Journal Article
The University of Liverpool is one of the top UK universities, member of the prestigious Russell Group of 24 leading UK universities.
The Worlds of Journalism Study is a cross-national collaborative project assessing the state of journalism in the world through representative surveys with journalists.
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”.
Shannon Bosch
Associate Professor at University of KwaZulu-Natal
International Humanitarian law Journalists Direct participation in hostilities
As early as 1982 the UNESCO Report on The Protection of Journalists noted that ‘journalists are exposed to danger not only in covering armed conflicts, but everywhere…(they are) threatened, arrested, harassed, tortured, maltreated, beaten, kidnapped, imprisoned and even murdered.’ Whilst journalist may not be armed with weapons, their reporting of armed conflicts is often perceived in a threatening manner, particularly when they are documenting violations of international humanitarian law or exposing the tactics and strategic positions of enemy forces. To this end there have been questions raised as to whether the actions of journalists amount to the unlawful direct participation in the hostilities. As a result, a great deal of controversy surrounds military decisions which target the media. The reality remains that journalists have a ‘peculiar propensity to seek out situations of acute danger in which the rules of IHL are already strained. My work seeks to unpack these questions by exploring the current protection afforded journalists under both general international law and IHL; the IHL status of journalists (both those embedded in the military and those reporting as freelance/independent journalists); targeting decisions involving journalists; and the obligations under IHL upon those who capture and detain journalists.
Definition of journalists' safety
Protection from threats, detention, harassment, maltreated and any form of harm.Future plans for research on journalists' safety
Treatment or journalists in the Ukraine conflict.- Research focuses:
- Legal
- Methods used in research:
- Qualitative content analysis
- Countries of research focus:
- International focus
