Jodie Ginsberg delivers James Cameron Lecture on urgent need to protect journalists

Addressing the audience at the annual James Cameron Lecture at City St George’s, University of London, journalist and campaigner Jodie Ginsberg reflected on her time studying Newspaper Journalism at the University.

“We dreamed a lot of dreams when we were at City. I dreamed of being the Director General of the BBC. A friend of being the Editor of The Sun,” said Jodie, Chief Executive Officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“We knew that over the years many would leave the profession. Some went on to great success in the very careers they envisaged, others took unexpected turns into academia, the civil service, and entertainment. But what none of us could have predicted was how radically the environment would change for the profession itself."

That the kinds of preparations journalists used to undertake to cover war zones would be needed to cover protests in North America. That journalists covering Westminster or the White House would regularly receive death threats. That a journalist in a European Union country might be killed for their investigative reporting.

But that is what has happened. It’s the most dangerous time in recent history to be a journalist. And yet it is also the most important time.

Following a long tradition of distinguished speakers delivering the James Cameron Lecture, an annual memorial lecture commemorating the renowned British foreign correspondent of the same name, Jodie focused her speech on the challenges journalism is facing and why journalists are now in greater peril than at any time in recent history.

In her lecture, Jodie drew on her experience at the CPJ, an independent organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide. The nonprofit defends the right of journalists to report the news safely without fear and, since Jodie joined in 2022, she has advocated for journalists internationally through research, engagement and life-saving support.

Listing just some of the harrowing statistics that shed light on the realities of working in the industry today, Jodie said that a record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide last year – the highest number ever since the CPJ started documenting such data 30 years ago.

She added that for the past three years, more than 300 journalists were in jail at the end of the year, with journalists being subjected to daily online harassment and violent threats.

“If we want to live in anything approaching fair and just societies, ones that uphold rights and freedoms for all – it is essential that we step up to defend a free press – in deeds not just in words,” Jodie told the audience.

On the ways the media is attacked, Jodie pointed to four key methods: smearing, harassing, criminalising and killing.

“Killing journalists is the ultimate form of censorship,” said Jodie. “And no discussion of journalist safety in the current moment can avoid what has been the deadliest assault on journalists since CPJ began. Of the 129 journalists and media workers killed last year, 86 were killed by Israel. The majority of them were Palestinians.”

But the ability to report factual and reliable information is vital, said Jodie, as it helps us to understand our nations, our world and can even save lives.

In the absence of independent, reliable, fact-based media, a vacuum is created. One that is easily filled with lies, half-truths and propaganda.

Jodie explained some of the ways the CPJ is working to prevent these vacuums and said the organisation is dedicated to tackling key cases of impunity, as those responsible for attacks on journalists would otherwise go unpunished. Jodie also spoke of the importance of businesses being held accountable for enabling attacks on journalists.

But what can be done at an individual level? From spending money and investing in local media to lobbying local authorities and governments to support a free press, Jodie urged the audience to advocate for better journalism.

Her advice to journalists themselves was to celebrate the impact of their own work, report facts and explain how they got them. “If we want people to understand the worth of journalism, we must report not just the news, but how and when our reporting has effected change.”

Journalism will always be risky as will defending it. It takes a certain level of defiance – a willingness to speak truth to power, to report things as they are, as we see them, and to place them in context – even, and perhaps especially, when it’s not what people want to hear. Doing it well takes courage and conviction.

50^th Anniversary Prize

At the lecture, the department's 50th Anniversary Prize was awarded to MA Magazine Journalism alumnus Jaheim Karim for his multimedia work on the destruction of Palestinian heritage. Accepting the award at the James Cameron Lecture, he said:

“It feels like a great honour to receive this award. I chose to come to City St George’s as it was such a strong university but, as I’m from Derby, I commuted each day from the Midlands to study here. I’m grateful for the support I received from my lecturers that helped me to produce work that I was proud of, and I appreciate the support I’ve received since graduating.”

Jaheim now works as a freelance journalist with stories published at Hyphen, a leading media platform on Muslim life in the UK and Europe. His recent stories include coverage of how LGBTQ+ people of colour were affected by the Supreme Court’s gender ruling and a feature on Muslim women finding freedom in ‘scream clubs’.