Back to the Future: War Reporting Returns to the Safety Agenda
The research group MEKK at OsloMet, in cooperation with the Fritt Ord Foundation and UNESCO Norway invites you to this year’s conference on the safety of journalists in war reporting. As armed conflicts continue in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Congo, Sudan, Myanmar and many other places, journalists and media workers face unprecedented risks. More journalists and media workers were killed in 2025 than in any other year since the Committee to Protect Journalists started collecting data more than three decades ago. We dedicate this year’s conference to examining journalist safety in conflict reporting, while maintaining our broader commitment to all aspects of journalist safety worldwide.
Please register here: https://nettskjema.no/a/663709#/page/1https://nettskjema.no/a/663709#/page/1
Programme Day 1:
Monday 2nd of November 2026
08:30: Registration and Coffee, OsloMet, Pilestredet 46, Athene.
09:00: Conference Opening
Welcome by Professors Kristin Skare Orgeret & Roy Krøvel, the MEKK group, OsloMet.
Opening by Tanja Storsul, Pro-Rector for Research and Development, OsloMet
Opening Video from UNESCO, Paris
Kjersti Løken Stavrum, CEO of the Tinius Trust.
Music by Svein Amund Skara
Frédéric Chopin: Prelude in d minor, Opus 28 No.24
Edvard Grieg: Trolltog/March of the Trolls
Harald Sæverud: Ballad of Revolt
09:30: Opening Keynote:
Bruce Mutsvairo, Professor, Utrecht University/Interim Dean Amsterdam University:
No Ceasefire for Facts: Navigating New Realities of Conflict Journalism in an era of Perpetual Geopolitical Hostilities
10:00: Ghada Oueiss, Journalist and Principal Presenter, Al Jazeera:
When Journalism Becomes a War Zone: Violence, Surveillance, and Trauma.
10:30: Break
10:45: Nataliya Gumenyuk, Ukrainian journalist, CEO & Co-Funder, Public Interest Journalism Lab:
Message from the Kill Zone: This Is What War Reporting Will Look Like
11:15 -11:20 Oleksandra Hrybenko, Ph.D. Candidate and project coordinator OsloMet:
Introduction to the Shared Frontlines and Democracy Project.
11:20 – 11:45 Olha Kyrylenko, Reporter, Ukrainska Pravda:
On How Ukrainian Journalism Changed After the Russian Full-scale Invasion
11:45 : Q&A
12:00: Lunch
13:00 – Paper Sessions, P46 3rd floor (see detailed programme)
Programme Day 2:
3rd of November 2026
09:00: Nabeelah Shabbir, Deputy Director of the Information Integrity Initiative, The Nerve. Presenting the 2026 UN Women report
09:30: A Conversation between Anders Hammer, Oscar and Emmy-nominated Documentary Filmmaker & Stefan Brenner, Ph.D. candidate at OsloMet
10:15: Break
10:30: Leire Iturregui Mardaras:
Exploring Journalist Safety in Conflict Reporting Through Collaborative Research (JOSAFCON).
11:00: Panel: “International Media and the Changing Landscape of Solidarity with Local Journalists“
- Hanan Badr, Professor of Public Spheres & Inequalities, University of Salzburg
- Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Professor of Global Journalism and Communication, University of Liverpool
- Thais Armengol, Independent investigative journalist and criminologist, and Ph.D. candidate at Blanquerna – Universitat Ramon Llull
- Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
12:00: Lunch
13:00: Keynote: Scott Griffen, Executive Director, The International Press Institute
Safety of Journalists and War Reporting, from the IPI Archive to the Impunity Day Campaign.
14:00: Break
14:15: Paper Sessions P46 3rd floor (see detailed programme)