Transcripts For CSPAN National 20240703

Good morning and welcome to the National Press club, the place where news happens. I am the president of the National Press club and the managing editor. This morning, we have a special headline event featuring diane foley, the minor a mother of journalist james foley was murdered by isis and 2013. We will have a panel of experts discussing how to address important issues. As we all know, unfortunately, this is in dire need now as journalists remain in harms way around the world. The National Press club is actively working with the wall street journal release the reporter who is being unjustly detained in a russian prison. They continue to advocate for the release of the captive there for more than 11 years. We have a usually active press team here works tirelessly to promote the freedom of the press here and abroad. Today, we are also aware that over 11 journalists and counting have already been killed or lost as casualties and the israelhamas war over the past nine days. We are mourning the loss of each of these brave journalists. The James W Foley Foundation Works in helping journalists stay safe as they do their important work. The organization was founded by diane foley in september, 2014 a month after jims public execution. I graduated before jim at Marquette University but did not meet him in person but i had heard of them throughout market networks. Marquette networks. The fact that he returned to the region so he could continue reporting on the story of the news to be told despite knowing directly the grave risks involved to me is the embodiment of moral courage which this foundation represents. We are committed to ensuring the freedom of americans taken hostage overseas and with their safety and return a priority for america. As part of that mission, the Foley Foundation works with the National Press club to secure the release of our two american journalists held abroad. Diane foley is currently serving as the president of the foundation. Civilians are being used as pawns by hamas. We are strongly concerned about the more than 150 hostages taken. Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Foreign Relations committee issued a statement yesterday saluting the foundations work. He says today we remember not only james foley but also reporters reporting from dangerous places to shine light on the truth. The james Foley Foundation is a true leader supporting the vital work and its in that spirit i nominate i salute diane foley and salute all you in that mission. We are honored that diane foley is here today and she will give her remarks in a minute. This will be followed by a Panel Moderated by ellen sheear from the school of journalism. She is also the chairperson of the Foley Foundation. We are honored to have panel is here from the new york times, the voice of america and the Marquette University center for peacekeeping. Want to thank mike smith a fellow board member for arranging the speakers today. I wish to thank the cochairs of our headliners team. Special thanks to the membership coordinator at the club. And now, warm welcome to diane foley. [applause] thank you, eileen. And thanks to the National Press club and all of you for taking time to be here. And for at for covering our news today. The Foley Foundation is deeply committed to journalist safety. We want to ensure that both aspiring journalists and freelance journalists have access to the latest in Safety Education to enable them to bear witness to Current Events as safely as possible. Our Signature Initiative had been the development of undergraduate and graduate School Safety curricula to embed a safety curricula in all the schools of journalism thats also accessible to freelance journalists. We currently have 20 journalism and Communications Schools were used our curriculum thanks to our education director. We also have 11 schools in lebanon thanks to our partnership with the foundation who general just generously translated our curriculum. We partnered with headset, company that provides Virtual Reality Safety Training for freelancers and journalists. We even had a session here at the National Press club recent. Dangers to journalists seem to be increasing domestically and internationally. Many journalists have already been targeted in the israelihamas conflict. We are delighted to welcome these generous experts who are willing to be part of a test force to help ensure that our curriculum is as timely, practical and uptodate as it can. I would like to introduce them. First of all, those who cannot be with us, we have professor mcelroy who is the chair of journalism for the rooney college of communication, university of texas in austin. Nathanpuffer, Senior Vice President of risk and resilience at dow jones and was a veteran of the u. S. Military is now a fellow at the center for strategic and international studies, and hannah storm, founder and director of Headlines Network who promoted a conversation about Mental Health and moral injury for journalists. We are particularly delighted for those who can join us in person. We have eric phillips, Program Manager of the office of language programs for the voice of america. He is responsible for journalists safety and is a primary liaison with the United States agency for global media. And all matters related to safety and security, welcome. We also are delighted to welcome jason right who came down from the new york times. He is the Vice President of corporate security. Its been a lot of years as their Global Security director and as a founding board member from the culture of Safety Alliance for freelancers throughout the world. Tomgherkin is our education director from Marquette University and talon shearer our board chair who is jims professor years ago and continues his legacy today we are so grateful for all of these experts and their willingness to send generously share so that our curriculum can be useful, uptodate and timely. Yesterday, we have the privilege of hosting the james foley freedom run at Anacostia Park here in d. C. It was one of several runs that occurred to allow the country and we had one in paris this year. Its to raise awareness about journalists like evan and austin who still remain hostages and just to raise awareness of the risk journalists take every day. As eileen said, senator van hollen left remarks for us. He said he was inspired by our advocacy for press freedom. He is right about the journalistsrisks they take to bring us the news. So that we might know whats happening. Across the world. We hope that todays discussion will illuminate those risks and that we can help journalists state stay safe. Thank you so much. Let me add my thanks to the National Press club for hosting this event today. Its so important to highlight the issue and need for journalist Safety Education. Thank you all for joining us and thank you to the National Press corrupt press club. We will hear from our Task Force Members and tom about the changing landscape of risks to journalists. Let me briefly set the stage for the discussion. Journalists but themselves in harms way to do the important job of getting the news to all of us. We are seeing this right now in israelhamas conflict. The committee to protect journalists says that as of the first nine days of the fighting, almost a dozen journalists were killed, two were missing and eight injured. In the shelling last week in southern lebanon killed a reuters videographer and injured six of the journalists. Thats 13 journalists killed in those two regions in a week or so. Before last week, 16 journalists had been killed so far this year. Meanwhile, there is a difference, an increasing threat that foreign correspondence face with wrongful intentions by hostile governments, notably russia, china, iran and venezuela according to the Foley Foundation research. But as we all know, its not just conflict journalism. Foreign correspondence or risk these days or a tv reporter in florida was shot to death while covering a homicide and is videographer was injured. Last year, the Las Vegas Review journal reporter was stabbed multiple times and killed outside his home. Clark county public administrator was arrested. He had been being investigated. During the black lives matter protest, journalists were often injured but generally not by the protesters. In addition, many journalists were around the country are charred are targeted by online harassers and the list goes on. The good news is that more and more news organizations like those on our task force, are stepping up to the challenges posed by these risks. Nonprofits like cp j the International Room mood media are providing resources for journalists to be prepared to assess risk, medicaid them with Safety Strategy or determine when its too dangerous. With that background, lets get started. Why dont you start by going into more detail about what the Foley Foundation curriculum aims to do . Thank you for the question and thank to the press club for having us area within months of jims murder in 2014, ellen created a graduate level seminar designed for conflict journalists, particular for freelancers. Obviously, thats important and we know the conflict journalists will come up against risks. One thing we noticed that a snatches conflict journalists and we have to start with journalists and their young and Start Building safety habits to make sure journalists i think about my sister katie was a paramedic in chicago. Her job is to save lives but she needs to know how to do it safely. Journalists are not that different than first responders. They run toward scenes and violence and places where other people are leaving and they are armed with a pen or camera. I think we have a responsibility to make sure journalists are learning how to face and build habits. We took what ellen had created and started focusing on undergraduate programs. The challenge was teaching a class, a firstyear class or seniors or embed safety into the curriculum . Our thinking was that if we could gather materials and work with experts and see what students need to know and we work with tools to start at the youngest level, how do our you save and how you do a Risk Assessment, how do you interview a Hostile Force . These things are coming up throughout their worse is. The habits are developing. In that way, safety is not victim some addon. Its not something extra you do. You need to be safe to be an effective journalist. Safety is not just a physical safety we are looking at. We are looking at physical, mental, digital safety. While it seems like a lot to cover, if its offered, we have a better chance investigated journalists will means to protect themselves. I believe that the best way to do that is the curriculum where students are learning this. Its not like you need to be safe when you do this. You need to always be safe. Doing Risk Assessment and thinking about your safety and what i can be prepared for, its a habit. I know people on this stage agree with that and have either experienced or seen other journalists that need these tools to confront these challenges. Thank you for all the work youve done enhancing the curriculum. Eric maybe you can talk about what keeps you up at night . What are the challenges echo you have a network around the world and in the United States and journalists, freelancers and staff, that you have two try to protect. How do you work with them to create a culture of safety . In addition to myself, i want to call attention to the fact that clara domingues is also here with me today. On behalf of all of my colleagues at voa, we want to extend our thanks to diane and you for asking us to be part of this task force. We regard this opportunity highly and its our hope that anything we can contribute will be of use to the foundation. Weve been asked to talk about some of the challenges and we will do that. Before we get to that, we want to is not all bad news. There are spots of good news and i wanted to share a couple with today. Foley foundation in their curriculum is the lead, goes without saying, but there is more good news. The ceo of usa gm has stated from the start of her administration that journalists safety is a priority for an old hand at operating. Thats a big deal. Words are wonderful but actions are that are and amanda has created the first ever safety position. Were interviewing candidates now. Cap [inaudible] tell more about that. The challenges are plenty. They are growing in the nature of the challenges, growing in frequency. And voice of america, we have plenty of them. The key is getting this conversation to be less of an extra box you have to check and more getting it to be habit. This is a thing you have to be cautious of and be working on all the time as a journalist. Talking about Risk Assessment, it, just be a box you check in the office before you go off to the location for your assignment. Its something you been working on a lot in the way and. The Foley Foundation curriculum touches on this. Its pretty impressive. Risk assessment continues once you get to the location of your assignment. Weve got people in israel now and weve had to continually check in with our people to remind them to do the assessment. It is required by law that have a bomb shelter know where it is at all times and check all the boxes. Its an ongoing process. The smallest detail make a difference. The best example i can give up that is about a year and a half ago, our correspondent south sudan was called in washington to cover antigovernment protest. She was in such a hurry and had her gear and forgot her voa press id officials rounded up all the journalists as they do begin to require proof of their affiliation she couldnt provide it. She was placed in prison for 10 days. 10 days imprisonment south sudan, not a good time. Getting journalist to accept personal oneonone security people with them. Journalist dont like to be encumbered by a plus one when they do their work. I get up at there are some circumstances where you have to have that person with you 24 7 in making those choices how important the management decision are, not to say no but understand the work the journalists do its about having a conversation with that person. Its about having a security rep that says the reporting youre suggesting is dicey so lets have a conversation the best way to attack this area those people are hardtofind but we have to find them. This is a new issue conversation at voa and we are careful and engage with hannah storm on that in the dark center. Its an ongoing conversation at voa. One of the greatest areas of challengs is error stringers and freelance network. Those are different models. A stringers personal message direct contact with us. When the person gets into trouble, its an expectation we will step up to help. Increasingly, we are using freelancers from pratt platforms like pay desk. There is no direct affiliation between voa and the individual. The connections with the company. Great discussion on policy versus principal. Policy says you are not responsible for that person. Principal says this person is working in a hostile environment completing assignments for me, how may not responsible for that person . Thats a tricky conversation. Working on it we know we have to do better. I could go on. There are plenty of challenges to talk about but i will close by repeating my thanks to the Foley Foundation on behalf of voa to be a part of this and we hope whatever we can contribute can be useful, thank you. We really appreciate your help. Jason, i will ask you a variation of the same question. What keeps you up at night . And how has that changed over time . To erics point, you cannot static in your approach. Maybe talk about how it has evolved and what you are worried about today. If youre going to get a couple of security people here, there is an expectation there would be doom and gloom but i will be a little optimistic. I actually feel similar to what you mentioned. There has been a pretty substantial shift in the past 10 years in relationship to risk between editors and reporters. I think the changes for the better. I would be curious to hear what your point of view is. Ive seen that the stereotype or the cliche of this grizzled, angry editor telling you to get out there and get the story and dont bother me and dont ask questions, i think thats gone by the wayside and thats a great thing. Nowadays, we see we have young reporters were concerned about security and they raise the issue. What weve been trying to do is make sure these young reporters freelancers come recognized in the modern. Reporters asking difficult questions and saying im going to go to south sudan and get this tough story, what will you do . Whats the plan if i get in trouble . Whats the Communications Plan and how are we checking in . At the new york times, if you ask those questions, editors see that as an asset. It looks like a reliable person we can feel comfortable commissioning. The over concept of the cowboy reporter that goes from danger to danger without a second but creates a mountain of ethical and legal challenges. And ive seen the shift and it can be great. Its a problem at any institution. How do you translate that message to something operational . We all want to do the right thing but its not that easy. Everyone says journalism safety is a priority. Thats why i asked about this new role. Thats a great step because operationalizing these talks is challenging. I will be the first wet mitt that it ties with their resources, we are still figuring it out. Its typically around the intersection of Mental Health challenges with the news cycle that we are on today. Bureau figuring out as we go on domain. We all are aligned on these principles and want to make. I want to followup on that but i want to remind people that if you have questions, there are pieces of paper a new can write your questions and we will get to that shortly. Jason, back to whats keeping you up at night. I dont think either of you mentioned digital safety. Can we talk about that . Its almost a hidden danger. You can be attacked without leaving your desk. Thats true. It has offered our adversaries greatly enhance capabilities to interfere with their news weathering. I want to make a note to the impact of my forgive me for using military jargon. There is a force multiplier were somebody on their own not requiring the resources of a government are talking that nationstates and examples. There are threats out there. Individuals out home were firing individuals out there are threatening. Some reporters dont want to cover something because they feel is just not worth it. What we found we spend a lot t talking about nationstates, advanced malware. Those are a threat. Do not get me wrong, but individuals at home, firing off awful messages to people can have a silencing effect. That is the threat. It is the threat of reporters not wanting to cover something because they feel it is not worth the harassment. What we found is that Digital Security is intimidating, technical. There is a lot you can get wrong, but i certainly believe that the curriculum and curriculums that are geared toward solving this issue, they are focused on principles. Those do not change. The techniques, the specifics, the technology. That is constantly shifting. Making sure that folks understand the Core Principles of Information Security are not static but not shifting quite as fast. The technologies on top of them are. That is a good way to ensure that people have a Strong Foundation and on their own they can fill in the blanks of what is needed in a given moment. That is well said, october much i can add, but i will touch on it not too much i can add, but i will touch on it a bit. The one that is most obvious for Digital Security is with personal devices. We have had to tell people to use a personal an agency device, that a personal device when traveling. You do not want your personal self exposed to bad actors. The more dangerous, though, is the harassment piece. It happens with tremendous frequency. What is happening it goes without saying the last thing a journalist wants is to be taken offline for a while. Maybe that person does their work without a byline for a bit, does not go traveling for a bit. There are a number of steps you can take, but it is a significant issue. Are there any specific i suppose it is casebycase. It is very much casebycase. I feel like whenever i want people to feel like they link with a possible piece to this. One of the challenges weve had confronted specifically on this issue with harassment of reporters, their families, and federal if it is an interdisciplinary problem. Youve got the security component but also, sometimes there is an Information Security team, a communications issue. There is legal questions that are raised and often standards questions. Approach is to create in this case a cross functional group that has representation from the different departments could this applies to any organization. Effect that you are hearing this responsibility, i think and the fact that youre here and have this responsibility i think streamlines that. We duplicate that effort which is to say we have Communications Professionals who can handle some of the communications challenges. We have Security Professionals to make sure everyone is safe. If there are standards questions into this, we want to make sure those are addressed. Then there is the leadership component, which you touched on. I endorse that approach, which is that Senior Leadership needs to know it is a problem and something that is taken seriously. Often, it is as simple as having a Senior Leader reach out and say, hey, i know what you are going. That is a good example of operationalizing these things and saying here is the playbook, that is what you need to do. You circle back and start thinking about the safety curriculum. One thing we need to get past is this idea that student journalists are journalists and training. They are journalists, covering local news for most communities. They are covering violence, sexual assault, real stories. They are not in training. If you look at some of the biggest raking stories domestically, think about places like northwestern, michigan state, stanford, school shootings, real stories that have real impact that can really affect young journalists. I think j school, 12 faculty and students, need to realize that these are young, working journalists and need to be prepared for what they are covering. I agree. For their shout out to northwestern. But i do think that gets back to this idea that these cannot be standalone, before you go out on assignment, do a Risk Assessment. You are good to go. You really have to have this in your head as wherever i am, thinking am i safe here and what can i do about it . Diane . That is true. I totally agree with what jason is saying. I am beginning to see it evolve. Schools of journalism and even editors previously did not seem to have any moral responsibility for sending people out wherever, sending their students out into the most dangerous neighborhoods, often along. Alone. That is what to help them realize their responsibility to give students the tools they need so that they know somebody has got their back. They can be safe. They have a plan. I think that also brings up the issue of this is not just an issue for foreign correspondence. Correspondents. This is an issue for reporters in the u. S. I wonder if you could talk about how you address problems that have come up in terms of civil unrest that has become violent, certainly in washington, we went through an interaction. An insurrection. Tom and i have talked to some news organizations around the country. Reporters are talking about some of the basic ways that we used to report stories. If there is a murderer in a community, that is what happened in florida, you go to the familys home. The victims home. Reporters are concerned about knocking on someones door because about the gun violence. I am not trying to be political, just factual. Or even going into someones driveway, people have gotten hurt. I wonder how you talk to your newsrooms about stories in the u. S. . How does that change or not change versus, compared with foreign correspondences . I will jump in. I will repeat mindset and have it a lot here today. I joined d. O. A. As a brandnew contractor required to go through standard orientation. I do a 30 or 40 minute presentation on journalist safety. I make this point right up front anywhere you go, including the national mall, is frequently the site for marches, rallies, protests. Those events can turn hostile when emotions and tensions are high. You always run the risk for those events to get sideways. It becomes dangerous for journalists. But the trickier part of that is it is not just the event. If you are a journalist, you have to understand that the universe has become a hostile environment for you in the past couple of years. It does not make any difference where the assignment is. But for people who are just doing assignments in the Washington Area in particular, have them report to me in their supervisor where they are going to be. We require that they go in pairs now. And we sure that that realtime Location Tracking is part of the plan. It is having that mindset, that when you walk out of the door at the building at d. O. A. , voa, you are walking into a hostile environment. Maybe slightly different answer. I am going to borrow from material that we use when training our own team. We have a flyer that says you wore is straightforward. They reporter is going to go out to war, they recognize there will be a security bird and then we will be checking in all the time. Burden and we will be checking in all the time. I would like to reference some tragedies, really a formative tragedy that helps shape the way we think was the murder of kim wall by an eccentric submarine adventurer a few years back. Fewer to before if you were to be for that assignment take a look, sounds like a quirky story, interviewing this strange submarine adventurer per adventurer. For i would not have thought twice, but what is difficult is the line we are trying to leave is if you weave is if you are going to do a story like that or go to the mall or knock on a door, it is not appropriate to put you through a four day long course, give you body armor. We have to be flexible. My fear is the feeling that in reporter if i reach out to them, they are going to make me go through this thing. It is not necessary. I will get nowhere. We are trying to get accountability, security. It will not look like ukraine, but we need something and something as single and straightforward as you are going to ignore going to do or not, somebody should know where you are. Or if you want to talk about journalism student, this is hard. How many young female students are having meetings with sources in a bar where nobody knows where they are . And by themselves. Is there some sort of accountability in place . It can be as simple as how about you send me a text message to let me know when you are there and when to expect you back whenever i talk about check ins, the person on the other end need to know what to do if it does not arise. When we are thinking about the domestic environment, we have two tracks. You have the track that says what operationally are we doing . How do we not freak people out . This is not the same risk as it would be in a war zone. However, the creature for Senior Leadership. How are things changing . How is the environment changing . How does the public interact with the press . The police . Those are tough questions that should be informing future policy. Making going into conflict you make a good point that when you are going into a conflict area, you know that there is a risk, but the risks are unexpected. The florida tv reporter was doing a routine story. Way a lot more tricky. That is in a way and not more tricky. It is not a bad thought to say that in the u. S. You are facing a hostile environment but it is possibly more for the actors you are dealing with. But it is more complicated. It is not as obvious. It is not as place specific. One thing with our curriculum is not trying to teach safety to scare but to empower. I have thought about this, talk about things that could go wrong. If something tricky happens, you have thought about what could possibly go wrong as opposed to it happening without thinking this could happen. The about the boston marathon. You think about boston marathon. Who could have thought this would happen . But now that we know, what would i do if it did . Or the shooting at the las vegas concert. It can be empowering to know i have at least thought through what could potentially go wrong as opposed to being blindsided. We talked about what your organizations are doing, which is great to hear. I love how seriously you are treating this issue. Other news organizations are doing the same thing. As tom said, Journalism Schools are trying to empower students more than a decade ago, but how that there are many struggling news organizations, both financially or in terms of their commitment to safety. Can this be done without the pockets . Deep pockets . Ultimately, journalists have to take responsibility, have to recognize that they are responsible to educate themselves, to become experts at Digital Security, and keeping themselves safe. Because it is not possible for every tiny organization to have everything in place. You folks have the gold standard. We need you for that, but you are right, ellen, many around the world may not have that. The journalists themselves, we saw that gathering that freelancers last week in new york. They are struggling to make sure their colleagues can be as strong within their own little area to keep themselves safe. It is not easy. And i mean to imply that it is easy for you either. I was saying that when news organizations, local news organizations are reducing staff, the hopeful thing is we had a number of smaller organizations reach out, ask for advice, but it is also a challenge to say, yes, of verse this is important of course this is important. How are we going to do it . Every dollar spent towards safety is a dollar well spent. We go uncomfortably into the area budgets and funding when the conversations journalist safety. Got it, but context in the d. O. A. , voam helmet that voa, helmet, vest, gas mask about 3000. We have six language divisions. Do that math. Again, no one is questioning the value or whether it is worth it, but the number is always going to draw a conversation because of what it requires the managers and how we have to rearrange budgets and funds to make sure it gets out. It is absolutely part of the conversation for an organization my site for a smaller organization, to fund an organization my size. For a smaller organization to find find this stuff is a lot. We have some questions. There are cards there, so i we got more questions. What is your plan for me . Eric sent these conversations now happen upfront and on the ground. The questionnaire is asking is there a specific scenario you can cite . What does that look like . A reallife example . What does the conversation with the journalist look like . Voa is a federal organization, in a lot of of policy and procedure is involved. We have a cooperative and collaborative relationship with the agency. The director of and his people. The first thing that it entails is if you are a reporter before we get to that, there is a protocol at voa, if you are assigned to a hostile environment, you have got to get your managing editor on board the Division Director on board and the voa director has two signups. If everybody says yes, you move on to a formal security briefing. We performed that briefing in contact with consulates all around the world. Youre getting good data from Regional Security officers we are getting good data from Regional Security officers. Those sessions can go on and on and on. Some can be two hours. There is a lot of information to share. In addition to the conversation about ppe and Risk Assessment, there is a lot of conversation about real threats to the journalists, what they can expect based on what has happened in the past. All of that information is shared with the journalists. It is not a light touch at all. It is a heavyhanded approach, but we feel like for assignments in dicey places, that is the way it is got to be. Ppe is personal treatment . Yeah. Ok. Jason, can you give us a reallife scenario . And are sending a reporter to israel when you are sending a reporter to israel. Let me give you one that is not currently in use. We determine something highrisk , you are describing a Risk Assessment, there is a written component. The important part in all of these processes is making sure the right questions are asked. We are not necessarily gunning for an answer. We are getting for surface issues that may be our unforeseen. The next important piece in that is not up to the Security Team as to whether or not an assignment is going to go forward. That is an editorial decision. My job would be easy if i said no to everything. There is a reason why we are putting people into harms way. I am not the editor. It is not my decision. Our function is to say using about this . Did you think about this risk . You cannot mitigate every risk. How are we going to decide if the story is worth the risks . The areas that are the most challenging, where you have the most unknowns, is almost always when communication is an issue whether it is because of the geo brought the geography of an assignment or whatever the reason. In those cases, it is more incumbent on the reporter to demonstrate their avenue capabilities their own capabilities. That is where experience comes in. We will not take anyone and be light, you go here, you go here. For these difficult assignments, of course there is a consideration of the reporters capabilities and experience. More to that point, we cannot be experts on every region in the world. We are learning from them and saying help us understand. What are the risks . We will talk to the specifics. Leadership, editorial leadership will make the call. How is there a time when this reporter cannot go to, but this reporter can based on their knowledge or . This is not written in stone. Rather i would look at it as he reporters or the ones coming up with the idea for a story. A seasoned reporter is going to come forward with a robust Risk Assessment. If there is somebody who is junior and not comfortable, that will be reflected in the Risk Assessment. You might say we need to do more work here. There needs to be a more immediate a more neaty meaty conversation. If we do not feel we can, it might not be the right fit but we are not training Baseball Players around the field. Rather we are thinking that he will have a lot at experience usually tend to put together better Risk Assessments. When you work at an institution like ours, there is a lot of opportunity. People move between desks all the time. There is ample opportunity for younger reporters to get exposure. Jason has mentioned appropriately the reporters experience on a number of occasions. It is something we take into consideration at voa. Israel is a good example. We have a lot of reporters who have expressed interest in going. The first two questions we ask our about your previous coverage in a war zone. And then are you certified . There is a hostile environment Awareness Training program. There is one course that provides basic survival and first aid and another that has a conflict zone component. For this conversation, we require the latter. The experience is taken into consideration. We do not want to be in the position where we are saying to journalist, no, you cannot go to us have a conversation, make sure you are the right person. Lets make sure you are equipped to keep safety topics might. To keep safety top of mond. Amid all the challenges facing journalists today, what gives you hope . And opened with this but i will give another version of it. There are so many tools and resources right in front of your face. They often do not require a lot of work. I will use a bit of Digital Security. I think it is helpful. I do not know anyone here has tried to set up a pgp mail account, which is an encryption where you have to teach people this is your public key. The private you keep secret. Anybodys trying to teach this to somebody, it is like a long training. Nowadays, whatsapp, these tools provide the same level of incredible encryption. You do not have to think about it that high school are using it. You do not have to think about it. Kids in high school are using it. The other point is that at no time is it better to be the owner of the most popular mobile devices among the apple, the android. These companies are investing enormously in security. It remains a major threat factor, but the new, uptodate iphone is incredibly secure. When we are thinking about how to make sure that people are safe, we are spending less time thinking about needing a burner device and a passphrase and you have to install this special tool on your computer. If you just keep your computer and phone uptodate and you use an encrypted messaging servicing signal, you are probably 95 of the way there. There are a group of reporters where the upper thread is so significant that you will need a bit extra but i know competent to say that most reporters confident to say that most reporters doing their job today, it will be difficult to have them if they do the three things i just mentioned. That was the case 20 years ago. We are in a golden age of capability. Do hit remind me later. Update as soon as you can. This is not a safety issue. Go talk to young journalists. The passion they have despite the risk is remarkable. It is remarkable to talk to aspiring journalists and how excited they are to tell stripes. Tell stories. If we can we will be in a really good position. I would add that and ive been atvoa for 20 years my conversation on safety is happening with much greater frequency now than it ever has. That gives me hope. The manner in which our editors are taking this up and being responsive to it, its much more frequent now than it ever has been. That gives me hope so its just having that conversation. It happens now across all six language divisions at voa on some level. It gives me hope. Do you guys see the results of that . I think you were alluding to this earlier but do you see journalism students, young reporters feeling like its ok to bring this up or to say im not comfortable going on that assignment . Not enough. Thats why im saying what im saying. I want to stress that we both agree that our job is to make more journalism. This is to be in the service of people meet being more comfortable to go out and report. I want journalist to recognize that just because you are asking questions about risk doesnt mean your story will get [inaudible] it just means you have to have the conversation and putting in more work but we want the story to get out. I wish that more young people recognize that will not prevent it. The younger journalists that foley is dealing with as part of that boring, longwinded journalist safety as part of our onboarding. We interact there with a lot of really young journalists coming to us as staff and contractors. Most of them are coming tovoa from other news organizations and always i try to make sure its less of me barking at them and more of a twoway conversation. As part of that, you guys are coming to us from other places and have experienced issues with safety and policies and procedures that maybe we dont have at voa, please contribute that to the conversation and they always do. Thats really a very strong point, the younger journalists are interested in this part of the conversation and they are anxious to contribute. In talking to Journalism Schools but also newsrooms, the good sign is the managers created a Meeting Place where the staff could talk about their safety concerns and thats definitely really positive. We also were seeing journalists at different experience levels being quite open about the environment has changed and here are some of the things we are facing we never thought we would have to face before. To the point of the environment changing, i think you are right. There is a change in the way managers are looking at safety in the way journalists are looking at safety and not being afraid to talk about it is a big step forward. Thank you. Yes. Online harassment is becoming increasingly a problem. Should there be a response . From the government, from the state . Should there be legislation about Online Harassment . Interesting question. Probably not a lane i would go down in this environment. I cannot speak for the state department or any other part of the government about whether or not there should be or they have an interest in getting involved in this conversation. My answer is a copout, im sorry. Its just not a lane that is may be for todays conversation. I do think its a good question because i certainly agree with you. Like in the European Union for example, they are really working with social Media Companies and everything to try to make them safer, if you will for people. As a country, we are a little slow to the table on that. We developed all this wonderful all these wonderful platforms. But we are slow to kind of require them to deliver in terms of safety for people, for our children. Bill holstein recently did a book about cyber war about russia and china. It was really frightening that a lot of our freedoms almost make us more vulnerable. We really have to think about protecting ourselves. Its a new age. The cyber war is kind of out there. We are going to be naive if we has a country dont do anything about that. I think its something we need to think about for sure. E we have tond. We are going to get the hook any minute. I want to thank our new Task Force Members and those who cannot join us but thanks. We are looking forward to your guidance. You can see we think our curriculum will be even better with their great advice. I also hope we all keep safe out there. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023]