Medill to host symposium on courageous work of journalists

Free events will be part of school’s celebration of Medal for Courage award

EVANSTON, ILL. -- Medill will welcome journalists from around the world to discuss the challenges they face and the critical importance of their work at a symposium Saturday, April 27. The event will take place at Harris Hall on the Northwestern campus and is free and open to the public. Both breakfast and lunch are provided. 

The “Reporting in a Dangerous World” symposium will feature:  

• 9 a.m. “Protecting a Free Press: Ever-Growing Risks to Journalists Around the World,” led by Medill lecturer Bob Rowley with panelists:  
  • Clayton Weimers of Reporters Without Borders 
  • Lucy Westcott of Committee to Protect Journalists 

• 10:20 a.m. “Forced to Flee: Experiences and Work of Three Displaced Journalists,” with Medill Associate Professor Kalyani Chada in conversation with: 
  • Roberson Alphonse, head of national news at le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s oldest and largest daily newspaper 
  • Zahra Nader, an Afghan journalist and editor-in-chief of Zan Times 
  • Haman Mana, publisher of Le Jour Daily Newspaper in Cameroon 
• Noon: Conversation with Medill Dean Charles Whitaker, Diane Foley, president and founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, and artist Bradley McCallum who has created an exhibit inspired by journalist James Foley, a Medill alumnus. 
• 1:20 p.m. “Harassment, Threats & Violence: Protecting American Journalists under Pressure” including panelists: 
  • Lauren Chooljian, a Medill alumna and a senior reporter and producer for New Hampshire National Public Radio 
  • Art Kane, Las Vegas Review investigations editor 
  • Eric Meyer, former editor and publisher of the Marion (Kansas) County Record
  • Selene San Felice, a reporter for Axios who survived a newsroom shooting 

All of the panelists have faced harassment or threats in their work.  

The symposium will conclude with a visit to Northwestern University Library to view McCallum’s art exhibition “Inescapable Truths: James Foley’s Indelible Legacy.”  

McCallum used Foley’s video footage from the civil wars in Libya and Syria to create oil paintings that further activates with augmented reality, allowing viewers to experience Foley’s presence and the footage that inspired the paintings. 

The symposium marks the 10th anniversary of James Foley’s death at the hands of ISIS extremists.  

Register for the symposium on April 27

On Friday, April 26, Medill will honor the 2023 recipients of the James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism. Medill will welcome winners Julie Turkewitz and Federico Rios of The New York Times to accept their award and discuss their reporting.  

Turkewitz and Rios’ story covered migration through the Darién Gap, a 66-mile stretch of dense jungle across northern Columbia and southern Panama, exposing how political leaders in Columbia were profiting immensely from a massive people-moving enterprise through the jungle.  

The award presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Scott Hall. A reception will follow the program.

Register for the award ceremony on april 26