World press freedom day conference

World Press Freedom Day 2016

IAMCR is co-sponsoring a UNESCO Research Conference on Safety of Journalists to be held on 3-4 May 2016 in connection with World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) in Helsinki, Finland.

Download the conference agenda

Knowledge is key: the contribution of research to securing the safety of journalism

Journalists around the globe face serious threats. According to UNESCO’s data, more than 700 journalists, media workers and social media producers who generate journalism have been killed during the past 10 years.

Silencing these actors by killing constitutes a serious threat to freedom of expression and is the ultimate act of censorship. Equally worrying is the fact that more than nine in ten cases of journalists killings the crimes remain unsolved.

In order to more effectively prevent such threats, there is a need for a proper understanding – knowledge is the key.

The call for papers and posters attracted almost 60 abstracts by the deadline in December 2015 (Please consult the full call for papers here). The received abstracts were reviewed by a Committee consisting of representatives of the University of Sheffield, University of Tampere, University of Helsinki, the UNESCO Chair at University of Gothenburg, and UNESCO. Altogether 18 papers and 14 posters were selected to be presented at the conference. The papers and posters are discussing a great variety of topics related to the safety of journalists, and are covering more than twenty countries in the world. The selected participants come from all the six continents.

Organized by UNESCO and the UNESCO Chair at University of Gothenburg, in cooperation with IAMCR and University of Sheffield, University of Tampere and University of Helsinki during the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day in Helsinki Finland, on 3 and 4 May 2016.

Download the conference agenda