War correspondents today face a significant number of unprecedented challenges. They find it difficult to satisfy even basic needs, including their personal security, while at the same time they face an extremely complex information environment. In addition, the unexpected development of the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought the war correspondent profession once again into the spotlight.
The International and Peace Journalism Lab of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki took the initiative two years ago to create a pioneer training program for professionals and young journalists interested in visiting war zones, which soon proved to be extremely useful in practice for the trainees. Between 29 August – 1 September 2022 International and Peace Journalism laboratory of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Jean Monnet Chair for European Public Diplomacy, in collaboration with number distinguished partners, with the support of the Hellenic Multinational Peace Support Operations Training Center and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Greece and Cyprus, as well as under the framework of the United Nations Academic Impact, with the aim of providing professionals and young students with all the necessary knowledge to face the challenges of the modern war and conflict field.
For the planning of the program, in addition to the specialized experience of those involved, research was conducted in order to record the experiences of war correspondents, as well as the needs and concerns of young people who would be interested in working as war correspondents, so that the result focuses and responds to the real needs of the participants.
The curriculum includes two basic parts, those of theoretical and intensive field training. A number of issues will be discussed:
- Introduction to the Environment
- Law of armed Conflict
- Basic Field and Transportation Safety
- Data Security
- Health, Epidemics and Stress Management
- Admin Basics
For more information about the training, as well as to express interest in participating, visit the program page http://safetyforjournalists.org