Colleen Murrell

Professor Colleen Murrell researches international newsgathering and has examined issues of safety for both foreign correspondents and fixers/local producers. Her work encompasses physical safety on the streets in conflict zones and how this is often impacted by parachute journalism and a lack of expertise and/or local language proficiency. Her work includes an examination of digital dangers such as online violence and trolling and the potential impact of giving out personal information on open platforms. Colleen has studied how global news agencies and broadcasters have lessened dangers to personnel in some conflict zones by accessing local video and subjecting it to long distance fact-checking. Colleen wrote the first book (2015) on the role of fixers in international newsgathering, and this was the subject of her PhD thesis (2011) at the University of Melbourne. Colleen’s interest in this area was sparked by her initial career as a journalist for news organisations such as the BBC, ITN and AP and her work in the field in countries including Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Algeria and Northern Ireland. Colleen has also worked more recently on the psychological pressures felt by young journalists - in particular women - in media interactions in the digital space.

Definition of journalists' safety

Journalists should be fully trained in physical and digital safety before venturing into potentially hostile territory. Whereas journalists’ safety used to be concentrated on war zones, today journalists are increasingly encountering violence – both physical and verbal – on their local streets. Journalists need to know how to diffuse dangerous situations while also standing their ground and upholding their right to report. Journalists should never feel obliged to cover stories they feel are unsafe and the managers of newsrooms need to also be trained in making safety-based decisions on reporting. Journalists should never ask others to do what they would not be prepared to do themselves. Governments should prosecute those who commit violence against journalists and show that they will not help enable this to happen by ignoring this problem. Journalists can also suffer psychological harm online from hostile actors, which can lead to mental health issues including PTSD. Often forms of trolling and online violence are specifically aimed at women journalists and impacts their ability to carry out their jobs safely. All journalists should feel supported by their employers and by their governments.

Future plans for research on journalists' safety

I am interested in conducting more work on they physical training undergone by journalists working in hostile environments. I am currently supervising a student who is examining how online violence against women journalists in India impacts their ability to carry out their jobs.