The Role of Academia in Protecting Freedom of Expression

Columbia Global Freedom of Expression

On the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, celebrate academia’s contributions to media freedom.

The Riverside Church

<h2> UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day 2023</h2><h2> Academic Conference</h2><h3>The Role of Academia in Protecting Freedom of Expression as a Driver for Other Human Rights</h3>Location: MLK Conference Room 527, located in Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue (between Broadway and Riverside Drive) Columbia University, New York, USA 1 May 2023 - 10:00-13:00 EST (Hybrid event)Organisers: Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, University of Liverpool, University of Sheffield and Worlds of Journalism StudyAs part of UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day 2023, an academic conference will take place at Columbia University in New York on 1 May 2023 as a hybrid event. The academic conference focuses on freedom of expression as a driver for other human rights, linking to UNESCO’s overall theme for World Press Freedom Day 2023. Academia has played an important role in World Press Freedom Day by hosting an academic conference that provides a forum to hear from scholars who research constraints on media freedom in all their complexity. As this is the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, the first part of this year’s academic conference will provide an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate academia’s contributions to better understanding the challenges of journalism safety and media freedom, as well as looking ahead at how it can contribute to these pressing issues in a future where freedom of expression is being threatened around the world. This interactive workshop will provide an opportunity for scholars to come together to discuss how we can continue to build stronger interdisciplinary academic capacity and greater collaboration between academia and civil society. An action statement will be produced on the next steps academia can take.The second half of the conference will be a panel session featuring papers that discuss current challenges to freedom of expression as a driver for other human rights. I﻿n person attendance: Please register via EventbriteR﻿emote participation: Please register via <a href="https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEufu2srzooG9CXV0fRZd86OTCR0k7mfjDe" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Zoom</a>We look forward to seeing you at the academic conference as part of UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day! The Organising Committee <ul><li>Professor Jackie Harrison, UNESCO Chair on Media Freedom, Journalism Safety and the Issue of Impunity</li><li>Dr Vera-Slavtcheva Petkova, Reader in Global Journalism and Media, University of Liverpool, UK / Worlds of Journalism Study Executive Board Member</li><li>Catalina Botero, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression</li><li>Dr Gemma Horton, Impact Fellow, Centre for Freedom of the Media</li><li>Dr Emily Harmer, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Liverpool, UK</li><li>Dr Rosalynd Southern, Senior Lecturer in Political Communication, University of Liverpool, UK</li><li>Dr Christos Kostopoulos, Research Associate, University of Liverpool, UK</li></ul>

Agenda

1) Welcome from UNESCO representative and Catalina Botero, Consulting Director, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression. 2) Professor Jackie Harrison, UNESCO Chair on Media Freedom, Journalism Safety and the Issue of Impunity, University of Sheffield, UK: Reflecting on the contribution of academia’s research to the global media freedom and journalism safety stakeholder community. 3) Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Reader in Global Journalism and Media, University of Liverpool, UK/Worlds of Journalism Study: Academia and journalism safety: current and future global initiatives. 4) Discussion

Academia’s contributions to journalism safety and media freedom

Current challenges to freedom of expression as a driver for other human rights

Chair/Discussant: Dr Gemma Horton, Impact Fellow, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield, UK). 1) Dr Sejal Parmar, Cardiff University and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK: Counter-disinformation law as a rising threat to freedom expression. 2) Professor Edward L. Carter, Brigham Young University School of Communications, USA: “An Anti-SLAPP Framework Under the American Convention on Human Rights”. 3) Professor Yaman Akdeniz, Faculty of Law, Instanbul Bilgi University, Turkey: Silencing Dissent: The Weaponisation of Law in Turkey’s War on Free Speech.

 Weaponization of law

Chair/Discussant: Dr Emily Harmer, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Liverpool, UK. 1) Dr Diana Maynard, Julie Posetti, Kalina Bontcheva and Nabeelah Shabbir, University of Sheffield and ICFJ, U.K. & U.S.A: Monitoring Online Violence Against Women Journalists as a Predictor of Offline Harm Amid Escalating Risks. 2) Benjamin P. Tetteh, Syracuse University, U.S.A./Ghana: Ghana’s failing press freedom: A dent on a bastion of African democracy. 3) Professor Leire Iturregui Mardaras, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain: Safety Conditions of Journalists Covering International Conflicts. 4) Dr Hanan Elgendi, Alahram Canadian University in Egypt, Egypt: The impact of negative work place condition inside Egyptian media houses on journalists mental and physical health safety. A quantitative study on the Egyptian journalist.

 Journalists’ safety issues around the globe

Chair: Dr Rosalynd Southern, Senior Lecturer in Political Communication, University of Liverpool, UK. 1) Professor Ivor Shapiro , Centre for Free Expression, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada: The journalism school as a space for encountering the tensions between the freedoms of expression and of the press and their dynamic connections with liberty, oppression, and social justice. 2) Ms Smitha Khorana, Independent Journalist and Academic, U.S.A: The Need for Interdisciplinary Work to Approach Freedom of Expression. 3) Ms Colette Wahlqvist and Mr Binod Bhattarai, International Media Support and Tribhuwan University, Denmark and Nepal: Title TBD

Freedom of expression 

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The Role of Academia in Protecting Freedom of Expression

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