ABSTRACT
This research was conducted to assess Akwa Ibom State women journalists’ perceptions of hazards in journalism practice. Survey research method was utilised by the researcher and questionnaire was the primary instrument for gathering data from the respondents. Perception theory was the theoretical foundation of the research. The researcher adopted simple random sampling to select respondents from the fourteen chapels in Akwa Ibom State. The population of the study was 91 with a sample of 74 respondents drawn from Taro Yamane sample size determination formula. Findings from the research show that Akwa Ibom State women journalists are exposed to journalism hazards and media organizations in the state do not provide women journalists with relevant training and professional development on how to handle journalism hazards. The researcher therefore recommends that media organizations should make it a deliberate policy to train and re-train women journalists on safety and security on how to handle journalism hazards.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Journalists all over the world experience occupational hazards especially in the process of news gathering and reporting. They tend to go deep in every investigation they undertake to acquire the accurate information that their readers or co-listeners want to know. As watchdogs of the society, journalists provide transparency and clear presentation of facts which include revealing of anomalies of people in authority. Journalists are aware of their social responsibility; they feel accountable when they discover that there is something unusual happening in the society, hence, they only more often than not feel relieved when they are able to air it out to the public. However, they have little awareness on how exceeding of limitations might affect their lives. One might see threats as part of their daily encounters, but one must also realise that experiencing such is not normal and must be put into an end before bigger problems entailing lives occur.
Journalists, when on field, get too absorbed with their need to come up with a story that they tend to forget that their lives and that of their families may be put in jeopardy. Hazards transpire when journalists highlight the negative sides of the people in authority and business tycoons. These can create traumas and can affect their emotional and psychological well-being and those of their families. Thus, affect their normal way of living, Tarima (2012, p. 12).
Journalism plays a key role in democracies around the world, acting as a watchdog on the state and informing citizens about the decisions that affect their everyday life (Wahl-Jorgensen et al, 2016, p. 802). Journalism remains a cornerstone of democracy and popular participation worldwide. However, journalists face a number of threats that limit their ability to fulfill their watchdog role and they find themselves sandwiched between the exciting and fulfilling aspect of the profession and the hazards which is the somber side of journalism practice.
Over the years journalists have suffered unwarranted embarrassment and killings in the course of their duty.
Journalists regularly endure threats, intimidation, and abuse in the course of their work; this is meant to frighten, harm, and ultimately silence them. Several kinds of threats endanger journalists’ safety, including assassinations, physical attacks, material risk, intimidation, digital harassment, sexual harassment and violence. Frequent perpetrators include government actors or militant groups who dislike what a journalist is reporting.
Impunity on the part of those who attack journalists has given rise to risks that turn journalism into a tightrope walk. The pervasiveness of direct and indirect threats means that journalists cannot reach independent decisions without fearing for their lives and their families’ safety. Correspondingly, those with power cause immense emotional strain for journalists, including through the death of colleagues and threats to their families. All of these influence reporters’ choices about what to report (Ashraf and Brooten, 2017, p. 151).
Murder is the most extreme form of silencing journalists, although jailing, threats and harassment are also used, not only during armed conflict, but most often in times of peace. Journalists fall victim not only to physical violence, but also to psychological and digital attacks. Reporting on issues such as politics, corruption, organised crime, human rights, the environment, protests and elections can be a life-threatening endeavor.