2025 Editor Safety Cohort Programs in Europe and USA: Call for applications!

Editors and newsroom managers in Europe and the USA are encouraged to apply for new Editor Safety Cohorts taking place in June.

Editors and newsroom managers have a critical role to play in journalist safety but are often overlooked when it comes to training. This cohort program gives editors the tools to implement the Freelance Journalist Safety Principles within their working practices and the confidence to foster a culture of safety within their newsrooms.

The Editor Safety Cohort model provides a supportive and collegiate environment for in-depth learning and discussion tailored to individual needs.

Each cohort will bring together small groups of editors for weekly webinars focused on different stages of The Fundamentals of Safe Commissioning training course, allowing them to dive deeper into course modules, receive structured feedback and converse with peers. In addition, each participant will receive a personalized, one-to-one coaching session to help them take forward their learning and apply it to their own circumstances. Editors who work with staff, freelancers or both will find the cohort useful and relevant.

The Europe cohort will be led by Sally Fitton, Director of TV and Film projects at Secret Compass and a former High Risk Advisor at the BBC. Editorial Safety Consultant Mike Christie, former General Manager at Reuters, will lead the USA cohort.

The deadline for applications for both programs is Thursday 8 May.

Timetable:

Both the Europe and USA Cohort Program webinars will run weekly for 90 mins on the following Wednesdays:

4 June
11 June
18 June
25 June

The Europe Cohort will take place at 13:00hrs BST / 14:00hrs CET
The USA Cohort will take place at 12:00hrs ET / 11:00hrs CT / 10:00hrs MT / 09:00hrs PT

Participants will also need to make time to complete the required stages of The Fundamentals of Safe Commissioning online course and attend a 60 minute individual coaching session at the end of the program (date and time to be arranged). All Sessions will take place remotely on Zoom and will be conducted in English.

Course Leaders

Europe Cohort: Sally Fitton is Director of TV and Film projects at Secret Compass, where she provides safety, security and risk management advice and support across a wide range of media ranging from newsgathering, drama and reality TV to natural history documentaries. Previously, Sally was High Risk Advisor for Current Affairs and World Service at the BBC and has as a deep background in crisis and disaster management. At the BBC she designed and delivered its ‘Managing High Risk Deployments’ course for senior editorial staff.

USA Cohort:

Mike Christie is an experienced communicator, crisis manager and global team leader who has covered or led multimedia news coverage of some of the biggest global stories of the past 30 years, including the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina. As General Manager at Reuters he revolutionized the organization's culture of safety and helped turn it into an industry leader in the management of the emotional and mental welfare of journalists. He also designed and ran journalist safety courses for up to 700 journalists a year.