JOURNALISTS AND WRITERS FOUNDATION
MEDIA AND JOURNALISM WEBINARS 2023
Session 4 Contemporary Challenges to Protect Media Freedom and Combating Violence against Journalists
6 July 2023, Tuesday at 10:00 - 11:30 AM (EST)
The Media and Journalism Webinars is an online certificate program organized by the Journalist and Writers Foundation (JWF) to equip aspiring journalists and media professionals with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience needed to excel in their careers. These webinars provide a unique opportunity for participants to engage in interactive discussions, learn from seasoned journalists, and gain valuable insights into the dynamic world of media and journalism. With a focus on promoting freedom of speech, press freedom, and democracy, the webinars delve into crucial topics such as human rights, responsible journalism, and the impact of technology on the media landscape.
Through mentorship, hands-on training, and thought-provoking conversations, the Media and Journalism Webinars empower participants to navigate the ever-evolving media landscape and make a meaningful impact in the field. In its 4th year of this virtual certificate program, JWF hosted participants of young journalists and media members from 29 different countries as well as 11 notable expert speakers from 6 countries.
In the fourth session of the JWF Media and Journalism Webinars, participants from 29 different countries, including young journalists, media professionals, and civil society members, converged to address one of the most pressing issues in today’s media landscape: combating violence against journalists and upholding press freedom amidst growing challenges worldwide. The session highlighted the importance of the topic, recognizing the critical role journalists play in reporting essential news and uncovering the truth. With violence against journalists on the rise, the session aimed to shed light on the obstacles faced by media professionals and explore ways to protect press freedom and ensure the free flow of information.
Ian Williams is the President of the Foreign Press Association of the U.S. for over 20 years. He is a frequent contributor to the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” section and is regular columnist for George Orwell’s old newspaper, Tribune. He has also been a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the European, The Observer, and The Independent for which he was one of the founding writers. Mr. Williams was for years a columnist for the New Statesman. 
Stéphanie Fillion is a French-Canadian journalist specializing in foreign affairs and a United Nations Correspondent. She currently covers the UN for the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and is a contributor to Radio-Canada, Forbes, and Foreign Policy. She has worked for Radio-Canada in Vancouver and was a San Paolo fellow at La Stampa in Turin. 
Stephanie made a presentation on UN reporting and discussed various sources for UN reporting, which included spokespersons, diplomats, UN staff, retired diplomats/employees, NGO representatives, civilians, government officials, experts, media outlets and journalists (especially on the ground). Stephanie also discussed the challenges and possibilities associated with UN reporting.
Stephanie stated that she needs to diversify her sources when it comes to politics and story search. He stressed that addressing the war crisis in Russia and Ukraine is one of his most difficult tasks, which he called a challenge for journalists working at the UN. Yazeed also stressed that being politically correct is not always the primary purpose of entities, but rather getting the facts right.
Antonio Zappulla OMRI is Chief Executive Officer of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading content-driven technology company. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, the Thomson Reuters Foundation harnesses the combined power of journalism and the law to advance media freedom, raise awareness of human rights issues, and foster more inclusive economies.
Antonio Zappulla believes that societies should be free, fair and informed by focusing on socioeconomic inclusion, reinforcing ESG frameworks, and ensuring access to accurate dependent and reliable data through news, fair work and gathering initiatives. The goal of the Thomson Reuters Foundation is to shape a rich planet with everyone, without leaving anyone behind. Antonio underlined that his organization is based entirely on doing great things through media use and legal interventions. According to Mr. Zappulla, the media and law are effectively the two engines of work needed to liberate societies of all kinds. Antonio stated that a free, just, and uninformed society cannot function and be beneficial. He also highlighted that the Foundation was launched in 1982 and has one hundred and fifty employees in more than 17 countries around the world.
The Thomson and Reuters Foundations have 3 main areas of focus: the first is “Media Freedom” – having the media work center for democracy and development, defending media freedom, empowering the future of journalism, and also focusing on acquiring an educational portfolio, especially for journalists in developing countries in the global south mentoring and capacity building programs. The second main focus area is the work center of responsible and sustainable business models, ESG, just transition, purposeful business models, technology impact on society, realities and digital rights, and “inclusive economies”. The third area of focus is human rights, working on thematic issues such as freedom of speech and expression, climate, facts and digital rights, forced labor and human trafficking, women’s rights and LGBT+ Rights.
Antonio also informed the participants that Thomson Reuters Foundation has a network of more than 20,000 journalists and 5,500 members working in 11 languages. It also talks about the launch of its new editorial product “CONTEXT” on September 28, 2022. He talked about the Foundation’s extensive program that annually gives grants to NGOs and journalists. Also, the Thomson Reuters foundation’s flagship “Confidence Conference” – Empowering free, fair and informed societies, this year draws the attention of the audience by announcing that this event will be held October 26-27, 2022, in London.
Moving towards concluding the presentation, Antonio spoke about the launch of a new product known as TRFilter, which works heavily with twitter and uses its twitter account to detect abusive content 
Thomas Sideris is an investigative journalist and an award-winning director based in Greece. He is working at the Greek Broadcasting Corporation. Mr. Sideris was shortlisted for 2 years in a row (2018 and 2019) for the PRIX EUROPA PRIZE, a special EU prize for the best journalist in Europe. 
Isobel Koshiw is the Guardian Correspondent reporting from Ukraine. She has previously worked on investigations into transnational crime and corruption at NGOs and for international publications. Her investigations have appeared in OCCRP, The Verge, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Times and Kyiv Post.
Yazeed Kamaldien
Uday Basu is the Chair of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ). He has been in journalism for over 40 years working in different capacities in The Statesman, a leading daily of India founded by the British in the late 19th century. Mr. Basu was the paper’s Editor for several years. Uday Basu has written extensively on politics, religion, administration, education, and culture. He has many scoops under his belt, including one on the resignation of a Marxist Chief Minister of Bengal. Mr. Basu was faculty of The Statesman School of Print Journalism. Now, he writes Editorials for an English daily of eastern India, The Orissa Post. Uday Basu also wrote a book, Left Out In Bengal, that traces the rise and fall of the Marxist government in Bengal.
Dr. Rajendra Govender has been appointed by the South African government as a Social Cohesion Advocate with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and have been tasked to head a Rapid Response Task Team to address issues related to racism, xenophobia, gender-based violence and other social ills that confront society. As a qualified mediator Dr Govender has been appointed to serve on the panel of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Network South Africa. Currently Dr. Govender serves as the Executive Director of Mzansi Empowerment Enterprise, a consultancy that focuses on skills development and training, research development and diversity management. Through this platform, Dr. Govender has empowered many people especially from the disadvantaged sectors of society.
Marika Djolai (PhD, University of Sussex) is the Key Expert on “Global Exchange on Religion in Society”, European Commission project. Previously, she was Senior Researcher and Head of Conflict and Security Cluster at the European Centre for Minority Issues (Germany). Marika holds master’s degrees from the University of Novi Sad and University College London and received her Doctorate in Development Studies (Conflict and Violence) from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. She was a Visiting Researcher at the Faculty of Political Science in Sarajevo in 2012 and she was granted a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Southeast Europe, University of Rijeka. Her academic research focuses on community dynamics, post-conflict development, minority rights and securitization.
Jordan Gass-Pooré is an award-winning podcast producer and investigative journalist with more than a decade of journalism experience. Presently, Ms. Gass-Pooré is the creator, producer, and host of “Hazard NJ,” a limited-series podcast about the impacts of climate change on hazardous Superfund sites in New Jersey. This podcast is in collaboration with the PBS affiliate NJ Spotlight News.
Abdullah Bozkurt is a journalist for over 20 years and is president of the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), a monitoring group that tracks human rights violations in Turkey. He is also the director of the Nordic Research and Monitoring Network, which investigates terrorism, security, crime and extremism, and the author of Turkey Interrupted: Derailing Democracy. Mr. Bozkurt founded the Muhabir News Agency, which was shut down by the Turkish government in July 2016. He was also bureau chief for the Ankara-based daily Today’s Zaman, and served as its Washington, D.C. correspondent.