Book launch: “På vei mot hindunasjonalisme”

Thursday 17th of March, Elisabeth Eide and co-writer Terje Skaufjord, launched the book På vei mot hindunasjonalisme (Towards Hindunationalism) together with their publisher Res Publica. Mala Wang-Naveen moderated the event, and Professor Kathinka Frøystad from Oslo University gave her views on the book.

Elisabeth Eide at Melahuset.

A crowd gathered at the Mela house in downtown Oslo, an arena engaging cultural diversity and literary events, where writers Eide and Skaufjord launched their book about the development of right-wing Hindu nationalism in India. From many travels to India, and recent field work, the book extensively covers this topic, and warns against growing far-right extremism in India. 

Elisabeth Eide and Terje Skaufjord at the round table.

After a discussion at the round table covering the topic, Eide continued the evening greeting friends and eager fans who wanted to have a chance to talk – and for an opportunity of a signed autograph from the author.

After the round table, Eide socialised with the crowd of attendees.

Elisabeth Eide, University Professor emeritus at OsloMet, is known for her substantial number of books and articles within journalism and media studies. She made her debut in 1994 with Til Kabul faller, and continued to cover various topics in the region, amongst others in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2002 Eide was awarded the Ossietzky Award.

JMIC trains 49 journalism students in Uganda in safety

By Gerald Walulya, JMIC coordinator – Uganda.

The Journalism & Media International Center in conjunction with the Department of Journalism and Communication, Makerere University, Uganda have conducted a four-day webinar on safety and security of journalists.  

 JMIC  safety trainer Abeer Saady teaching.

The webinar was attended by 49 final year journalism students and early career journalists from Uganda. The training sessions that started on Monday, 7th March were concluded on 10th March, 2022.  

Dr. Ivan Lukanda spoke on behalf of the Head of Department

Dr. Ivan Lukanda, who spoke on behalf of the Head of Department, noted that the training is crucial for young journalists, because it enables them to know what to do when they are attacked so that they secure their safety. He commended JMIC for its continued support towards the Department that has enabled them to prepare their students. 

The webinar was facilitated by both local and international facilitators. Local facilitators included, Claire Muhindo, the online content manager of Africa Centre for Media Excellence, a local media support organisation and Tabu Butagira, the Managing Editor of Nation Media Group – Uganda.  

Other trainers included, Abeer Saady, a recognised safety trainer associated with Journalism & Media International Center and Marte Høiby, a Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF Digital, Norway. 

Marte Høiby is a Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF.

Claire Muhindo told participants that journalists should be cautious of their safety digitally, physically and other aspects, because unsafe journalists cannot tell good stories. 

Muhindo advised participants to always backup their data, avoid opening emails from untrusted sources, distancing themselves from usage of public Wi-Fi, noting that doing so exposes their accounts to hackers.  

Tabu Butagira shared with participants his safety and security experience as a journalist in Uganda. He warned participants against sharing a lot of information about their lives and family on social media platforms because this information can be used by wrong elements to their disadvantage.  

“Nothing posted on the digital platforms that cannot be accessed, if wanted. If you don’t want to be recorded anywhere, don’t write. People put [photo] albums on their social media platforms, hence leaving digital footprints.” Butagira said. 

“You will never know when you will write a story that will put you into trouble. Always ask yourself if what you are putting on your social media is the right information, and what are the risks? You will see no danger to upload anything, until the danger comes, and it will be too late.” He warned.  

Abeer Saady took participants through a host of issues related to safety and security including, risk management and safety planning while working in hostile environments,  situational awareness and ethical dilemmas related to safety and security.  

Jill Ainebyoona, an early career journalist who was one of the participants said that the webinar had polished his knowledge about safety and security. 

“The workshop has opened my eyes about the danger of exposing ourselves through what we post [on social media] and I will continue distancing myself from that practice,” he said. 

Susan Nakangwe, another participant said “As a result of the webinar training, I’m in position to protect myself in case of a crisis. I would know when to step aside as well as when to approach the crowd to pick key information. Also, I learnt the essence of wearing protective gear while reporting.” 

OsloMet alumni Afshin Ismaeli awarded Picture of the Year 2021

By Jon Petter Evensen

The OsloMet alumni, journalist Afshin Ismaeli was awarded Picture of the Year 2021.*

Photograph: Afshin Ismaeli.

The winning images shows Taliban-commander Amir Mohammed Mohammed trying a rowing machine inside the Norwegian Embassy in Kabul after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

The third year photojournalism student Rodrigo Freitas received a 3rd prize in the domestic documentary  category for his reportage about ocean plastic waste.

Photograph: Rodrigo Freitas.

His fellow student Hanna Johre was awarded best short video documentary for her story about the conflict between a sámi reindeer owner and the wind turbine power plant developers.

Link to video: https://www.hannajohre.com/

The award ceremony was held on 4 March. More winners and info about Pictures of The year:

https://journalisten.no/afshin-ismaeli-foto-fotojournalistikk/dette-er-arets-bilde/505295

Learn about safety for women journalists  

A speaker from Russia will introduce the discussion on Challenges to the Safety of Women Journalists On Women’s day March 8th 2022 at 2 pm local time Oslo. 

Watch the webinar:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6P2HgkZUN4  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iawrt.org/videos/352664540071029 

The webinar is a cooperation between International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) and JMIC. 

The speakers include Inna Berezkina, School of Civic Education in Russia, Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Hrybenko, Kreshma Fakhri and  Najiba Ayubi from IAWRT Afghanistan and Birgitte Jallov from IAWRT Denmark. 

Therese San Diego will present experiences from a digital safe house in the Philippines by IAWRT, to be followed by Raiza Quallateon Mwawanga from IAWRT Tanzania, Naila Hamdy, from The American University in Cairo (AUC) in Egypt, Rand Sabbagh from the Syrian Female Journalists Network (SFJN), Sonali Dhawan from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)and Nabeelah Shabbir from International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). 

The webinar is a follow up from last year’s event on new research on media and gender, when a special issue of journalism education on gender and media was launched. This year we want to focus on the experiences with the Digital Safe House (DSH) in the Philippines to see which experiences can be relevant in other parts of the world – and of course look at challenges to the safety of women journalists in the light of the war on Ukraine.  

Watch the webinar:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6P2HgkZUN4  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iawrt.org/videos/352664540071029 

More information and registration:
https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/events/safety-women-journalists