Journalists in peril: Creating a safer, equitable future together

On-camera arrests. Physical assaults in the field. Verbal attacks and threats online. And an ongoing health crisis that has communities struggling in response. 

Safety for journalists has taken on a renewed sense of importance as newsrooms grapple with the convergence of hostility toward those in the field and systemic racism that pervades even the most revered journalistic institutions. It seems journalists have more reason than ever to be allies for each other as the industry confronts itself while serving conflicted communities. 

This program will be moderated by Jill Geisler, who will join Alex Marquardt, Sarah Matthews, Abby Phillip, and Michael Santiago to discuss “Journalists in peril: Creating a safer, equitable future together,” drawing on their experiences at CNN, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and their knowledge of journalism, allyship and equity. 

Registration is open for this program, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. 

This conversation will help journalists and the public understand: 

• The challenges journalists face in the field, with insights from covering protests, Pittsburgh and the White House 
• How to protect yourself and each other in the face of challenges, both short-term and long-term 
• What allyship and equity look like in relationships between reporters & teams 

About the panelists:

Alex Marquardt is an award-winning senior national security correspondent based in CNN’s Washington bureau, focusing on national security issues. Since rejoining the network in May 2017, he has helped lead the network’s domestic and international breaking news coverage on a wide range of stories, in DC and beyond. Alex spent most of the past decade as a foreign correspondent for ABC News based in Moscow, Jerusalem, Beirut and London. Alex has won Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Sarah Matthews is a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, where she provides intake support to First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund, litigates cases, drafts amicus briefs, provides pre-publication assistance to journalists, and oversees the publication of and updates to the Reporters Committee’s legal guides. She also helps supervise the Reporters Committee’s hotline for journalists. In addition, Sarah teaches media law at American University’s School of Communication.

Abby Phillip is a CNN political correspondent covering the 2020 presidential election. While she reports live from the campaign trail, including when she moderated CNN’s Democratic Presidential Debate in Iowa, she is based in Washington, D.C. She joined the network in 2017 and served as White House Correspondent through 2019. Abby joined CNN from The Washington Post where she most recently served as a national political reporter, covering the White House. Before joining the Washington Post, Phillip was a digital reporter for politics at ABC News. She has also covered the Obama White House for POLITICO as well as campaign finance and lobbying. 

Michael M. Santiago is a staff news photojournalist with Getty Images. Michael recently left the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he was a member of the team that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for coverage of the shooting deaths of 11 people and the wounding of seven others on Oct. 27 at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He received his B.F.A. at San Francisco Art Institute and a Master’s of Science degree from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. 

About the moderator:

Jill Geisler is the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and the Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership. Jill is an internationally recognized expert in leadership and management and the author of “Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know.” Jill’s first career was in broadcast, where she became one of the country’s first female TV news directors at WITI-TV in Milwaukee. After 25 years on the front lines of news management, she joined the Poynter Institute, where she guided its leadership and management programs for 16 years.

About NPCJI’s programs:

The National Press Club Journalism Institute has added weekly programming, a daily newsletter, a daily writing group, and other support for journalists since March, and has waived fees for everything due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you value what you’ve been learning from the Institute during this time, please consider a donation of $5, $10, or whatever you can contribute.