Fifty five ACOS & IFEX stakeholders, including Agence France Presse, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Google, Microsoft, WPP, The Government of Norway and The Safety of Journalists Coalition, have pledged concrete actions to advance the safety and protection of journalists ahead of this week’s Summit For Democracy 2023. Their commitments are detailed in a findings report released by The Media Freedom Cohort, which outlines a global roadmap for the protection of media freedom worldwide.
The commitments come in response to a call for action from The ACOS Alliance, IFEX and the German government who are co-leading the cohort’s working group dedicated to protecting journalists’ safety and security. Stakeholders were invited to commit to concrete, actionable initiatives that address the wide-ranging, complex safety challenges facing journalists, with a focus on physical, digital, legal and psychological dimensions, and identity and profile considerations.
The pledges made by news organizations speak to culture change with commitments that acknowledge the need for a holistic approach to safety and a commitment to sharing knowledge and intelligence among peers. Other pledges reveal the unique roles that tech companies, governments and civil society organizations can all play in the safety and protection of journalists and the need for a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach that strives for impactful, long-term solutions.
The Media Freedom Cohort Findings Report details all of the commitments in full, including metrics and projected timelines, plus those made in their other priority areas: advancing freedom of expression and bolstering independent and diverse media.
See IFEX’s article on the report here.
