New talk: US protests – Reporting From the Outside?

Three journalists from the US and Canada will speak about their experience of covering the protests provoked by the killing of George Floyd.

Facing attacks by police and arrests, an avalanche of false information online, or dealing with the close relevance of a protest to one’s own experience and personal history, Andrea May Sahouri (Des Moines Register, Iowa), Craig Silverman (BuzzFeed News) and Montinique Monroe (photojournalist from Austin, Texas) will share their experience of covering the protests in the US.

The discussion will be hosted by Kofi Smiles, presenter of BBC No Filter, a programme for and by 18-35s on BBC Radio Humberside (Hull).
The CIJ held one of our #CIJLyraMcKee outreach events in Hull earlier in February.

Andrea May Sahouri

Andrea May Sahouri is on the breaking news team at the Des Moines Register covering police, crime, and justice. Andrea was recently arrested and pepper sprayed in Des Moines, Iowa while covering the protests that followed George Floyd’s death.

Craig Silverman

Craig Silverman is an award-winning journalist and author and one of the world's leading experts on online disinformation, fake news, and digital investigations. He is the media editor of BuzzFeed News.

Kofi Smiles

Kofi Smiles is a digital journalist and presenter with the BBC Radio Humberside in the city of Hull. He hosts No Filter, a radio show for and by 18-35s.

Montinique Monroe

Montinique Monroe is a freelance photojournalist based in Austin, Texas, interested in documenting gentrification and displacement, police violence and issues affecting black communities. She discovered her passion for visual storytelling as a student journalist in 2014 while covering the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown who was fatally shot by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. It was in Ferguson that Montinique realized the power of telling a story through images and how crucial it is to relaying news.

Published: 23 Jun 2020

11 July 2020

US Protests and the Role of the Media

Whether it's the storm of false reports and unverified information that appear around protests, the danger faced by reporters on the ground from the police and security forces, or the close relevance of a protest to one's own experience and personal history, these events can be the most complex and difficult to cover.