This month, INSI has begun a project with a number of its members to find ways to address the psychological trauma faced by some journalists who are covering the refugee crisis and solutions to better support them.  We are extremely grateful to one such member Agence France-Presse for its support in this area and for allowing us to republish a blog by photographer Bülent Kiliç in which he talks about his experiences. Linked to this, we are shortly launching a major piece of research with world expert Professor Anthony Feinstein on the psychological impact that covering the refugee crisis has had and is having on journalists and we expect that these two areas of work will help us develop recommendations for the industry at large. INSI director co-authors kidnap book This month also saw the release of The Kidnapping of Journalists by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, co-authored by INSI Director Hannah Storm and Professor Robert Picard. The book is available for purchase on Amazon http://amzn.to/1NFpeQa and has been called “the most comprehensive and useful account to date of every journalist’s worst nightmare” by The Sunday Times foreign correspondent Christina Lamb, OBE. It highlights the challenges facing news organisations - in attempting to protect journalists and in responding to the kidnap of one of their own - and reporters working in dangerous locations. It also looks at the situation for freelancers who lack organisational protection and therefore often face an even bigger risk.    As well as research, INSI has this month held its first regional meeting, bringing together news executives and journalists to discuss specific issues relating to the safety of journalists. We plan for this to become a regular occurrence and would be delighted to work with members or non-members to talk about possible locations or subject matter. We are particularly grateful to INSI Board member Cilla Benko at Swedish Radio for hosting one such meeting, where we were able to launch our safety work ahead of Rio 2016. During the meeting we briefed Scandinavian colleagues on the possible risks to consider ahead of the first Olympic Games in a South American city and learned about their preparations. On May 17, we will be holding an event in New York for members and non-members to discuss safety for journalists ahead of the Rio Games. This will also be an opportunity to learn more about the work done by INSI and meet members of our network. If you are interested in attending or know others who may be, please get in contact.
Covering terrorist attacks We also published safety advice on covering natural disasters for journalists following the devastating earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador. INSI Chair Richard Sambrook spoke at the International Festival of Journalism in Perugia about how newsrooms should prepare to cover terrorist attacks. We are extremely grateful to Lara Logan for allowing us to republish her foreword from INSI’s 2012 publication No Woman’s Land: On The Frontline with Female Reporters. This coincided with her appearance as a panellist at the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ new book Attacks on the Press: Gender and Media Freedom Worldwide. Four years after the publication of our ground-breaking book on the safety of women journalists, we are delighted that there is still such interest in this extremely important issue.
Image by AFP