Beyond the Borders

How Foreign Correspondents Navigate an Increasingly Hostile World

As a free press comes under attack in countries as diverse as Russia, Myanmar, Iran and the United States, journalists working abroad encounter mounting threats to their personal safety and the ability to do their jobs. Authoritarian leaders embrace censorship and assert state control of information to ensure that their version of events goes unchallenged. Journalists who expose government crimes against their own people can end up in prison, as have two Reuters journalists in Myanmar, or dead, as has happened in recent years in Slovakia, Malta, Turkey, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Russia. In the past decade, a total of more than 1,068 journalists have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Even in the United States, where freedom of the press is enshrined in the First Amendment, demonization of independent media by politicians has exposed reporters to physical attacks and retaliation. And in a world rife with war and terrorism, the age-old dangers of bombs and bullets still make the work of foreign reporting a perilous endeavor.

Veteran foreign correspondents, Sara Jamshidi and Carol J. Williams, will discuss the risks and hostility they have encountered reporting from Iran, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the United States. They will outline their strategies for reporting in environments hostile to independent journalism, recount the recent setbacks and constraints for journalists working abroad. The discussion will be moderated by Melissa Hellmann and include time for questions from the audience

Melissa Hellmann is an award-winning reporter who covers politics, law, health, education, and
social issues throughout the U.S. and China. A graduate of UC Berkeley, she writes for Seattle Weekly and has contributed to YES! Magazine, The Associated Press, TIME, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR among others.
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Carol J. Williams UW ‘77, has reported from more than 80 countries for the Associated Press (1980-1990) and the Los Angeles Times (1990-2015). She served two postings in Moscow before and after the Soviet Union’s breakup and covered armed conflicts in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq and Ukraine.

Sara S. Jamshidi is an American-Iranian journalist and entrepreneur. Sara is the founder of Goltune News, a media outlet focusing on modest fashion via peace journalism. Sara has worked in every aspect of print and broadcast media in the U.S. and Iran and supervises overseas journalists for Goltune.

$10 General
$8 Folio Members
$5 Student
Complimentary wine reception
rsvp@folioseattle.org