The number of killings of journalists outside of war zones has increased globally since the mid-1990s while the forms and sources of harassment, and the areas of vulnerabilities journalists face in multiple contexts, also appears to be expanding. In response to this, then, we ask whether it is time to think, teach, and research differently in journalism studies, engaging in a more sustained fashion around the idea of risk, as a means of better supporting an increasingly pressurized profession. We base this on the concept of risk and engaged scholarship and education in support of an increasingly vulnerable population. Particularly, our papers ask in what ways does risk, as a condition or event that enhances perceived vulnerability to harm, drive contemporary journalistic practice around the world? Does the presence of new and different forms of risk mean we need to conceptualize and approach risk differently, and how might that be achieved in our thinking and teaching? Under what conditions might journalists’ responses to risk better safeguard their well-being? How should we best refine and channel the various safety practices, and psychological and practical coping strategies for risk-related stress in teaching journalism studies or training journalists? And how can our research be used in more engaged and ethical ways?
This panel focuses, on the one hand, on risks journalists confront in contexts of polarization, lawlessness or armed conflict in their every-day practices. On the other, panelists examine responses to risk, including retreat but also multiple attempts to continue professional practices while remaining physically, economically and emotionally safe. With an eye toward engaged scholarship, we further examine how our research and journalism studies can support journalists’ as institutional actors and human beings with fundamental rights.
These topics are discussed from multiple theoretical, epistemological and methodological perspectives through examples from different parts of the world.