Covering Crisis: Half-day online workshop

This three-hour workshop for Columbia J School students, run by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, will introduce you to the basics of safe reporting: strategizing ahead to avoid the worst-case scenario. Whether you face a pandemic, war or digital harassment, the principles are the same: think through the dangers beforehand and devise plans to mitigate them.

We will walk through risk assessment and communication forms and practice this skill in problem-solving teams. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions specific to upcoming assignments or scenarios. The final part of the workshop will offer practical advice on covering street unrest, which we anticipate will be on the rise around the world in the Covid-19 aftermath.

Instructor: Judith Matloff, Senior Advisor, Safety Trainer, Dart Center, Columbia Journalism School

Please note that this workshop is open exclusively to current Columbia Journalism School students, by invitation only.

Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She has been writing about international affairs for 30 years. After receiving a BA from Harvard, she worked as a staff correspondent for Reuters and the Christian Science Monitor on various continents before breaking out as an independent magazine writer. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Economist and Financial Times among others.

Matloff’s writing about troubled regions has been supported by various organizations including the MacArthur Foundation, the Fulbright Scholar Program and Hoover Institution. She belongs to PEN and has pioneered safety training for journalists around the world, consulting for a wide range of international media groups.