Physical Safety Strategies for Reporters

As part of PEN America’s Covering Protests series, this webinar co-hosted by the IWMF and CPJ on Physical Safety Strategies for Reporters was presented and recorded Friday, June 12, 11:00am – 12:30pm ET.

About This Webinar

As part of PEN America’s Covering Protests series, this webinar—co-hosted by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)—is led by journalist safety experts Alison Baskerville, Colin Pereira, and Donte Stewart. The training highlights strategies to help journalists stay physically safer while covering protests during a pandemic, including guidance specifically tailored to situations that journalists of color and women journalists may encounter in the field. With Q&A.

Journalists looking for up-to-date advice on covering protests safely can check out CPJ’s latest safety advisory and safety kit.

For more information, contact Viktorya Vilk, program director of digital safety and free expression, at [email protected].

Panelists

Alison Baskerville is a former soldier-turned safety trainer and documentary photographer. She is founder of the safety training movement ROAAAR. Her work centers on building resilience in journalism for womxn and non binary people and she strives to create training and guidance which considers identity – including gender, sexuality and race – as a key concern. She has covered demonstrations and protests as a photojournalist and has experience working in war zones within Afghanistan, Iraq, and Gaza.

Colin Pereira works with CPJ Emergencies as the chief strategist on journalist safety. For 15 years, he has worked to shape the risk management model for journalists under threat. Pereira has advised press teams covering wars, natural disasters, terrorism, and riots globally, and has worked on high-risk investigations.

Donte Stewart is senior director of security at Vox Media, where he leads security and anti-harassment efforts. Stewart most recently spent nearly six years working in risk intelligence at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and prior to that, he served as an intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency.

About the Covering Protests Series

Amid sustained protests against police brutality in the United States in recent weeks, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has recorded over 400 press freedom violations, including over 60 arrests and over 300 physical attacks against reporters. The majority of this intimidation and abuse has been perpetrated by the police. In response, PEN America has partnered with leading press freedom organizations to empower ​journalists to take care of their safety and well being as they ​cover the protests.

Series Cohosts

Series CoSponsors