At-Risk Journalists Need More Than Words from the United Nations for Protection Javier Garza - International Center for Journalists
go to original August 23, 2014

A screenshot of the map created by Jorge Luis Sierra to identify violence against journalists. (crowdmap)

The delegates, journalists and observers gathered at the recent meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council were focused on a noble purpose: promoting freedom of the press and the security of journalists worldwide.

But at the same time they were at a loss to answer one basic question: Why is violence against the press increasing despite years of efforts to curtail it?

In their interventions at the meeting, national representatives talked about “political will,” a very useful cliché for useless statements. On the opposing side, journalists and activists demanded “real political action” to stand up to attacks against the press. Both sides seemed to be talking past each other.

Such a lofty setting, the Palace of Nations in Geneva, was far removed from the realities that journalists face all over the world. In 2012, the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) summoned representatives from the media and nongovernmental organizations to launch a “Plan of Action” that would produce protection mechanisms for journalists around the world. Two years later, UNESCO deputy director, Getachew Engida, was candidly admitting that the plan is still “only on paper.”

Meanwhile, a journalist is killed somewhere in the world every 13 days.

...International observers monitoring the situation of the press around the world need better tools in order to monitor the conditions in which journalists work. They also need a more accurate way to diagnose the problems, and to determine whether national governments are keeping their commitments to protect a free press.

Such a tool is being developed in Mexico by the International Center for Journalists and Freedom House. My colleague, ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellowships Director (and former Knight Fellow) Jorge Luis Sierra created a map which tracks attacks on journalists by type of aggression (physical, psychological, digital or legal), by type of attacker or type of news the journalist is covering.

The wealth of data that has emerged since the map was launched in 2012 is allowing us to produce a better diagnosis of the environment faced by the press in Mexico. We can put a microscope on the regional dynamics of attacks against journalists within Mexico and the way they evolve and change over time.

Read the rest at International Center for Journalists

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