Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova with co-author Professor Thomas Hanitzsch
An academic from our Department of Communication and Media has received the 2024 Wolfgang Donsbach Outstanding Journal Article of the Year Award.
Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Reader in Global Journalism Studies, was lead author on the award-winning article published in Digital Journalism entitled ‘Conceptualizing Journalists’ Safety around the Globe.’
The prestigious prize is only awarded to peer-reviewed articles which are judged to have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of the ever-changing role of journalism in societies. Articles are selected by an awarding committee of the International Communication Association Journalism Studies Division after a rigorous nominations process.
The awarding committee described Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova’s contribution as providing “an easy-to-comprehend overview of a complex phenomenon, while also demonstrating the significance of journalists’ safety to freedom of expression, democracy, and society as a whole.”
Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova, together with the co-authors received the award at the 74th International Communication Association Conference in Gold Coast, Australia.
The International Communication Association is the biggest and most prestigious global association of communication researchers.
On receiving the award, Dr Slavtcheva-Petkova said: “It was an honour to accept the 2024 Wolfgang Donsbach award and for the team to receive recognition for our important work in the area of journalists’ safety.
“This is a truly collaborative effort and I am really grateful to my colleagues from the Worlds of Journalism Study. I look forward to the next step – developing a global index on journalists’ safety built upon our conceptual model.”
You can read the article online here.