Marta Milena Barrios

While working as a radio and TV reporter in Colombia for more than ten years, I had the opportunity to experience firsthand the difficulties of producing information due to security reasons. Also, I can now witness reporters' problems and constraints in performing their jobs while living on the razor’s edge. That is why my research as a scholar has always tried to highlight the challenges journalism faces in this country. I have studied how journalists go from risk to resilience in their daily practice; researched the many faces that self-censorship adopts while the violence persists in the country; and analyzed the journalists’ role performance during Colombia's current post-conflict with the FARC guerrilla group, a period full of security challenges for the reporters. Also, my research interests have focused on the threats and harassment journalists receive online, particularly the role of Twitter in slandering journalists.

Definition of journalists' safety

The safety of journalists involves the identification, prevention, and elimination of factors that may affect the physical and moral integrity and well-being of reporters. Violence of any kind and origin, threats, and intimidation against reporters in any country should be understood as an indicator of the soundness of the democratic system.

Future plans for research on journalists' safety

I believe it is of utmost importance to study the ongoing violence against journalists in insecure democracies, especially in the Global South. It is crucial to research journalists’ risk-reduction strategies to foster alliances between reporters inside and outside the country to improve their security. I am also willing to deepen the journalists’ emotions and emotionally exhausting working conditions in countries with protracted conflicts and high violence indexes like Colombia.