UK Rolls Out Plan to Protect Journalists Under Growing Menace

Reacting to attacks and threats against journalists, the United Kingdom has put forth a national plan to protect them, with more reporting if they've been subject to online harassment as well.

Reporters said they've been punched, threatened with knives, forcibly detained and subjected to rape and death threats, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said, The Guardian reported.

The first national action plan includes training for police officers and journalists while prosecutors said they will be more aggressive in responses to crimes against reporters, although those in the UK are far safer than in most countries.

A survey of members of the National Union of Journalists in November 2020 found more than half of respondents had experienced online abuse while nearly a quarter were physically assaulted or attacked.

A government statement promised to work with police, broadcasters, publishers, industry bodies, and unions to increase awareness of safety challenges faced by journalists and introduce measures – still unspecified – to help them.

In November 2020, two journalists working for the Sunday World newspaper were contacted by police and told of a series of “imminent threats” of attack by criminals and loyalist paramilitaries including the West Belfast Ulster Defence Association.

That came after a journalist working for the Belfast Telegraph was threatened by a loyalist paramilitary group and a senior reporter for Newsquest in Cumbria was forced into hiding under police protection in May after receiving death and rape threats.

In April 2019, Northern Ireland journalist Lyra McKee was fatally shot in the head by protesters while standing near a police vehicle. She was the first reporter killed in the UK since Irish investigative journalist Martin O'Hagan was shot dead in 2001.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a former journalist himself, said in a statement that, “Freedom of speech and a free press are at the very core of our democracy, and journalists must be able to go about their work without being threatened.

“The cowardly attacks and abuse directed at reporters for simply doing their job cannot continue. This action plan is just the start of our work to protect those keeping the public informed, and defend those holding the government to account.”

Facebook and Twitter have committed to respond promptly to complaints of threats to journalists’ safety online, according to DCMS but it wasn't said what practically could be done to protect them.

National Union of Journalists General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet, said: “Attacks on journalists are designed to silence and intimidate those who work to uphold the public’s right to know. NUJ members have shared horrific experiences of being attacked, abused and threatened – on and offline – simply for doing their job.

“It’s clear that reported incidents are the tip of the iceberg and that harassment and abuse has become normalised. This action plan, with its range of practical measures and protections, is an important step towards changing that and ensuring journalists can get on with their vital work free from harassment or intimidation,” she added.

Society of Editors Executive Director Ian Murray told the paper that, “The action plan recognises the urgency of protecting journalists carrying out their vital role in protecting democracy.

“Due to their role in holding the powerful and those in authority to task journalists attract strong reactions. But this should not manifest itself in ways that threaten journalists and their families. This action plan makes that clear,” he added.

There is skepticism about the government's stated intent to be on the side of journalists and media. The British Embassy in Bolivia claimed that investigative journalism outlet Declassified UK was engaged in a “campaign of disinformation.”

That was after the site published an exclusive article about UK support for the Bolivian regime that took power in a coup in November 2019 and forced democratically elected President Evo Morales to flee to Mexico.