‘Journalism Under Siege’ course features prominent members of the media

Journalism is an essential part of providing information in free societies. But journalists and their ability to serve the public is under constant threat of being silenced. How do journalists do their jobs in the face of danger, and what happens when they can’t fill that role?

JSK partnered with Stanford’s Continuing Studies program to create a series of panels to address these questions along with other outstanding issues facing journalists and freedom of the press worldwide.

Dawn Garcia, director of the JSK Journalism Fellowships, and Michael Bolden, managing director of JSK communications, hosted nearly 30 guest speakers throughout the five-week course. Guests included prominent journalists, editors, publishers, and critics — some of whom included JSK alumni and current fellows.

The course was divided into five sections, four of which are the underlying themes of the JSK Fellowships. All of the sessions are now available to watch online.

• Week 1 –  First Draft of History: How a Free Press Protects Freedom; Part One, Part Two.
• Week 2 –  Power to the People: Holding the Powerful Accountable; Part One, Part Two.
• Week 3 – Picking Sides? How Journalists Cover Bias, Intolerance and Injustice; Part One, Part Two.
• Week 4 – The Last Stand of Local News; Part One, Part Two.
• Week 5 – The Misinformation Society; Part One, Part Two.

The speakers included:

• Hannah Allam, then-national reporter, BuzzFeed News.
• Roman Anin, JSK Class of 2019 and investigations editor, Novaya Gazeta, Moscow.
• Hugo Balta, president, National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
• Sally Buzbee, executive editor, The Associated Press (AP).
• Neil Chase, then-executive editor, San Jose Mercury News.
• Jenée Desmond-Harris, JSK Class of 2016 and staff editor, NYT Opinion, New York Times.
• Jiquanda Johnson, founder and publisher, Flint Beat.
• Joel Konopo, JSK Class of 2019 and managing partner, INK Centre for Investigative Journalism, Gaborone, Botswana.
• Richard Lui, anchor, MSNBC and NBC News.
• Geraldine Moriba, JSK Class of 2019 and former vice president for diversity and inclusion, CNN.
• Bryan Pollard, president, Native American Journalists Association.
• Cécile Prieur, JSK Class of 2019 and deputy editor, Le Monde, Paris.
• Joel Simon, executive director, Committee to Protect Journalists.
• Alex Stamos, former Facebook chief security officer.
• Marina Walker Guevara, JSK Class of 2019 and deputy director of the International Consortium of Journalists.