Human Rights, Impunity and Anti-Press Violence How Journalists Survive and Resist

1. Introduction  2. Civil Society Responses to Impunity, from International Human Rights Norms to Self-Protection  3. Violence against Journalists and Impunity in Mexico and Honduras: The Role of the State, Civil Society and the Media  4. Domestic Strategies: Demanding Justice and Protection from State Institutions   5. International Strategies: Using International Human Rights Standards, Mechanisms and Actors to seek Justice and Protection  6. Activist Strategies: Mobilising as Activists  7. Professional Strategies: Responding as Journalists  8. From Protection to Self-Protection: Towards a More Holistic Approach to Journalist Safety and Addressing Impunity.  Appendix A: Note on Methods and Data.  Appendix B: List of Interviewees.  Appendix C: Summary of Journalists' Rights in Mexico and Honduras in International Law and National Constitutions

Biography

Tamsin S. Mitchell (PhD Politics) is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of London (School of Advanced Study, ICwS), a former visiting researcher and ESRC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sheffield’s Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) and a freelance consultant, most recently for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Previously, she worked for various international human rights and humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including for the literary and free expression NGO PEN International, where she managed programmes of research and advocacy in Latin America and Africa and provided support to writers and journalists at risk. Mitchell has taught at several universities, including the University of Sheffield and the University of York in the United Kingdom and the Universidad de los Andes and Universidad Nacional in Colombia, South America.

Drawing on a decade of experience supporting journalists under threat, Tamsin Mitchell has written a ground-breaking book on how we can better protect journalists and more generally a free press. Focusing on the partial democracies of Honduras and Mexico the volume provides a cold shower for prevailing human rights assumptions about norm diffusion, state compliance and civil society as an engine of enforcement. Instead - drawing on almost 90 interviews - Mitchell argues for the importance of self-protection, on activist strategies and self-protection which prioritise the profession and public, rather than the state, as routes to truth, justice and the challenging of impunity. The result is a must-read book for scholars from politics, international relations, law and related disciplines, and for practitioners and policy makers with an interest in journalism, human rights and, more generally, routes to strengthening democracy.

Professor Paul Gready, Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York

Empirically rich, theoretically novel and lucidly written. This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the tactics that journalists at risk of violence and impunity use to defend themselves and their profession.

Martin Scott, Professor of Media and Global Development, University of East Anglia

This is an insightful study about how journalists develop self-protection strategies in the face of risks and impunity in Honduras and Mexico. It should be required reading for anyone interested in how domestic and international protection mechanisms impact the safety of journalists as they seek truth and advance human rights.

Alice Nah, Associate Professor, Sociology, Durham University

It´s a must read for everyone concerned with security for journalists – in press organisations, journalism education and in the academic community more generally.

Rune Ottosen, Journal of Peace Research

A fascinating exploration and comparative study of the different ways in which journalists in Mexico and Honduras respond to impunity for attacks against them. The[ir] bravery and resilience [...] is at the front and centre of the work, which is something that stays with the reader long after the book is finished... providing valuable insight into the lived experience of journalists operating within Mexico and Honduras.

Elizabeth Wiggins, Law Gazette Review

... at a time where risks to journalists are rising worldwide and formal training on how to navigate violence and impunity remains largely absent from jour- nalism curricula (Ogunyemi & Price, 2023; Ivask, 2024), Mitchell offers a much- needed resource for educators seeking to address this gap. For undergraduates, often drawn to journalism by writing, creativity, or public service (Andersson & Wadbring, 2015; Carpenter et al., 2018), the book introduces the threats journalists face and how they respond. For PhD students, the book shows how to build theory by drawing on adjacent literatures and applying external frameworks to journalism. Accordingly, Human Rights, Impunity and Anti-Press Violence should be required reading for any- one training the next generation of journalists—or preparing to join their ranks.

Asma Jaghman, Journalism & Mass Communication Educator