Deadline for abstracts: 15 February, 2018
Academic conference: 3 May, 2018
Policy Lab: 4 May, 2018
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On a daily basis, journalists around the globe are confronted with a variety of threats that range from harassment to arbitrary detention, kidnapping, physical attacks, and in the most extreme cases, killing. UNESCO reports that in the past decade more than 800 journalists, media workers and social media reporters have been killed. Threats occur both online and offline, and women journalists are particularly affected by gender-specific forms of attacks such as sexual harassment and violence. As part of the global celebration of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2018, the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, in collaboration with UNESCO, is organising a one-day academic conference on the Safety of Journalists.
This is the third edition of this conference, which is held annually as a special session alongside WPFD. It brings together researchers from different disciplines working on aspects of the safety of journalists, and offers a possibility to connect with policy makers and media practitioners. At the first edition of the conference, which took place in 2016 in Helsinki, Finland, the Journalism Safety Research Network (link is external) (JSRN) was launched. The network aims at creating a space where multidisciplinary research on the safety of journalists is shared, developed and promoted in order to strengthen the field of research and ultimately, contribute to safer environments for journalists.
The academic conference, which will be integrated into the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day in Accra, aims at bridging the gap between academic research, policy-making and the experience of journalists on the ground. Policy-oriented research, which can nourish a dialogue between all stakeholders, is therefore highly encouraged. The theme of World Press Freedom Day 2018 is “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law”.
This year’s edition welcomes papers and policy relevant research on all aspects of safety of journalists, impunity for crimes against journalists, safety of journalists and governance and justice.