WASHINGTON, DC — The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation announced today (Oct. 16, 2023) the creation of its Journalist Safety Curriculum Task Force composed of media industry security experts, academics teaching journalist safety courses and other experts to advise the foundation in support of its journalist safety education curriculum for college and university journalism schools.
Diane Foley, founder and the mother of James Foley who was killed by ISIS following a lengthy captivity, made the announcement at a National Press Club Newsmaker event featuring task force members Eric Phillips and Jason Reich, JWFLF Education Program Director Tom Durkin and Board Chair Ellen Shearer.
The JWFLF Journalist Safety Curriculum Task Force advisers are:
- Kathleen McElroy, Professor and Frank A. Bennack Chair in Journalism at the Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin;
- Eric Phillips, Program Manager, Office of Language Programming at Voice of America;
- Nathan Puffer, Senior Vice President, Risk and Resilience at Dow Jones;
- Jason Reich, Vice President of Safety and Security at The New York Times;
- Hannah Storm, Founder and Co-director of Headlines Network, and former Director of the International News Safety Institute.
“The goal of our new task force is to ensure that the Foley Foundation’s journalist safety curriculum for undergraduate and graduate journalism students keeps pace with the changing risks and challenges facing journalists, both internationally and within the United States,” Foley said. “The expertise represented by the members of the task force will greatly enhance our curriculum.”
“We want to better prepare both aspiring journalists and new journalists to report on stories while understanding potential safety issues so they can minimize the risks they face,” Foley said.
The curriculum is available at no cost at https://jamesfoleyfoundation.org/journalist-safety
“The world is constantly changing with new conflicts arising frequently,” Phillips said. “One thing that will never change is that journalists will always want to be on the front line, whether it’s in Ukraine or Israel or elsewhere. It is our responsibility to ensure that they are properly educated and trained to work Reich said, “At a time when security is increasingly vital to effective reporting, I’m honored to take part in this group effort to help overcome common challenges faced across the profession.”
