Safety of Journalists
In co-operation with UNESCO

UNESCO is the lead UN Agency for promoting freedom of expression and safety of journalists as part of its mandate to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”.

Katharine Sarikakis

Professor in Media Governance, Director Media Governance and industries research Lab at Dept of Communication, University of Vienna , Austria

Governance of journalism safety enabling environments children and journalism

I work on enhancing methods for monitoring safety of journalists; the detailed and real experience of attacks against women journalists; the structural and cultural conditions governing journalism as factors of safety. It investigates processes and conditions which shape communicative spaces, in particular for the protection and exercise of human rights of freedom of expression, human dignity, right to assembly and to information, gender equality.


Definition of journalists' safety

Safety of journalists refer to the sum of factors and conditions that allow or hinder journalists to pursue the truth and hold power accountable. It involves physical safety, emotional and psychological protection, protection from precarious employment, cultural hostility and disenfranchisement, symbolic recognition, and freedom to communicate without fear of retaliation or punishment.

Future plans for research on journalists' safety

We continue close interviews with women journalists and shelving through digital harassment; children and informational environments as a form of democracy and safety, legal and policy analysis, ethics.
Research focuses:
Cultural, Digital, Financial, Legal, Psychological
Methods used in research:
Surveys, Interviews, Focus groups, Ethnography, Policy analysis, Documentary analysis
Countries of research focus:
European

Areas interested in collaborating with NGOs

Any organisation with a focus on the above

Areas interested in collaborating with other researchers

Any issues on freedom of expression: harassment, assault, legal means for silencing journalists, cultural discreditation and shame, gender inequalities across all dimensions, role of ethics

Katharine Sarikakis

Vienna, Austria

Waehringerstr 29, A-1090

Studies by Katharine Sarikakis

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