Safety of Journalists

In accordance with our membership of the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, the Society continues to look at ways to ensure that all journalists are free to fulfil their roles without fear of abuse, intimidation of harassment. 

In November 2022, the Society and National Union of Journalists launched a mobile-friendly safety toolkit to help journalists find advice and information surrounding their safety while on the move.

The free-to-access toolkit is part of the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists’ action plan which aims to find ways to protect journalists from threats of violence and online abuse in the course of their work.

The toolkit provides clear, simple information and advice, as well as signposting journalists to other important resources. It provides information to help journalists protect themselves and their sources and technological ways to secure communications. It covers physical safety, information security, mental health care, health and safety at work and gives advice on how to take action against abuse on social media platforms.

The mobile toolkit can be accessed here.

Announcing the tool kit’s launch, Dawn Alford, Executive Director of the Society of Editors said: “Journalism plays a crucial role in our society and yet more and more often we are seeing journalists subjected to abuse, harassment and intimidation for simply carrying out their roles. 

“The Society is committed to helping to ensure that journalists operating in the UK are able to do so without fear and the Safety Toolkit provides information, advice and resources to help reporters recognise their rights and the avenues available to help them work safely. The abuse of journalists must not be seen as part of the job. Abuse must be called out – and stamped out – if journalists are to be able to continue to speak truth to power.”