Newsrooms must take responsibility for journalists' safety – MFWA

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has urged media organisations to take greater responsibility for the safety of journalists, insisting that the protection of reporters should not be left to individuals.

A Programme Director of the MFWA, Dr Kojo Impraim, said media owners, managers and editors had an institutional responsibility to ensure that journalists were adequately prepared and protected while carrying out their professional duties.

Speaking at a workshop in Accra on Thursday, November 12, on a Model Safety of Journalists’ Policy developed by the Foundation for adoption by newsrooms in Ghana, he said journalists continues to face physical attacks, online harassment, intimidation, legal pressure and psychological distress.

“While journalists must take precaution to protect themselves, their safety cannot be treated as a responsibility by themselves alone,” he stated.

Dr Impraim cited the Foundation's monitoring of violations against journalists across West Africa, which recorded 32 cases in the first quarter of 2026 before rising to 42 by the end of the second quarter.

He said the figures highlights the persistent threats facing journalists and the need for media organisations to establish effective systems to prevent attacks and support affected reporters.

He also noted that attacks on journalists that goes uninvestigated and unpunished could encourage further violations and undermine press freedom.

According to him, the proposed model policy provides a framework for newsrooms to manage journalists' safety before, during and after field assignments.

It covers areas including risk assessment, physical and digital security, legal support, emergency response, incident reporting and psychological well-being.

Dr Impraim urged media owners, editors and managers to adopt and implement the policy, stressing that its effectiveness would depend on its practical application within individual newsrooms.

“The policy must help us turn protection from principle into everyday practice,” he said.

The initiative is being implemented by the MFWA under its project on strengthening accountability journalism and improving the freedom of expression environment in Ghana, with support from GIZ Ghana.