the state incapable of dealing with rights violations that took place during and after the 2009 coup. As a result, the recent wave of murderous violence has been met with a familiar mixture of inadequate resources, bureaucratic ineptitude, blame-shifting and denial. The coup interrupted the demilitarization of Honduras. One human rights worker we interviewed spoke of the return of a security-state mindset in which peaceful dissent is often met with reflexive violence. Others noted that the re-emergence of the security state had been justified - as in Colombia and Mexico - as an antidote to pervasive corruption and organized crime. But the real lesson to be drawn from the use of force to compensate for the failures of transitional justice is that state actors no longer need to fear being held to account for their actions. As Bertha Oliva, co-ordinator of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Comite de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras - cofadeh) put it: "When we allow impunity for human rights violations, we see the crimes of the past translated into the crimes of the future." Details: Toronto: PEN Canada; London: PEN International, 2014. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2014 at: http://www.pen-international.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Honduras-Journalism-in-the-Shadow-of-Impunity1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.pen-international.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Honduras-Journalism-in-the-Shadow-of-Impunity1.pdf Shelf Number: 132630 Keywords: Drug CartelsHomicidesHuman Rights AbusesJournalistsOrganized CrimePolitical CorruptionViolence Violence Crime |
Author: Richardson, Chris Title: Communicating Crimes: Covering Gangs in Contemporary Canadian Journalism Summary: In this integrated-article dissertation, I examine representations of gangs in Canadian journalism, focusing primarily on contemporary newspaper reporting. While the term - gang - often refers to violent groups of young urban males, it can also signify outlaw bikers, organized crime, terrorist cells, non-criminal social groups, and a wide array of other collectives. I build on Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework to probe this ambiguity, seeking to provide context and critical assessments that will improve crime reporting and its reception. In the course of my work, I examine how popular films like West Side Story inform journalists' descriptions of gangs. Though reporters have been covering suburban gangs for decades, they continue to place gangs in the inner city, which fits better with imagery from the Manhattan musical. Meanwhile, politicians and political commentators frequently exploit the ambiguity of gangs, applying its rhetoric to opponents and evoking criminal connotations in mediated debates. Based on these findings, I argue that Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence envelopes contemporary Canadian newspapers and I suggest that journalists must incorporate alternative images and discourses to challenge these problematic communication practices. Consequently, my last chapter explores art projects in Regent Park and Clichy-sous-Bois, where I find techniques that challenge the dominant tropes of gangs within the news media and provoke more nuanced conversations about such groups. I conclude by outlining the implications of my research for journalists, gang scholars, and concerned citizens. Details: London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario, 2012. 314p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 2, 2015 at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=etd Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=etd Shelf Number: 136648 Keywords: GangsJournalistsMedia NewspapersPopular CultureYouth Gangs |
Author: End Violence Against Women Coalition Title: 'Just the Women': An evaluation of eleven British national newspapers' portrayal of women over a two week period in September 2012...... Summary: Women's rights advocates have long been concerned with the potential for the media to create, reinforce, perpetuate, or alternatively challenge, sexism and discrimination, and were heartened to see the Leveson Inquiry make a call for submissions which would shed light on the way newsrooms operate; the training that journalists receive; whether the general law which individuals are subject to is adequate for press regulation; and the relationship between democracy and a free press. As such, our four organisations made written submissions to the Inquiry last December and were pleased to be asked to give oral evidence in January of this year. Our submissions focused on the representation of women, and violence against women in particular, within the British press. We argued that much current newspaper reporting about crimes of violence against women promotes and reinforces myths and stereotypes about abuse (such as 'real' and 'deserving' victims, 'provoked' or 'tragic' perpetrators etc.); is often inaccurate; and does not give context about the true scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG), or the culture in which it occurs. Such reporting can tend towards the normalisation, eroticisation and even condoning of VAWG. It sends a message to survivors of abuse that they will not be believed or that what happened to them will not be taken seriously, and it tells potential perpetrators that their actions will not be sanctioned. As the Crown Prosecution Service stated shortly after we gave evidence to the Inquiry, this prejudicial reporting may seriously undermine the justice system by having an impact on jurors' decision-making. Details: London: EAVES, 2012. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 5, 2016 at: http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data/files/resources/51/Just-the-Women-Nov-2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data/files/resources/51/Just-the-Women-Nov-2012.pdf Shelf Number: 137761 Keywords: JournalistsMediaNewspapersSexual ExploitationViolence Against Women and Girls |
Author: Mastrorocco, Nicola Title: Information and Crime Perceptions: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Summary: This paper investigates the influence of media on the beliefs and perceptions individuals hold, with a focus on crime perceptions. We study the case of Italy, where the majority of television channels have been under the influence of the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for more than a decade. First, we document that these channels systematically over represent crime news compared to others. We then test if individuals revise their perceptions about crime when exposure to news programs broadcast by a specific group of partisan channels is reduced. In order to identify the causal effect we exploit a natural experiment in the Italian television market where the staggered introduction of the digital TV signal led to a drastic drop in the viewing shares of the channels above. Combining unique data on each channel's crime news coverage and prime-time viewing shares, we find that reduced exposure to crime-related news decreased concerns about crime, an effect that is mainly driven by older individuals who, on average, watch more television and use alternative sources of information (such as Internet, radio and newspapers) less frequently. Finally, we show that this change in crime perceptions is likely to have important implications for voting behaviour. Details: London: Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration Department of Economics, University College London, 2016. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper Series CPD 01/16: Accessed February 17, 2016 at: http://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_01_16.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Italy URL: http://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_01_16.pdf Shelf Number: 137862 Keywords: CommunicationInformationJournalistsMass MediaNewspapersPublic OpinionTelevisionVoting |
Author: Griffin, Darrin J. Title: Werther Effect in Active Shooter Events Summary: If it bleeds it leads - this is an unfortunate but real mentality in the industry of news media. Reporting practices have led to what is perceived as sensationalism of negative events. The Werther effect establishes the connection between publicized suicide events and a spike in incidents of suicide that follow (see Kim et al., 2013). Given the established behavior of the Werther effect, investigations should seek to understand what impact, if any, media publicizing has on copycat behavior of other life-ending incidents. Recently, active shooter events have become heavily publicized in the media. This begets a logical question: Are there copycat active shooters that seem to be motivated by media? This study served to explore the possible presence of copycat phenomena of contemporary active shooters through media sensationalism. Through the analysis of shooters' written manifestos available through public record we examined references made within their writings to previous active shooters. This relational data was input into social network analysis software (i.e., UCINET) to construct a network visualization. Google Trend analytics were also used to explore whether media portrayals might be driving interest in past active shooters - especially Columbine and Virginia Tech (VT). Findings support the notion of an idolization effect in the context of active shooters with the focus being on the large shootings of the past. The need for journalist ethics in active shooting contexts is discussed. Details: Unpublished paper, 2014. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 13, 2018 at: http://djgriffin.people.ua.edu/uploads/6/3/6/5/63651523/submission_version_werther_effect_in_active_shooter_events_alabama_communication_conference__1_.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://djgriffin.people.ua.edu/uploads/6/3/6/5/63651523/submission_version_werther_effect_in_active_shooter_events_alabama_communication_conference__1_.pdf Shelf Number: 149459 Keywords: Active ShooterCopycat CrimesGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesJournalistsMass MediaMass ShootingsSocial Network AnalysisWerther Effect |
Author: Phillips, Whitney Title: The Oxygen of Amplification: Better Practices for Reporting on Extremists, Antagonists, and Manipulators Online Summary: We live in a time where new forms of power are emerging, where social and digital media are being leveraged to reconfigure the information landscape. This new domain requires journalists to take what they know about abuses of power and media manipulation in traditional information ecosystems and apply that knowledge to networked actors, such as white nationalist networks online. These actors create new journalistic stumbling blocks that transcend attempts to manipulate reporters solely to spin a beneficial narrative - which reporters are trained to decode - and instead represent a larger effort focused on spreading hateful ideology and other false and misleading narratives, with news coverage itself harnessed to fuel hate, confusion, and discord. The choices reporters and editors make about what to cover and how to cover it play a key part in regulating the amount of oxygen supplied to the falsehoods, antagonisms, and manipulations that threaten to overrun the contemporary media ecosystemand, simultaneously, threaten to undermine democratic discourse more broadly. This context demands that journalists and the newsrooms that support them examine with greater scrutiny how these actors and movements endeavor to subvert journalism norms, practices, and objectives. More importantly, journalists, editors, and publishers must determine how the journalistic rule set must be strengthened and fortified against this newest form of journalistic manipulation - in some cases through the rigorous upholding of long-standing journalistic principles, and in others, by recognizing which practices and structural limitations make reporters particularly vulnerable to manipulation. With a particular focus on coverage of internet trolls, conspiracy theories, and networks of white nationalists during and after the 2016 US presidential election, this report explores these issues through the perspectives of those who must navigate this territory every day: the journalists themselves. The report's three parts incorporate interviews with 50 individuals with intimate knowledge of the contemporary news media. Fifty-six percent of these respondents are women, 30% are people of color, and 26% are natural-born citizens of countries outside the United States, with additional insights gleaned from the scores of the more informal discussions the author - a frequent expert commentator on stories about internet trolling - has had with reporters since 2010. While each part may be read on its own, each informs and is informed by the others. Details: New York: Data & Society, 2018. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 31, 2018 at: https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/FULLREPORT_Oxygen_of_Amplification_DS.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/FULLREPORT_Oxygen_of_Amplification_DS.pdf Shelf Number: 150414 Keywords: ExtremistsInternetJournalistsMass MediaMediaSocial MediaTerrorists |
Author: Hinoposa, Gina Title: Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico Summary: KEY FINDINGS - Protection measures provided through Mexico's Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists are often insufficient. The Mechanism has been unable to develop risk analysis protocols that effectively identify the different needs of female, rural, indigenous, and other particularly vulnerable journalists and defenders when it comes to receiving protections. Protection measures are often unreliable, are not adequately implemented, and do not take into account realities on the ground in different parts of the country. In some cases, they have been unable to provide sufficient protection: six Mechanism beneficiaries have been murdered since August 2017. - The Mechanism suffers from a serious lack of adequate staffing and budget levels. There are only 35 Mechanism personnel overseeing the protection of 831 journalists and human rights defenders. Despite this context, Mexico's 2019 budget cut funds to the Ministry of the Interior"s Human Rights Unit-which finances the Mechanism's staff salaries-by over USD$610,500, meaning additional staff will likely not be hired in 2019. Moreover, while the Mechanism spent approximately $13.6 million on the implementation of protection measures in 2018, Mexico's Congress only allocated up to $10.9 million for protection measures in the 2019 budget. - The Mechanism has made progress in developing strategies that go beyond providing immediate protection to journalists and human rights defenders. Experiences in the state of Chihuahua could serve as a model for developing comprehensive prevention strategies that are more comprehensive and more attuned to local contexts. Since 2016, Mechanism officials have been working alongside Chihuahua's state government, national and international human rights bodies, and local civil society groups to develop a Contingency Plan focused on addressing the root causes of violence against journalists and human rights defenders in that state. - Mexican authorities are frequently identified as the perpetrators behind crimes against journalists and human rights defenders. Public officials were determined to be the likely aggressors in 39 percent of cases the Mechanism has overseen. Similarly, "abuse of authority" was the second-most common crime reported by prosecutor's offices that provided us with statistics on these crimes, pointing to how frequently public officials and security forces are involved in attacks. This helps to explain why many investigations into crimes against journalists and human rights defenders lack credibility and impartiality, particularly at the state level. - The Mexican government's failure to properly investigate and sanction crimes against journalists and human rights defenders has left these groups open to attack. Between 2012 and June 2018, only three percent of investigations opened by the state prosecutor's offices analyzed by WOLA and PBI made it to the courts. Of the 1,077 cases investigated by the federal-level Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) during that period, less than 12 percent were taken to court. Only five FEADLE cases-less than one percent-resulted in convictions. Aside from its overall poor track record in prosecuting cases, FEADLE rarely takes advantage of its power to take investigations out of the hands of state prosecutor's offices when state authorities are not handling the cases with due diligence. - FEADLE's capacity to fulfill its mandate has been severely limited by a lack of human and financial resources. The agency's budget has been reduced by 54 percent since 2014, from over USD$2 million to around $942,000. The office only has 22 prosecutors and 15 investigative police officers on staff. - Many prosecutor's offices in Mexico do not maintain quality criminal statistics that could aid in criminal analysis and strengthen prosecutorial oversight. Without systematized databases with reliable statistics on crimes against journalists and human rights defenders, prosecutors are unable to draw patterns and connections between cases, or identify any common modus operandi used to target victims. Some offices do not track the status and results of their investigations, such as the outcome of cases that are tried in court. This makes it difficult for authorities to identify and rectify gaps in their investigative practices and processes, and makes clear that prosecutors in these offices are not being evaluated based on their performance. - Some law enforcement institutions often devote valuable time and resources toward discrediting and criminalizing the work of journalists and human rights defenders, rather than guaranteeing their protection. There is a clear pattern of Mexican authorities misusing criminal legislation to criminalize activists and media workers. In Chihuahua state, for example, we found that over the period reviewed for this report, the number of cases in which authorities deemed journalists to be the alleged aggressors was more than double the number of cases opened into crimes committed against them. - The U.S. government continues to provide significant funds to support the Protection Mechanism and to strengthen investigations into crimes against journalists and human rights defenders. In September 2017, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated a USD$7.1 million project called ProVoces. ProVoces consultants have provided trainings, mentorship, and technical assistance to the Mexican agencies charged with addressing violence against journalists and defenders and aims to strengthen coordination between prosecutor's offices, federal and state-level protection mechanisms, and civil society organizations. Details: Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America, 2019. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2019 at: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ENGLISH-WOLA-PBI-2019.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ENGLISH-WOLA-PBI-2019.pdf Shelf Number: 155747 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationFreedom of ExpressionHomicidesHuman Rights DefendersJournalistsProsecutionProtection Measures |