A new book, entitled "Deep Web for Journalists", is the result of two-years of research into the pitfalls of journalists' failure to secure their online work, leading to communications being traced and information exchanged accessible to press freedom predators.
On 4 June 2013, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) teamed up with former war correspondent Alan Pearce to announce the publication of his book on journalists’ online safety.
The book, entitled Deep Web for Journalists, is the result of two-years of research into the pitfalls of journalists’ failure to secure their online work, leading to communications being traced and information exchanged accessible to press freedom predators.
The IFJ contributed a foreword to the book, stressing the internet has become a new front for information’s control.
“In an age where journalism – like everything else in modern life – is dominated by the Internet, online safety is emerging as a new front,” said IFJ President, Jim Boumelha, in the foreword.
“In this new war, repressive regimes now keep a prying eye on what journalists say, write and film. They want to monitor contacts and they want to suppress information. For journalists, this has become a dangerous game of cat and mouse.”
The IFJ believes that Alan’s book, a web version of which is available on the IFJ website, charts a path for working safely online. The recent uprising in the Arab world and the Middle East has shown the ruthless drive by failing regimes to control the traffic on the internet in an attempt to manipulate the information about the conflict.
“This book is an essential tool for all journalists and its timely publication will be welcomed in media circles,” said Beth Costa, IFJ General Secretary. “Pearce offers practical tips which will prove invaluable to journalists who are increasingly having to work online in news gathering and maintaining contacts with their sources.
The issue of journalists’ safety is due to be debated at the IFJ World Congress in Dublin from 4-7 June 2013.
The book’s author, Alan Pearce, is a journalist, broadcaster and author with over 30 years’ experience. He has written for Time magazine, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Sunday Telegraph and others, in addition to Sky News and various BBC outlets. He was injured covering the fall of Kabul in 1996 while working as the BBC’s Afghanistan Correspondent and is the author of “Dunkirk Spirit”, “Whose Side Are They On?”, “The Google Questions” and the best-selling “Playing It Safe”.
