EFJ organises conference on journalists’ safety to mark World Press Freedom Day
To mark World Press Freedom Day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organises a conference at Bozar on 2-3 May 2023, as part of its Safety4Journalists project.
The 1.5 days final conference will highlight the good practices of safety in the media from unions, media employers, policy-makers and international experts.
Experts will discuss the EFJ risk assessment tools to be launched on the day with a focus on what can be done by media managers, employers, journalist unions and associations, and national and international authorities to create a culture of health and safety at work in the media.
Please find the agenda below.
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch
14:00 – 14:15: Welcoming speech
Screening
Maja Sever, President of European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Karl Van den Broeck, Bozar Writer and Thinkers
14:15 – 15:15: The journalist champions: Empowering journalists to fight against attacks
Interviews with journalists who “survived” from attacks and dangerous assignments. They will share their testimonies and experience of confronting difficult and dangerous situations.
Marc Marginedas, war correspondent at El Periódico
Johanna Vehkoo, investigative journalist and journalism professor at Tampere University
Safia Kessas, journalist and presenter, RTBF Belgium
Moderator: Mustafa Kuleli, General Secretary at TGS
15:30 – 17:00: The duty of care for journalists? The role of institutions and states to create a culture of safety in the news media
The panel will address the roles and responsibilities of states, inter-governmental institutions, European institutions as well as media employers in creating a legal framework and media culture to ensure the safety of journalists.
Keynote:
Věra Jourová, EC Vice-President & Commissioner for Values and Transparency of the European Commission
Ton van den Brandt, Principal Advisor to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
Wouter Gekiere, Head of European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Brussels
Rodica Ciochina, Program Specialist, Administrator, Media and Internet Governance in the Council of Europe
Moderator: Renate Schroeder, EFJ Director
9:00 – 10:00: Keynote by Emma Audrey, freelance journalist covering Ukraine for Media25
Journalists speaking about the importance of safety training and carry out risk assessment in their daily practices. And how such measures can save lives.
Launch of risk assessment platform for journalists and media
Demonstration of the online risk assessment platform with a media safety expert.
David Bevan, Media Safety Expert at Cadre Consultants
Adrien Collin, EFJ Safety Officer
Moderator: Marc Gruber, Administrator, Media Sub-committee, PACE, Council of Europe
10:00 – 11:30: How to push for safety training and risk assessment for journalists and social dialogues
Yannis Kotsifos, Director of ESIEMTH
Renske Heddema, President of NVJ
Maja Sever, President of EFJ and TUCJ
Moderator: Andrea Roth, Chair of Europe Commission DJV Germany
11:50 – 12:45: Taking care of journalists’ well-being
Nayla Glaise, President of Eurocadres
Mar Cabra, Investigative Data Journalist and Founder of Self-Investigation
Trond Idås, Expert on trauma and advisor for NJ
Gavin Rees, Senior Advisor at Dart Centre
Moderator: Ute Korinth, Journalist and Trainer at DVJ
14:00 – 16:00: Deep dive sessions with safety experts and advocates
1. Violence against journalists without borders: online harassment in the media
What can social platforms do to stop online attacks and hate targeting journalists?
How can the journalists and community fight back?
Expert: Elodie Vialle, Fellow at the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at BKC Harvard
Moderator: Rebecca Bonello Ghio, Project & Comms Assistant at EFJ
2. Social dialogue on the risk assessment platform
Experts:
David Bevan, Media Safety Expert of Cadre Consultants
Aela Callan, Journalist and Founder of Head Set Immersive
Moderator: Adrien Collin, EFJ Safety Expert
16:25 – 17:00: Reporting back and conclusions
Rapporteurs from the working group present the key findings from the working group sessions.
Final remarks: Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary, EFJ
