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.

In this panel we hear from journalists fresh from struggling with exactly these issues. Montinique Monroe is a photojournalist for whom the protests she’s been covering have an acute personal relevance. Racism and police brutality have tragically been a fixture of her life, including the death of her father at the hands of a white policeman.

Andrea May Sahouri has been on the frontlines of reporting the protests in Iowa for the Des Moines Register, and was both pepper-sprayed and arrested for doing her job.

Craig Silverman is one of the foremost experts on verification and fact-checking. His workload has been increasing exponentially in the Trump era, but spiked even further during the recent protests.

The discussion is hosted by Kofi Smiles, a presenter of BBC No Filter, a programme for and by 18-35 year-olds on BBC Radio Humberside.

You can now watch all #CIJSummer 2020 Talks on replay on our YouTube channel