UNESCO Chair, Professor Jackie Harrison (second right in image), presented the findings and recommendations from the academic consultation that took place on occasion of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity (UNPA) at the Pre-Conference of the Safety of Journalists: Protecting Media to protect Democracy High Level Conference in Vienna on 3, November.
In her speech, Professor Harrison emphasised the importance of academic research in understanding the threats that journalists face in their work. Professor Harrison summarised the trends on journalism safety that academics stated they were concerned about following the three rounds of the academic consultation, including a need to focus on digital threats, misuse of legislation (SLAPPs) and gender-specific safety issues, to name but a few. More can be read about the academic consultation here.
Professor Harrison also provided recommendations as to how the Global Academic Community (GAC) can play a role in further implementing the UNPA, including the development of a journalism safety curriculum and called for sufficient resources to be given to academics to further research, such as through financial and human resources support.
The report on the academic consultation will be made available on the CFOM website in due course.
More can be read about the importance of academic research on journalism safety in an interview with Professor Harrison here.