Survey: Threats to Cameroon Journalists; Workshop Wrap
(YAOUNDE, CAMEROON)—A new survey shows that journalists in Cameroon face threats from both authorities and rebels, though the risk varies greatly from region to region.

As part of three peace journalism workshops I’ve taught here in July, journalists filled out a survey that asked them to rank the threats they face from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest threat level. Not surprisingly, journalists in the conflict regions (northwest, southwest) registered much higher threats from both government (NW-3.78; SW-3.48)and separatists fighting the government (NW-2.81; SW-3.13). In six other regions combined, the average threat level perceived by journalists was much lower from both government (2.40) and separatists (2.55). Journalists from all regions rated the threat level from opposition politicians as very low.

Journalists from all regions agreed that those who practice peace journalism have a lower threat risk overall. This is contrary to a few discussions we’ve had in class. (See previous post)

I’m continuing to crunch these numbers, and will have a full report in the October Peace Journalist  magazine.
  

Workshop day four
Our four day workshop in Yaounde concludes today with discussions about whether peace journalism is possible here, and how to best move forward as potential violent conflict looms over Cameroon. Yesterday, we discussed social media, and the journalists practiced writing Facebook posts and tweets.

Next week, I’ll post a  blog summarizing my experience in July in Cameroon.