Chilling facts, yet a note of optimism at MEKK conference, 2018
Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen opened the conference with a joik, a Sami way of singing which was for a long time illegal in Norway.-The conference is the fourth of its kind, and is turning into an annual event! Ann-Helen Bay, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences at OsloMet University
Thanks to Ingrid Fadnes (below), and heads of MEKK, professors Kristin Skare Orgeret and Roy Krøvel for ensuring that this conference took place. On the screen behind, Shahidul Alam, photojournalist imprisoned in Bangladesh.
Ingrid Fadnes thanking Ella Marie for her beautiful song.SKUP (The Norwegian Foundation of a Critical and Investigative Press)
Marilyn Clark, professor at Department of Psychology at the University of Malta, shared some disturbing research-figures from Europe: Since 2015, 12 journalists have been killed in Europe!
-The good news, however, is that journalists are extremely resilient. And that resilience can be nurtured. One journalist said: “I learned to appreciate hate comments (…) only means that what I do is relevant.
-If you want to know how a university can make itself relevant, this conference is a good example. It is happening right here. Guy Berger, Director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO, Paris.
-Each year one journalist gets a pulitzer and one hundred get shot (…) Journalist should be rewarded, the reality is: They are being killed, Guy Berger.
Panel debate: Safety and self-censorship-practical experiences, six cases of investigative journalism: Johannes Kr. Kristjansson, Island, Jan Lukas Strozyk, Germany, Joshua Olutosin Olufemi, Nigeria, Craig McCune, South Africa, Daniela Quiros Lepiz, Burkino Faso, Costa Rica, Mwanyengwa Ndapewoshali Shapwanale, Angola/NamibiaOn powerful sources: -What they do, is that they attack our credibility and falsely accuse our character. Like for instance, they will say that we were paid to write critical articles about them. The result is that people won´t believe us, and consequently what we write looses its impact (Mwanyengwa Ndapewoshali Shapwanale, Angola/Namibia)On hate speech: -You need to be out there, expose yourself in order to reach out to your sources, but when you do, you will also attract attackers. On Facebook and on social media. People are horrible. There is no real awareness about female harassment. There is a lot of sexual harassment of female journalists, and it´s just getting worse. We need to find a way to support female colleagues. (Jan Lukas Strozyk, Germany)Delicious dinner and great company at Skatten on Tøyen, and after dinner with Norwegian Latin American Research Network :Why are so many journalist threatened, subjected to violence and/or assassinated in Latin America today? Jose Luis Benitez, El Salvador, Marta Milena Barrios Correa, Colombia, Yennue Zarate, Mexico, Benedicte Bull, moderatorMarta Milena Barrios Correa, Universidad del Norte, Colombia speaks on self-censorship in Colombia.More than 60 participants presented papers in the afternoons.
