Since the UN published its research agenda on the safety of journalists in 2015,
research focused on threats and dangers faced by journalists in different parts of the world, has become an important area of investigation. Country and region based academic studies on threats faced by journalists are being conducted in ever-increasing numbers (e.g. Asal et al., 2016; Cottle et al., 2016; Høiby & Ottosen, 2017). However, the focus on cross-national data in this context has also been criticized for its bias towards treating nations as a whole (Hughes & Marquez-Ramirez, 2018) instead of understanding socio-cultural and political-economic particularities at the sub-national level that affect the safety of journalists. In response to this recent criticism, this panel addresses whether and how learning lessons across borders to understand safety issues faced by journalists is indeed a worthwhile endeavor. The panel focuses on how data and learning from one country or regional context can help understand, and even perhaps mitigate, safety issues faced by journalists elsewhere. The panel will include contributions by international journalists’ safety trainers on how they apply lessons they learn from one context to another. It will also include contributions by researchers on the value of identifying trends and finding commonalities within cross-border and cross-regional studies on journalists’ safety. In addition, the panel will also address methodological challenges presented in cross-border studies on journalists’ safety. The goal of the panel will be to identify and inform the academic and practitioner community how internationally comparative foci can be of benefit to practice and research surrounding journalists’ safety. An additional goal of the panel is to bring together researchers and practitioners engaged in the area of safety of journalists to facilitate dialogues that can benefit both parties.