Safety of journalists and media actors

Video

Text accompanying video

This video focuses on the online harassment of women journalists and journalists who identify as members of minority and/or marginalised communities. The aim of the text is to give further background to, and explanation of, the use of certain terminology, such as the catch-all, shorthand term, “women, minority and marginalised journalists”, that is used in the video. We would also like to refer you to the sources we have drawn on while preparing this video.

Use of terminology

  • When referring to journalists, we have the same broad understanding of the phrase, “journalists and other media actors”, as used by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its 2016 Recommendation on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors.[1] The Recommendation refers to the (case-law of the) European Court of Human Rights, which has repeatedly recognised that “individuals, civil society organisations, whistle-blowers and academics, in addition to professional journalists and media, can all make valuable contributions to public debate, thereby playing a similar role or equivalent to that traditionally played by the institutional media and professional journalists”.[2] This broad definition of journalism is also in line with the UN Human Rights Committee’s General comment No. 34, which states that “journalism is a function shared by a wide range of actors, including professional full-time reporters and analysts, as well as bloggers and others who engage in forms of self-publication in print, on the Internet or elsewhere”.[3] The Council of Europe’s 2016 Recommendation explicitly refers to General comment no. 34.[4] Due to future developments in the rapidly evolving media ecosystem, we realise that the notions and meanings of journalists and media (actors) will continue to evolve.[5]
  • When referring to women journalists, we mean the terms ‘woman’ and ‘women’ in an inclusive sense, thus including anyone who identifies as such.
  • When referring to ‘minority communities’, we mean that the term ‘minority’ can relate to various underrepresented groups in society which have distinctive group characteristics vis-à-vis the majority of the population, e.g., ethnicity, socio-economic status and religion.
  • When referring to ‘marginalised communities’,  the term ‘marginalisation’ can relate to social underrepresentation, exclusion and/or a disadvantaged position in society, we would like to emphasise that this is mostly a social-historical process.
  • When referring to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we specifically mean to include anyone who identifies as part of this community.

As the terminology debates are still ongoing and quickly evolving, we realise that, as with the terms ‘journalist’ and ‘media actor’, the notions and meanings of the terminology used in this video will also continue to evolve.

Sources

The following reports have been very helpful while preparing this video:[6]

We are very grateful to experts, Jennifer Adams, Bojana Kostić and Prof. Claudia Padovani, for sharing their insights on the safety of women journalists and media actors who identify as members of minority and/or marginalised communities, as well as for sharing some useful sources as listed below.

[1] Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors, 13 April 2016.
[2] Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors, 13 April 2016, part II – para. 9.
[3] United Nations Human Rights Committee, ‘General comment No. 34. Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression’, CCPR/C/GC/34, 2011.
[4] Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors, 13 April 2016, para. 4.
[5] European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Parcu, P., Brogi, E., Verza, S., et al., Study on media plurality and diversity online : final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022, Introductory chapter – 2. ‘Notions and definitions of media’.
[6] A more comprehensive overview of sources can be found in the reading list for this Knowledge Package.
[7] The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media participated in the gender component of this publication.