Journalists across the world are facing a multitude of challenges across the world, in the form of violence, censorship and a rapidly changing media landscape. As more and more people turn to online spaces to access information and news, journalists are being exposed to a new set of vulnerabilities in the form of hacking, phishing attacks, online harassment and digital monitoring. Digital safety is becoming a crucial component of education for media practitioners and provides an enabling environment for journalists to exercise their free speech. This course will introduce journalists to the digital threats that they potentially face, and digital tools and practices they can adopt to ensure their digital safety.

This resource was published in 2020.

Course Objectives:

1. Introduce media practitioners to emerging technologies and threats that can impact their work;
2. Develop in-depth understanding vulnerabilities of various communication and internet-based tools; and
3. Provide training on safety tools and practices through hands-on exercises.

What will you learn?

1. The threats that journalists across the globe face in online spaces and platforms;
2. Understanding of the tools needed by journalists to protect their own privacy and that of those around them;
3. Become equipped to analyse tools and understand concepts such as encryption, open source software and malware attacks.