The online academic conference for UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is due to take place on 27 April from 09:00-15:00 UK Time. The focus of this conference is on the role of academia in protecting freedom of expression as a driver for other human rights. The academic conference has been co-organised by Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University, University of Liverpool, University of Sheffield and Worlds of Journalism.
This year’s academic conference has two parts. The first part, the online academic conference taking place on 27 April, and the second part is an in-person academic conference hosted at Columbia University which is due to take place on 1 May. The academic conference echoes UNESCO’s theme for WPFD by focusing on freedom of expression as a necessity to enjoy and protect all other human rights. UNESCO’s. This year marks the 30th anniversary of WPFD.
Academia has played an important role in WPFD 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 WPFD, this 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 year’s academic conference features speakers from all over the world discussing issues concerning six areas that pose significant challenges to freedom of expression: digital safety; gender-specific safety issues; workplace safety issues; improving monitoring; understanding impunity; and the weaoponisation of the law. You can register for the event below.