Amal Clooney has said she is "honoured" to have been appointed a special envoy on media freedom by the Foreign Office.
The international human rights lawyer was appointed by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
She will also chair a panel of legal experts to find ways to prevent and reverse media abuses.
"Through my legal work defending journalists I have seen first-hand the ways in which reporters are being targeted and imprisoned in an effort to silence them and prevent a free media," she said.
"I welcome the UK government's focus on this issue at a time when journalists are being killed and imprisoned at record levels all over the world, and I look forward to working on new legal initiatives that can help to ensure a more effective international response."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that 2018 was the deadliest year for journalists, with 99 killed, 348 detained and 60 taken hostage by non-state groups.
Mr Hunt said: "Violence against journalists has reached alarming levels globally and we cannot turn a blind eye.
"The media has a crucial role to play in holding the powerful to account. There is no escaping the fact that draconian and outdated laws around the world are being used to restrict the ability of the media to report the truth.
"Amal Clooney's leading work on human rights means she is ideally placed to ensure this campaign has real impact for journalists and the free societies who depend on their work."
Reporting by Press Association.
