Journalism After Snowden – Upcoming events and activities
The recent beheadings of journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are a horrific reminder that journalists are still murdered brutally by those seeking power and control.
In the United States, journalism faces less viscerally horrific realities, yet critical and timely questions remain for the future of journalism in an age of big data and surveillance. How can journalists protect their sources in an information age where metadata can reveal sources without a subpoena and where the prosecution of unsanctioned leakers is the highest it has been in years? What should journalists do when the tools they rely on for their news reporting facilitate data collection and surveillance?
We are seeking to address these questions in our yearlong Journalism After Snowden (JAS) initiative at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, in collaboration with the Columbia Journalism Review. Read on to learn how you can get involved and contribute your voice to this important debate.
Attend lectures co-presented by the Tow Center and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School
In partnership with the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, we are hosting a fall lecture series looking at different challenges and opportunities facing journalism.
The first lecture in the series kicked off on Monday, September 29 and featured esteemed lawyer David A. Schulz who lectured on Source Protection: Rescuing a Privilege Under Attack. Schulz discussed the history as well as the current and possible future of the reporter’s privilege – an urgent topic in the wake of US courts’ decisions rejecting journalistic privilege for New York Times reporter James Risen. Watch the archived live-stream recording here.
We will continue the lecture series with events every month this fall. These include:
Investigative Reporting in a Time of Surveillance and Big Data – Steve Coll, Dean & Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Tuesday, October 21, 12-1:30pm, Yale Law School, Room 122, 127 Wall Street, New Haven
Steve Coll, author of seven investigative journalism books and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, will discuss the new environment for journalists and their sources. Register here.
Normalizing Surveillance – Ethan Zuckerman, Director, Center for Civic Media at MIT
Tuesday, November 18, 12-1:30pm, World Room, Columbia University
The default online business model – advertising-supported services and content – has normalized mass surveillance. Does that help explain the mixed public reaction to widespread surveillance by governments? Register here.
Journalism After Snowden – Jill Abramson, former Executive Editor of the New York Times
Tuesday, December 2, 12-1:30pm, Yale Law School, Room 122, 127 Wall Street, New Haven
Abramson will conclude the lecture series with a Journalism After Snowden discussion at Yale University. Click here to reserve your spot.
All lectures are free and open to the public, but you must RSVP to attend. All events will be live streamed to allow for remote participation.
Educate yourself about digital security and source protection
Workshop: Source Protection in the Information Age
Saturday, October 11, 8:30am-5pm, Pulitzer Hall, Columbia University
On October 11, the Tow Center, OpenITP, Mashable and Columbia Law School will host a one-day workshop on the essentials of source protection for journalists in the information age. The workshop will aim to answer practical and theoretical questions facing journalists who wish to implement digital security practices in their workflow.
The morning half of the workshop will feature panels of professional journalists who will discuss how they strategically use technology to both get the story and protect their sources. In the afternoon, attendees will attend small-group trainings on the security tools and methods that make the most sense for their particular publication and coverage area. Click here to register.
National Poll with Pew Research Center
In partnership with Pew, Columbia will conduct a survey of investigative journalists and their use of digital security tools, including what tools journalists use and do not use, how they conduct threat assessments and institutional support they receive.
In 2015, the Tow Center’s Journalism After Snowden program continues.
Book: Journalism After Snowden: The Future of Free Press in the Surveillance State
In fall 2015, Columbia University Press will publish a book of essays on the implication of state surveillance on the practice of journalism. The book titled Journalism After Snowden: The Future of Free Press in the Surveillance State will seek to be the authoritative volume on the topic and will foster intelligent discussion and debate on the major issues raised by the Snowden affair. Confirmed contributors include: Jill Abramson, Julia Angwin, Susan Crawford, Glenn Greenwald, Alan Rusbridger, David Sanger, Clay Shirky, Cass Sunstein, Trevor Timm, and Ethan Zuckerman, among others. Topics explored will include digital security for journalists, new forms of journalistic institutions, the role of the telecom and tech sectors, emerging civic medias, source protection and the future of investigative journalism, among other topics.
Conference: Journalism After Snowden: The Future of Free Press in the Surveillance State
Thursday, February 5, 2015, Newseum, Washington, D.C.
On February 5, 2015, the Tow Center will host a one-day conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., with a particular focus on the future of national security reporting in a surveillance state. Structured around the book of essays, this conference will bring together globally recognized panelists to debate the shifting place of journalism in democratic societies and will reveal fresh findings from Pew Research Center about digital security practices of journalists and the impact of surveillance on journalism.