News

November 2-3, 2026, Oslo

Back to the Future: War Reporting Returns to the Safety Agenda

The research group MEKK at OsloMet, in cooperation with the Fritt Ord Foundation, invites submissions for the 12th annual Conference on the Safety of Journalists. The conference takes place during the first week of November, in connection with the UN’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Crimes Against Journalists.

For several years, we could focus our safety discussions on digital surveillance, legal harassment, and the slow erosion of press freedom in hybrid regimes. We have studied SLAPP lawsuits, (gendered) online violence, and economic capture. Traditional war reporting seemed largely confined to history. That illusion has been shattered.

The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Congo, Sudan, and Myanmar have returned war reporting to the centre of journalist safety concerns. More journalists and media workers were killed in 2025 than in any other year since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) started collecting data more than three decades ago. This marks the second consecutive year in which the number of journalists killed has reached a record high. We are witnessing not just casualties of war but systematic targeting of journalists by both state militaries and irregular forces. The pretence that journalists operate as protected neutral observers has collapsed in several conflict zones.

Maria Ressa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending press freedom, has warned that journalism faces an existential crisis in 2026. She argues that without immediate action, medium-sized news organizations will disappear within a year, taking with them much of the institutional capacity to report on conflicts safely. Her warnings about information integrity and the “mother of all battles” for democracy provide sobering context for this year’s conference.

At the same time, journalists have developed new methods for reporting from conflict zones. Open source intelligence tools, drones, satellite imagery analysis, and remote verification techniques allow some reporting to happen at a distance. But these methods raise difficult questions about what we lose when journalists cannot witness events directly, and whether remote reporting can adequately serve the communities most affected by conflict.

We therefore dedicate this year’s conference to examining journalist safety in conflict reporting, while maintaining our broader commitment to all aspects of journalist safety worldwide.

Theme for the 2026 Conference: War Reporting and Journalist Safety

The conference will explore several connected questions about conflict reporting and journalist safety. The systematic targeting of journalists in recent conflicts suggests a fundamental shift in how armed actors view the press. Rather than respecting journalists as neutral observers protected under international humanitarian law, some state militaries and many irregular forces now treat journalists as legitimate targets or enemy combatants. Understanding this shift and its implications for both practice and international law is crucial.

Remote reporting technologies offer new possibilities for covering conflicts without physical presence in war zones. Journalists can now analyse satellite imagery, verify social media content, geolocate incidents, and build stories from multiple sources without crossing borders. But this approach has limitations. What perspectives and context do we lose? How do we verify information when we cannot be present? What ethical obligations do we have to affected communities when we report from safety while they remain in danger?

International legal frameworks that once provided some protection for journalists are eroding. Geneva Convention protections seem increasingly irrelevant when journalists are deliberately targeted. States revoke press credentials, deny visas, detain journalists as spies, or simply refuse access to conflict zones. Local journalists and fixers do much of the most dangerous work in conflict zones, yet they receive far less institutional support and protection than international correspondents. The international community has shown limited appetite for enforcing existing protections or developing new frameworks adequate to current threats.

Yet journalists continue to report from war zones because these stories matter. War crimes cannot be prosecuted without evidence. International responses to humanitarian crises depend on reliable information. Democracy itself requires truthful accounts of how states use military force. The question is not whether to report from conflicts but how to do so with greater safety and support for those taking the risks.

Submission Guidelines

We welcome submissions addressing any aspect of journalist safety, not only those related to conflict reporting. Our conference has always aimed to create space for diverse perspectives on the many threats journalists face worldwide. This year’s thematic focus reflects current urgency, but we recognize that surveillance, legal harassment, economic pressure, online violence, and other safety concerns remain critical issues deserving attention.

Proposals might address historical patterns in war reporting, comparative analysis across different conflicts, institutional responses to journalist safety in combat zones, technological tools for remote reporting, mental health and trauma support, gender and intersectional vulnerabilities, freelancer protection, legal frameworks and their enforcement, exiled journalists and their networks, the role of fixers and local journalists, or emerging threats we have not yet adequately named.

We particularly welcome submissions from journalists and researchers working in or from active conflict zones, as well as collaborative proposals that bring together practitioners and academics. The conference aims to create dialogue across different forms of knowledge and experience.

Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words and include a short biographical note. Please submit through our online form by August 15, 2026. Include your full name, institutional affiliation or professional role, email address, and any relevant track preference. The submission link will be available at https://nettskjema.no/a/630207

There is no participation fee for the conference. Attendees are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.