Newsgathering, comparative journalism, terrorism, safety, news agencies, newspapers, broadcast media
In the latest round of major terrorism incidents that have hit a number of countries in recent years, it is the home-based general reporters who are relied on to cover breaking news. Whereas previously the media have sent foreign correspondents on ‘hostile environments’ training to help them to work safely ‘on the road’, there has been considerably less thought given to the safety of field reporters sent out to cover terrorism
attacks in the vicinity of newsrooms. This paper addresses points made in the UNESCO ‘Research agenda on the safety of journalists’ document (Pöyhtäri, 2017): point 2, concerning journalists covering terrorism
and unrest and point 5, concerning ‘practitioner issues’, namely journalists’ perceptions and awareness of safety. This paper uses qualitative interviewing of a range of editors from six countries (Australia,
Belgium, France, Russia, the UK and the USA) to find out how they cover terrorism at home and whether or not they consider it necessary
to provide extra safety training for their reporters.