CFOM publishes commentary pieces focused on media freedom, journalism safety and the issue of impunity from researchers across the globe on areas that they study. If you are interested in writing a commentary for us please email cfom@sheffield.ac.uk.
Trepidation. Why do we struggle to defend WikiLeaks and its problematic founder?
By Scott Eldridge II Through this paper, Eldridge looks at a number of challenges that both WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, confront in gaining public support to defend the activities carried out by the whistleblower website. Read more: - Paper 4....
Freedom of information and media plurality. A tool against inequality
by Andrés Cañizalez Cañizalez, director of the Venezuelan chapter of the Press and Society Institute (IPYS), examines in the paper the links between media freedom and poverty, and the way mass media should work to decrease social inequalities. In...
Journalists’ safety and impunity: the UN calls on journalists to help stop the killing of journalists
It is high time journalists, media owners and editors stopped being passive in the face of the continuing slaughter and silencing of journalists. They should demand protection for their colleagues who face violence and suppression. CFOM International Director William...
The More Things Change…? The Phone Hacking Scandal and Manufacturing Consent
By James Crossley, University of Sheffield On the BBC website, Paul Mason, the regularly insightful Newsnight reporter, has attempted to understand the recent phone hacking scandal, and the broader political crises surrounding it, through a critique of Edward Herman...
Questions that Lord Leveson must address
By Donald Trelford THE phrase, “throwing out the baby with the bath water,” has been used several times lately about the proposed reform of press regulation. There seems to be a general belief, certainly among MPs, that the phone-hacking scandal resulted from the...