By, Theodora Theodory, MA-student, OsloMet
At least 46 journalists and 4 media workers were killed globally since January 2021 and 508 journalists and 21 media workers are currently in prison. Speaking at the 8th International Conference on the safety of Journalists, Christen Krogh the Rector (Vice Chancellor) at OsloMet
University said that their death and imprisonment were linked to their journalistic activities.
These incidents compelled Tanja K. Hegge the General Secretary of the UNESCO commission in Norway – to call for United Nations and other humanitarian groups in the world to form a joint
venture to end impunity against journalists in the world.
“Impunity damages the whole society. Government, civil societies, media, and the world have to come together to rule out impurity against journalists”, said Tanja K. Hegge. She adds it is not that nothing has been done to end the situation; however, more effort is needed to deal with impunity against journalists in the world.
In the conference’s last keynote Dr. Saumava Mitra from Dublin City University, Ireland emphasized the need for building
solidarity for the safety of the global fourth estate. Mitra asserts that collaboration across borders, including radical sharing, regional collaborations of investigative journalism, and virtual newsrooms across countries, and microcosms may be important tools in the fight for ending impunity against journalists.