Newsrooms have a duty of care to support their journalists’ holistic safety needs – not only their physical safety on the ground, but their digital safety and mental health as well. The IWMF is a leader in providing customized safety training for newsrooms and journalism associations that are tailored to these expansive needs: since 2020, we have worked with newsrooms of all sizes to craft policies and procedures to prepare for and respond to a safety incident.
Building on the IWMF’s unique training model, our News Safety Cohort connects 16 media organizations around the world to promote a culture of safety.
Our training centers the journalist as an individual: we encourage newsrooms to consider their staff members’ identities and unique situations as they respond to a crisis. This enables newsrooms to better support their journalists of color, women journalists, and LGBTQI+ journalists, who are disproportionately impacted by online violence.
Throughout 2023, the News Safety Cohort will benefit from the following:
- Peer learning with newsrooms worldwide and ongoing engagement opportunities to share lessons learned and best practices with the journalism community.
- Customized safety trainings with a gender and identity lens and support with developing newsroom safety protocols.
- Access to the latest resources and one-on-one consultations with leading safety experts.