How journalists understand the threats and opportunities of new technologies: A study of security mind-sets and its implications for press freedom

Abstract

This is a study on digital security and press freedom, specifically the freedom from surveillance and the freedom to private and secure communication. We study journalists’ understanding and awareness of digital security practices: their perception of risks and threats of surveillance, and also their awareness of tools and techniques to communicate securely. Based on an empirical study of journalists in Hong Kong, including those who regularly travel to China for work, we build out a theoretical framework for understanding digital security mind-sets of journalists. We found differences in journalists’ behavior depending on how novice or advanced their understanding of digital security are. Journalists with a novice security mind-set will take different actions that produce different outcomes and behavior than those with an advanced security mind-set. We argue that journalists with an advanced security mind-set are able to work on a larger and wider range of (sensitive) stories, suggesting they enjoy a higher degree of press freedom.