Launch of Worlds of Journalism Study Global Index on Journalists' Safety

Room: VUB D.2.01 Promotiezaal

As part of celebrations for UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day, the Worlds of Journalism Study will officially launch its global index on journalists’ safety based on representative surveys with over 30,000 journalists in 73 countries conducted in the period 2021-2024 and data on killings from UNESCO’s Observatory of Killings. The index is hosted on the one-stop platform on journalists’ safety – https://safetyofjournalists.org – a joint initiative between the University of Liverpool and the Worlds of Journalism Study in co-operation with UNESCO. Countries are scored across four dimensions of safety: physical, psychological, digital and financial. The ranking of countries within each of the dimensions will be presented at the launch event. Data on gender differences and differences based on journalists’ perceptions of the degree of media freedom in their countries will also be presented as well as their experiences of a range of threats – from online harassment to sexual abuse to physical attacks against them. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their first thoughts on the results and the methodology used. The Worlds of Journalism Study is a groundbreaking cross-national academic study founded in 2010 to assess the state of journalism throughout the world. A joint effort of researchers from around the world, the project aspires to the highest standards of scientific collaboration and collective publishing. In so doing, WJS has become a driver of comparative research in journalism studies, and an institutional home for those who engage in it.