JMIC trains 45 Ugandan journalism students in safety and security – Unsafe journalists cannot tell good stories.

By Gerald Walulya, JMIC coordinator – Uganda

Digital and physical security was put on the agenda when 45 final year journalism students and early career journalists participated in safety training in Uganda in early April.

Department of Journalism and Communication, Makerere University, Uganda, in cooperation with JMIC, conducted a four-day workshop on safety and security of journalists 3 rd- to 6 th April, 2023.

While speaking at the beginning of the training, Dr. Nakiwala Aisha Sembatya, the Head of Department of Journalism and Communication highlighted the importance of the workshop noting that such training is crucial for young journalists, because it enables them to know what to do when they are faced with safety and security threats. She commended JMIC for its continued support towards the Department that has enabled them to prepare their students well.

Journalists in Uganda face serious threats that range from intimidation, physical and psychosocial harassment, arrest and detention on a nearly daily basis. Journalists are regularly targeted by state actors such as security services, who include the army and the police and non-state actors such as mobs, politicians and powerful business people whose enterprises may be threatened by the journalists’ critical reporting.

The workshop was facilitated by local and international facilitators. Local facilitators included, Dr. Sara Namusoga, a Lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Communication, Culton Scovia Nakamya, a local Television journalist and Dr. Aisha Nakiwala. The local trainers were supported by Abeer Saady, a recognised safety trainer associated with Journalism & Media International Center.

Dr. Sara Namusoga told participants that journalists should be aware of their safety digitally and physically, because unsafe journalists cannot tell good stories.

Namusoga 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.

Abeer Saady took participants through a number 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.

Dorcus Nzayisenga, one of the participants applauded the trainers for making the sessions engaging. “The sessions were very educative and above all interactive which gives us students a chance to express our views. The facilitators were audible and made use of their personal experience, for proper understanding.”

Another participant, Moreen Atwiine said that she has learnt a lot from the training. “As a journalist l have become more aware about the threats l can face while doing my work and also the mechanisms to manage these threats.” She pledged to share the knowledge she has
acquired with fellow journalists. “ I will educate fellow journalist who didn’t get the chance to attend the workshop about their safety. I will also start practicing the tips about my safety and security as a journalist that I have learnt.”

Ensuring physical and mental safety: Training workshop on Safety of Journalists in Pakistan

By: Altaf Khan

Recent tragic violence in Pakistan, including the bomb blast in a Peshawar mosque earlier this year, underscore the importance of safety training for Pakistani journalists and journalism students. Violent conflict few kilometers from the training site in the city of Lahore, also made this a strategic and practical exercise for organizers as well as the participants.

Group photo of all the participants of the workshop on Day 3.

The yearly journalists’ safety workshop under the title Ensuring physical and mental safety of journalists amid violent events took place at Forman Christian College University, Lahore, Pakistan from March 14 th to 16 th , 2023. The yearly event is a collaboration between JMIC OsloMet and FCCU. Besides the training the workshop also had a book launch on day two. The book launch of Abeer Saady’s book on safety of women journalists took place on March 15 th , 2023, the second day of the workshop. It was the Urdu translation of the IAWRT Safety Handbook for Women Journalists, What If…?, Ms. Sabahat Afsheen is the translator of the handbook.

A total of 36 participants completed the certification, 19 female and 17 male. Four guests from outside Lahore participated in workshop from Islamabad and Peshawar. Three female participants couldn’t join
due to personal reasons. The workshop focused on personal safety of journalists in violent situations.

Participants during a group activity on Day 2.

The workshop was planned within the context of recent tragic violence in Pakistan, especially the bomb blast in a Peshawar mosque in the middle of a highly secure zone in the city. But at the time of workshop the host city, Lahore was in the grip of violent conflict, happening a few kilometers from the workshop venue. This made the whole planning for the days a strategic exercise for organizers as well as the participants. The workshop was successful in many ways. The first and foremost of these is the commitment of the participants who strategically planned their participation on each of the three days.
They reached the venue from different parts of the city and fully participated by sharing their daily experiences of planning and execution of their risk assessments, arrival and departure plans and sharing their perspectives about a developing situation.

They not simply shared the perspectives but also got into role playing, interplaying different roles in the process of reporting on violent events. Both physical and psychological safety were discussed and presented. The book launch on the second day of the workshop very well fit into the whole program. The importance of safety of female journalists amidst the digital media trolling and harassment was a very welcome element of the training.

Abeer Saady while giving a recap of the previously shared content on Day 3.

One big challenge in such events when these happen amid violent outbursts is to get the news regarding the event published in the media. It is not a must, but it is part of the exercise to ensure that a social impact news isn’t lost in politically hostile news cycles. Networking for placement of the proceedings in radio and print (hybrid) media was successfully done. The event got good news coverage. In this manner the information reached a larger audience. Impact multipliers are always important.

The immediate context of this workshop is also a big source of realization of the troubles working journalists go through in their day to day performance. Educators and students need to know the real life, everyday challenges of the profession. During the role plays and presentations each group had at least one member who had firsthand experience of the troubled area on the first evening of the workshop. This is an ideal, laboratory like situation where on the first day one gets a detailed introduction to potentially violent ecosystem. On the same day one visits a controlled scene of such a place and incorporates the experience during the second and the third day.

Participants while presenting their group activity.

The whole workshop and the book launch helped in a deeper understanding of potentially violent situations and the skills to deal with these. It also helped the trainees to a deeper appreciation of
journalistic work. True, the perils of the field can be only understood in the field, but the workshop helped in reaching nearest to understand working in violent ecosystems, a need of the hour in politically volatile and polarized societies and systems of governance.

Ecology Journalism Project: Meetings with activists and journalists  

By Tuğçe Yılmaz 

The “Ecology Journalism Project” has been completed with meetings with ecology groups and local press in Mersin, Fındıklı/Rize and Çanakkale in Turkey run by the IPS Communication Foundation/bianet with the support of JMIC. 

As part of the project, a climate journalism workshop and an ecology meeting were held and an ecology article series was published. 

The “Ecology Journalism Project” meeting was held in three cities in the regions of Mediterranean, Black Sea and Marmara, where there is intense ecological destruction, as well as struggle.  

In the three meetings held for the purpose of strengthening the relationship between ecology organizations and national and local press and the relationship between ecology organizations, the difficulties faced by the organizations and their long-term struggles and how the press should report on ecology were discussed. 

Mediterranean Region: Mersin 

On October 28, 2022, environmental and civil society organizations conveyed their experiences and struggles at the first “Ecology Journalism Project” meeting. Academics from the city’s university and journalists were also at the meeting. Özer Akdemir, who has been reporting on ecological issues for many years, made a presentation about “What ecology reporting is and how it is done?” 

Özer Akdemir Journalist & local activists Mersin (Photo: Tuğçe Yılmaz).

Ecology groups in the Mediterranean Region that have been struggling against the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant complained that “their voices are not being heard enough in the national media.” Lawyer Semra Kabasalak from the Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Association said, “We often feel alone in the struggle for the environment, but we want everyone to know that we will continue our struggle until we die.” 

Black Sea Region: Rize/Fındıklı 

Local Journalists and activists Rize/Fındıklı (Photo: Tuğçe Yılmaz).

On November 12, ecology and environmental groups and local journalists in the Black Sea Region attended the “Ecology Journalism Project” meeting. At the meeting, journalist Pelin Cengiz made a presentation about the details of ecology journalism and conveyed the difficulties they faced in reaching the national press.  

Nur Neşe Karahan from the Green Artvin Association said, “We have been struggling for 30 years in Artvin to protect our living spaces and make the public hear about our struggle. Yes, the situation is very difficult and we were silenced in this period when we need to speak up the most, but we have to make a choice: We will either stop this destruction or we will be annihilated.” 

Marmara Region: Çanakkale 

Özgür Gürbüz Journalist & local activists  Çanakkale (Photo: Tuğçe Yılmaz).

The last meeting of the “Ecology Journalism Project” was held in Çanakkale in Marmara Region. Ecology groups and activists, as well as local journalists, attended the meeting on November 30, 2022. Journalist Özgür Gürbüz gave information about what to consider when reporting on the environment and ecology. Ecology groups that attended the meeting conveyed the problems they faced in communicating with the national press.  

Reyhan Erdem from the Kaz Mountain Protection Association said, “We started the struggle in 1997, with the reports that the Çan Thermal Power Plant would be established and set up an environmental platform. In 2007, the second platform was established. However, despite all of our environmental problems, we could not stay together as environmental organizations and environmental committees of mass organizations. I remember the early days when everybody would attend. Now we cannot come together with the same crowd and power.” 

Digital Media Workshops concluded in Palestine

By Farid Abudheir

The Department of Communication & Digital Media at
An-Najah National University organized a closing ceremony for the workshops carried out at the university campus on Wednesday 30th November 2022.  

At the ceremony, certificates were given to the 69 students participating in the workshops, and prizes were also given to the students who made remarkable journalism works.  

Participants in the workshops holding their certificates (Photo: Roea Zebin)

The workshops dealt with three topics: the first was entitled “The Flow of Global News Stream on Social Media concerning Environmental and Climate Issues“. The second workshop was regarding “The Investigative Reporting on Corruption“, while the third workshop dealt with the issue of “Access to Information“. 

Students from An-Najah National, Arab American, Hebron, and Palestine Technical (Kadoorie) universities have participated in the third workshop, where the competing students prepared media materials in the field of access to information including press reports, videos, and posters.  

Regarding the “investigative reporting on corruption” competition, the students produced a set of journalistic investigations that dealt with corruption issues, used research tools to collect data, analyzed and discussed them, and put forward possible solutions to those issues.  

A set of works produced by students, short films and posters in particular, were presented. 

Dr. Farid Abudheir declaring the results of the competition of the media production (Photo: Sameh Abu Alrub)

The ceremony was attended by Dr. Farid Abudheir, Coordinator of Joint Projects with JMIC at Oslo Metropolitan University, Dr. Hussam Abu Diya, Dr. Abdeljawad Abdeljawad, Mr. Ayman Al-Masri, Dr. Islam Halayka,  Dr. Said Shahin, Head of the Department of Media at Hebron University, and Ms. Ramz Bsharat from the Arab American University. 

Trainers and judges honoring one of the students who participated in the workshops (Photo: Sameh Abu Alrub)

Dr. Farid Abudheir has praised the participation of the Palestinian universities in the “Access to Information” workshop. He also stressed the importance of the three topics addressed by the workshops, especially in raising awareness of the issues of access to information, corruption issues, and environmental and climate issues. Besides, he considered that these workshops were aimed at spreading awareness of these issues and enhancing the student’s abilities to address them using media tools. 

Not to mention, Dr. Abudheir thanked An-Najah National University including its administration and departments that helped in making these workshops a success. He also thanked JMIC at OsloMet, which supported the projects implemented by the Department of Communication and Digital Media at An-Najah National University. The meeting was concluded by taking group photos of the participants.  

Interactive safety training 

By Bora Ataman and Baris Coban 

“Safety of Journalists Training Program” was held in Istanbul on October 15-16, in cooperation with TOVAK (Turkish Social Services Foundation), TGS (The Journalists’ Union of Turkey) and JMIC-OsloMet.  

The first day of the training was entirely allocated to Abeer Saady, one of the distinguished international safety experts working with JMIC. In a total of 4 sessions, interactive training content on how to stay away from violence and how journalists can protect themselves, and the risks and threats that reporters frequently face were discussed.  

The group trained in Istanbul in October (Photo: Hilal Yilmaz, TGS).

On the second day of the training, how journalists can also protect their mental health when applying for psychological support, and legal aspects of journalism safety and digital security were discussed in 3 separate sessions. All sessions had content covering both the offline and online safety of journalists.  

The lessons were very productive thanks to the hands-on training method that allowed the participants to share their experiences and learn from each other. At the end of the 2-day training, most of the participants said that they found the training very satisfying, with reference to the awareness they gained on journalism safety and the practical knowledge they gained. In addition, they stated that they wanted to cover all their deficiencies in this regard with more detailed, longer-term training in the near future. 

 The group trained for two days (Photo: Hilal Yilmaz, TGS).

The safety handbook “What if…” by Abeer Saady is translated to Turkish. Abeer Saady was asked to do a safety training in Turkey when the book was launched by TGS before the summer, and she is invited  back again.  

Book link:
https://www.kafkakitap.com/kitap/kadin-gazeteciler-icin-guvenlik-el-kitabi-ne-yapmali/ 

Download link:
The Safety Handbook translated to Turkish

Social media and mediated societies in transition

By: Dr. Altaf Ullah Khan

The Faculty of Humanities, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) (FCCU), in collaboration with the Department of Journalism and Media Studies and Journalism and Media International Centre (JMIC) at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) in Norway, hosted a three-day workshop on “Peace Journalism” on the topic of “Surviving the social media onslaught: Mainstream journalism, peace, and democracy in the transitional societies” in Lahore in Pakistan 11 – 13 October 2022. 

If we agree with Marshal McLuhan in the slightest possible way, the advent of social media ushers is the dawn of a new phase in human civilisation. The rise of social media has taken the world by storm: online aggression, polarisation in human societies, populism, fake news, alternative truth, and many challenges outweigh the original euphoria of the arrival of the new saviour. There is no doubt about the positive influence of the social media: interactive discourse patterns, freedom to express ones views without any dependence on external gate keepers, voices for the voiceless, representation of the marginalised. All these but seem to be a lost cause amid the chaos created by echo chamber mentality through creating communities of consent. The public sphere is lost to the populist and the ‘unfinished project of modernity’ seems falling apart.

Group photo of the workshop participants, speakers and organizers (Photo: Media Center, Forman Christian College University).

The three day peace journalism workshop on Surviving the Social Media Onslaught: Mainstream Journalism, Peace and Democracy in Transitional Societies was organised at Forman Christian College University, Lahore in collaboration with Journalism and Media International Center, OsloMet Norway from October 11 to 13, 2022. Head of the department of Journalism & Media Studies at OsloMet, Anne Hege Simonsen also participated in the Lahore workshop.

Anne Hege Simonsen engaged the audience in an interactive session (Photo: Media Center, Forman Christian College University).

77 participants registered through a Google link, 51 of these were invited, while 45 successfully completed the workshop to win their certificates of participation. All universities offering mass communication degrees in Lahore were represented in the workshop. Participants from Multan in southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar and Swat), Karachi, and Islamabad also participated in the activity. Working journalists from Lahore and Peshawar were also among the participants. The workshop program was organised around four themes: theoretical concepts of peace journalism within the context of social media and preservation of democracy, practical journalists’ insights into the working of the social media dominated media structures in Pakistan, technological aspects of social media platforms’ perils and potentials, expertise from fields outside academic and practical journalism.

All the four thematic streams contributed to the understanding of the working of mediated societies in transition. The academic presentations of research projects gave an insight into the working of the research structures in Pakistan. These were mutually beneficial for the presenters and the audiences, the former getting valuable feedback from a well versed audience, while the latter having access to the latest developments.

Altaf Ullha Khan delivers his inaugural speech on the first day of the Workshop (Photo: Media Center, Forman Christian College University).

The theoretical submissions were balanced by the experiences from the field. Working journalists gave their views on the practical impact of social media on their everyday working in the media. Views from outside the realm of peace studies and journalism came handy through inputs from counter insurgency and counter terrorism perspectives. It also made clear the distinction between the former and the latter two, peace studies being a social process, believing in the goodness and equality of humankind, while anything counter (insurgency or terrorism) serving as strategic responses by political structures used by state apparatuses, resting on the premise of a belligerent other within the same society.

Last but not least was the discussions on the ethical pitfalls in times of war. Truth being the first casualty of any aggression, leaving no victors. The presentation on visual literacy helped the audience to identify their own biases to move out of their personal utopias and become more self-reflective. The discussion on public sphere within the context of Juergen Habermas’ latest book were the highlight of how theoretical underpinnings could be used to practically develop a discourse.

Question/Answer session between the participant and speakers (Photo: Media Center, Forman Christian College University).

Like all things human, the workshop deepened our understanding of the new media, the challenges and potentials it offers, and how to harness these independent energies for the betterments of human societies. The possibility of a global and shared idea of humanity is very much in sight. It is a vague path with no guarantees or milestones. The only way to explore is to keep moving forward and digging deeper to unearth the best possible option for peace and democracy through our feeble capacities as journalists and educationists.

Vice Rector, Douglas Trimble and Altaf Khan presents a souvenir to Anne Hege Simonsen (Photo: Media Center, Forman Christian College University).

Investigative journalism techniques for Arab journalists

By: Lamis Issa

A physical training workshop was held in Tunis for seven journalists – four of them women – from Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon 28 – 30 June 2022. 

The workshop was part of the project “Support the right to information and investigative journalism on environmental issues in the MENA region» in cooperation with the local partner the Institute of Press and Information Sciences (IPSI ) at Manouba University in Tunisia. 

Hanene Zbiss, Trainer and Coach (Photo: Article 19 MENA).

The workshop comes within the framework of cooperation between Article 19 MENA and JMIC running for several years. The participants have also had digital lectures in access to information, the legal framework of investigative journalism and safety and security for journalists.   

During this workshop seven journalists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were able to deepen their knowledge on investigative journalism on the following main topics: Investigative methodology, sources of information and writing an investigative report. 

From the right to the left, Joudy Asmar; Lebanese participant, and Hanene Zbiss; Trainer and Coach  (Photo: Article 19 MENA).

In addition, the training workshop allowed participants to better understand the methods for constructing the hypotheses of their investigative journalistic work, and to obtain more technical advice from the trainers and coachers, Hanene Zbiss from Tunisia and Anass Bendrif from Morocco. 

The training was also an opportunity to recall and discuss the ethical rules in journalism, and especially the exceptions allowed in matters of investigation. In addition, advice was given to them regarding their professional security and the protection of their sources. 

Anass Bendrif and Hanene Zbiss, Trainers and Coaches (Photo: Article 19 MENA).

The last day of the training workshop was devoted to discussing their future subjects for investigation. The participants will work on their individual stories with coaching until the end of the year, when they will hopefully meet for a closing  ceremony.   

Workshop on Climate Journalism Education 

By Syed M. Saqib Saleem   

The Faculty of Humanities, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), in collaboration with JMIC, hosted a one-day workshop on Climate Journalism Education 1st June 2022.  

The workshop was attended by academicians, postgraduate students and journalists joining in from all over Pakistan and abroad.  

Group photo of the climate journalism education workshop (Photo: Media Center, FCCU).

It discussed ways of teaching climate journalism and helped provide ideas for training journalism students through the collective effort of academicians and journalists who have worked in the field and are aware of the climate crisis.  

Dr. Altaf Ullah Khan, Dean of Humanities at FCCU, inaugurated the workshop and gave a keynote speech in which he stated, “If we, as academicians, have a good understanding of climate crisis, only then we will be able to train our students in the best possible way on its journalistic perspective as well. Since climate change is both our present and our future.” 

Dr Altaf Ullah Khan delivers his keynote speech at the workshop inauguration ceremony (Photo: Media Center, FCCU).

The workshop was moderated by Rachel Hasan, Chairperson Department of Mass Communication. Dr Elisabeth Eide, Co-Director Media Climate Network and Professor of Journalism from OsloMet, gave a brief introduction of the workshop and gave the floor to Dr Derk Bakker, Associate Professor and Chairperson of Department of Environmental Sciences, FCCU. He highlighted the impacts and solutions for climate change.  

Dr Derk Bakker pinpoints impacts and solutions of climate change (Photo: Media Center, FCCU).

Dr Elisabeth Eide later built up on his speech and shared why climate change is a concern for journalists and journalism students. She shared the models for education on climate journalism and stated: “It is crucial to combine studies with field visits for students as well and help them learn from local experts and indigenous people.” 

Moreover, Hannah Bernstein, science journalist and project manager at Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, along with Syed Abubakar, Environment journalist and media trainer, and Syed M. Saqib, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication, FCCU, further discussed ways to train students to cover climate stories and what can be included in the courses to enhance future journalists’ capacity to report on climate. They were of the view that it is high time, climate journalism was integrated into the curriculum for journalism students in Pakistan. 

Finally, Muhammad Daud Khan and Stella Paul, the two famous climate journalists working in the field and setting a precedent for others to follow, joined the workshop and shared that: “As journalists, we are storytellers and are also the mediators between people at the frontline of climate crisis and masses. So, we have to be the ones to tell the missing stories to the world.” 

The workshop was concluded with some final remarks by Dr Elisabeth Eide and Oona Solberg. Dr Douglas Trimble, Vice-Rector, FCCU, was also present at the occasion and gave his concluding speech. After that, certificates were distributed among the participants.  

Overall, the training was informative and valuable for participants and encouraged them to become change makers within their institutions and support the efforts to introduce climate journalism education courses for journalism students in Pakistan.  

Staying safe at the digital workplace

A four-day training workshop on digital security in hostile environments with strong media systems was completed on April 22, 2022. The workshop took place as part of a continuous collaboration between Forman Christian College University (FCCU) in Lahore in Pakistan and JMIC/OsloMet. 

By Dr. Altaf Ullah Khan

Group photo on the completion of 4-day journalists’ safety workshop (Photo: Media center FCCU).

The theme of the training is relevant globally. In a country like Pakistan it becomes even more important. Journalism is a dangerous profession in the country and digital safety is of paramount importance amid polarization in both society and media. Keyboard warriors and clickbait culture has put journalists in an extremely vulnerable position. Knowing the basics of digital safety is an important resource for good journalism. 

We are thankful to OsloMet for the financial and expert support in organizing this important training. The trainer Ms. Abeer Saady did a wonderful job by bringing home the skills to the participants.  

Dr Abeer Saady talks about digital security measures (Photo: Media center FCCU).

Our heartiest gratitude to the participants, a group representative of media professionals, academia, and students from different cities of Pakistan. The interactive and proactive nature of the workshop was the key to its success.  

The daily roundup for each day was produced to accommodate as much views as possible on different themes from participants. It was also an effort to recognize the contribution of all who participated in the workshop by giving them a visual representation. 

The final video of the workshop gives an overview of the whole activity as well as contains testimonials.  

We are also thankful to the rector and vice rector of FCCU for their support and active presence.  

Last but not least my special thanks to student volunteers of FCCU who tirelessly worked to support the workshop as well as played a key role in producing the deliverables. 

In the end I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organization and completion of the international activity in the month of Ramadan. 

Dr Abeer Saady and Dr Altaf Ullah Khan pose for a picture outside Lahore Press Club (LPC)

We look forward to more international partnerships in the very near future. This collaboration is also a testimony to the fact that international collaboration to solve the shared problems of humanity is possible. We only need the will to act, the commitment to work hard, and the trust to build a better world. 

More information:  

Video report on workshop on Digital Security in Hostile Environments with Strong Media Systems (Media center FCCU): https://youtu.be/zqdK4brhHdk    

JMIC trains Ukrainians and Russians in safety 

JMIC safety coach Abeer Saady led a safety training organized by the organization Unbias the News March 22.: Reporting in a conflict zone – Safety and ethics. 

Ukrainian journalists receiving support

194 people had registered, and 67 people entered the zoom room. Among those registered were 17 from Ukraine and 11 from Russia, informs Unbiasthenews, https://unbiasthenews.org/about-us/ 

The other participants were from all over the world – especially African and Arab countries. Many asked questions – several had experience from covering the war in Ukraine. 

Abeer Saady has previously provided such training to Ukrainian journalists, and is still in contact with some of them. Also after this workshop, she has had contact with participants from Ukraine and Russia, among others.