Special academic session on the safety of journalists

The Special Academic Sessions on the Safety of Journalists are a series of dedicated workshops organized by UNESCO. Their aim is to strengthen cooperation with academia in line with the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, and to establish an academic research agenda on safety of journalists.
In the Special Session in Montreal, taking place during the IAMCR 2015 conference, different aspects of journalists’ safety and issue of impunity will be discussed. The Special Session is co-organized together with the IAMCR permanent Section on Journalism Research and Education (JRE).The Special Session has invited theoretically informed papers and presentations on issues related to safety of journalists to be discussed under several panels. UNESCO will present its’ academic research agenda on safety of journalists, and welcomes researchers’ comments and inputs to the document.

Session 1: Monday. 13 July 2015.
Slot Code: JRE1
Time: 9:00-10:30
Room: DS-M320
Theme III: The Professional Journalism
Panel: JRE/ UNESCO Panel on Safety of Journalists
Opening Remarks of the UNESCO Sessions on Safety of Journalists
Marisol Cano, director of the Guilhermo Cano Foundation & Dean of Facultad de Comunicación, Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
Panelists:
1. Journalists for Human Rights
Rachel Pulfer (Journalists for Human Rights, Canada)
2. The psychological health of war journalists
Anthony Feinstein (University of Toronto, Canada)
3. The war zone trifecta: The case of Western women journalists
Linda Steiner (University of Maryland, USA)
4. A comparative study of media watchdog reports on violence against journalists: A case study of new
press systems in the Baltics and the South Caucasus
Richard Shafer (University of North Dakota) & Eric Freedman (Michigan State University, USA)
5. UNESCO’s academic research agenda on safety of journalists
Reeta Pöyhtäri (UNESCO, France)

Session 2: Monday. 13 July 2015.
Slot Code: JRE2
Time: 14:00-15:30
Room: DS-M320
Theme III: The Professional Journalism
Title: JRE/ UNESCO: Working conditions in different countries affecting safety
1. Mexican journalists under threat: Explaining self-censorship and risk-reduction behavior in
weak state
Sallie Hughes (University of Miami, USA) & Mireya Márquez-Ramírez (Universidad
Iberoamericana, Mexico)
2. Threats, intimidation of journalists: A case study of India
Surbhi Dahiya (Indian Institution of Mass Communication, India)
3. Freedom of expression and press freedom: An ethnographic account of challenges and
constrains faced by Pakistani journalists
Sadia Jamil (University of Queensland, Australia)
4. Hegemony versus resistance, the case of Al Jazeera English and press freedom in Egypt
Andrea Baker (Monash University, Australia)

Session 3: Monday. 13 July 2015.
Slot Code: JRE3
Time: 16:00-17:30
Room: DS-M320
Theme III: The Professional Journalism
Title: JRE/ UNESCO: War and Conflict Journalism and Safety
Panelists:
1. The price to pay for impunity: Violence, harassment and threats towards reporters in conflict
areas
Rune Ottosen (Oslo University College, Norway)
2. Drone journalism in crisis reporting: New opportunities and limits
Turo Uskali, Epp Lauk & Heikki Kuutti (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
3. When wealthy democracies attack the press: the limits of accountability?
Chris Paterson (University of Leeds, UK)
4. French journalism and media education after ‘Je suis Charlie’: Focus on youth radicalization
Divina Frau-Meigs (CLEMI, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, France)
5. UNESCO’s academic research agenda on safety of journalists: The way ahead
Reeta Pöyhtäri (UNESCO, Paris)