'Reporting Safely in Crisis Zones' Course: October 19-22, 2023
2950 Broadway
New York, NY, 10027, United States

- Risk assessment: making the right decisions before and during an assignment, setting limits, sound practices amid riots, snipers, mines, shooting, roadblocks, infiltrators and general mayhem.
- Digital Security: safeguarding sensitive computer data and communicating with others in a secure manner. Coding, encryption and cloud computing skills are taught.
- Emergency first aid: tourniquets, triage, fractures and bullet wounds.
- Trauma awareness: emotional self-care while covering troubling stories.
- Rape/sexual assault prevention: setting boundaries, delaying tactics, basic self-defense and healing.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
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TRAINER BIOS

Karen Chasen is Vice President of Prepare, Inc., an educational services company that offers comprehensive violence prevention programs and evidence-based programs for personal safety, communication skills and self-defense. All Prepare, Inc programs are part of a larger movement to create social change, prevent abuse, and support healing. She is a certified IMPACT Instructor, has completed a year-long certificate program at the International Trauma Studies Center at New York University (now at Columbia University), and is a certified Project Alert instructor and a certified LifeSkills instructor (adolescent substance abuse prevention). Chasen has edited two award-winning books on personal safety, is the co-author of the IMPACT Personal Safety Workbook, and has written numerous articles on safety and empowerment. She is a frequent lecturer on personal safety for major corporations as well as prestigious universities. She created Prepare Leadership Seminars for 3 Executives — a curriculum for enhancement of personal and professional leadership and communication skills. She served on the Board of Directors for the Family Business Foundation where she developed and coordinated programs and conferences designed to build and preserve businesses and family relationships.

Harlo Holmes is Director of Newsroom Digital Security at Freedom of the Press Foundation, dedicated to helping support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government. It also works to preserve and strengthen the rights guaranteed to the press under the First Amendment through crowdfunding, digital security and internet advocacy. Holmes strives to help individual journalists in various media organizations become confident and effective in securing their communications within their newsrooms, with their sources, and with the public at large. She is a media scholar, software programmer, and activist; and contributes regularly to the open source mobile security collective The Guardian Project.

Christopher Tedeschi, MD, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Tedeschi serves at the Director of Disaster Preparedness. Dr. Tedeschi is a board-certified attending physician in emergency medicine and practices at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Tedeschi sits on the editorial board of the Journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. He has worked in disaster preparedness and response locally and internationally, with an interest in media coverage and ethical, legal and social issues during public health emergencies.
COURSE TESTIMONIALS
It was such a joy to attend the class. The course was incredibly informative and helpful. It is things like your course that make me proud to be a journalist and hopeful for the industry. It will make the next generation safer, wiser and more informed.
– Andrew Burton, photographer and filmmaker
I used to operate with a mindset that either one of two things would happen to me: 1. Nothing, and hence I'd be fine; or 2. Something bad, and hence I'd probably die. Now, thanks to [the medical instruction], I realize there's a third option: Something could happen to me and I could survive, simply due to being more prepared and having some basic training. And that's a great feeling.
– Joshua Hergesheimer, independent writer and photographer
I appreciated Judith's candor, support and words of guidance over the four days we spent together. Too often people tell me, "You can't go there, you can't do that story," and it was refreshing to meet someone and receive instruction from a group of people who, instead, said, "Look I know you're going to go there, so here's how you do so safely." Working as a journalist in Myanmar, I use a lot of the techniques taught in the course on a regular basis. Information and cyber security, surveillance awareness, and pre-trip planning have become a vital part of my safety plan and ability to keep working here. The course also covered issues that women journalists are at higher risk of encountering, such as assault and rape. I find myself thinking back to the skills I was taught and feeling confident in the fact that I am better equipped to protect myself.
– Victoria Milko, multimedia journalist and writer
This was the most informative four days of my life and put my previous trainings and degrees to shame. It has really motivated me to stay active and pursue a successful career in journalism.
– Venetia Menzies, journalist and photographer
Please email any questions to [email protected]