journalist safety

Tackling difficult subjects and holding powerful people accountable often triggers online attacks that torment and humiliate women journalists. Some even lose their jobs as news organizations struggle to respond to the hate. Above, a September 2017 candlelight vigil in Hyderabad, India, for slain journalist Gauri Lankesh, who had been reporting on Hindu extremism and the rise of online disinformation (Mahesh Kumar A./AP).

It is an increasingly dangerous time to be a member of the press. In its annual report set to publish Tuesday morning, the Committee to Protect Journalists found that the number of journalists killed “increased sharply” in 2022, according to an advance copy of the report CNN has reviewed. In total, the press advocacy organization said a staggering 67 journalists and others in the media profession were killed worldwide last year. That figure is more than double what was reported in 2021, when 28 journalists were killed.

The Society of Professional Journalists has crafted the recommendations to help television news managers create safe working conditions for solo television reporters, also known as MMJs. It recommends that news managers share these guidelines with staff. This list was compiled by the SPJ MMJ Safety Task Force, which includes experienced television journalists.

Erik Wemple: “News of his slaying stunned his colleagues and unnerved journalists across the country — not only because of the brutal circumstances but also because of the broader conundrum at the heart of the case: How can reporters possibly know whom to fear?” (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Orlando, Fla., NBC affiliate WESH had to cancel its 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts last night and delay its Monday morning news after someone phoned in a bomb threat last night. The building was evacuated while the Eatonville and Orlando police departments investigated. Police gave the all-clear just before 5 a.m., allowing the station to start its Monday morning newscast at 5:15.

On Aug. 12, the day after an armed man tried to breach the FBI field office in Cincinnati, a joint intelligence bulletin warning of violence was issued by the FBI and DHS. While there was no mention, in this bulletin, of concern for journalists, there is still a significant risk for members of the media. Here’s why.

Jon Allsop: “It’s not uncommon for U.S. leaders to skirt press-freedom issues in choreographed encounters with foreign counterparts with questionable records in that area. But the state of threat facing Mexican journalists is hardly a faraway issue: two of the reporters killed so far this year died in Tijuana, just across the border from San Diego; in the past, Mexican journalists killed close to the US border have covered it, or lived and worked on both sides of it. And, more broadly, press freedom is uncommonly front of mind in U.S. foreign affairs right now.”

A month after 19 children and two educators were killed at Robb Elementary School, a picture is emerging of a disastrous police response, in which officers from several law enforcement agencies waited for an hour outside an unlocked classroom where children were trapped with the attacker. But journalists who have flocked to Uvalde, Texas, from across the country to tell that story have faced near-constant interference, intimidation and stonewalling from some of the same authorities — and not only bikers claiming to have police sanction. Above, two bikers from Guardians of the Children use their hats to block photojournalist Kevin Downs from covering a funeral service for Nevaeh Bravo, one of the victims killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Around 7 a.m. Wednesday at the corner of Clark and Hubbard, while the crew was in the middle of a live report about Chicago gun violence, a man walked up and pointed what appeared to be a firearm at the crew. Police are calling this man a person of interest, accused of aggravated assault with a firearm.

The latest survey from the RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University shows that more than one in five TV news directors have reported an attack on newsroom employees in 2021. While the survey showed a correlation between the size of the market and the numbers of attacks, news directors in market 101 and smaller reported an increase in attacks compared to 2020.

It’s pure hell for the journalists who are there covering the war. But we will all be worse off if they are forced to leave.

A veteran videographer and a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist working for Fox News were both killed when their vehicle came under fire outside of Kyiv, the network said on Tuesday. Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova were traveling Monday in Horenka with Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall, who remains hospitalized. “Today is a heartbreaking day for Fox News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news,” the network’s CEO, Suzanne Scott. said in a staff memo.

In an echo of the exodus of journalists from Afghanistan after the Taliban swept through the country last year, media executives and editors are engaged in a high-stakes debate about risk in Russia. Is it prudent, they ask their reporters over secure apps each day, to gather news in an increasingly hostile and isolated country? If not, is it feasible to continue from outside its borders?

A Fox News journalist, correspondent Benjamin Hall, was injured while reporting on the war in Ukraine, anchor John Roberts told viewers on Monday. Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott, in a memo to employees, said that “we have a minimal level of detail right now,” but that Hall was hospitalized.

Experienced multimedia journalists and employment experts urged MMJs to compel their bosses to be more proactive about field safety in a second virtual town hall for MMJs sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists last Saturday. MMJs have more newsroom clout than they think, experts said.

Chris Post, a freelance photojournalist for WFMZ Allentown, Pa., specializes in journalist safety. So when Russia invaded Ukraine, Post volunteered to conduct a Zoom call for Ukrainian national journalists.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp and Hank Price discuss the dangerous vulnerabilities facing multimedia journalists every day with MMJ Adam Mintzer, asking who bears responsibility for the problem — from news directors and GMs to station groups CEOs themselves.

By now you have probably seen the video of Tori Yorgey, a TV reporter for NBC affiliate WSAZ, getting hit by a car while she was reporting live on a water break in Dunbar, W.Va. The scene lasts only a few minutes, where we can see the reporter and her camera mounted on a tripod get run over by a pickup truck. Yorgey immediately exclaims “I’m okay” and continues her stand up as she catches her breath. This event has sparked a lot of debate within the journalism community, with many journalists being outraged the reporter was sent alone to do a live shot at nighttime, arguing that her news station totally disregarded her safety. Progressively, more than the safety of journalists while on the job, professionals started questioning the position of MMJs, or multimedia journalists, who are expected to be a “one-person team.”

Hank Price: Multimedia journalism was born out of financial considerations, and now that MMJs are widespread, TV news owners and management have an obligation to better ensure their safety. It’s time for news directors to step up at the station level.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin on Monday, Feb. 7. The media, were mentioned as a potential target. In a nutshell, the bulletin said several factors have “increased the volatility, unpredictability, and complexity of the threat environment.”

A virtual town hall discussion on Saturday hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists found a wide swath of multimedia journalists calling for more safety training and open lines of communication with newsroom leaders over well-being concerns following an MMJ being hit on-air by a car.