Foley Foundation to launch a new Journalist Safety Task Force at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmaker event on Monday, Oct. 16

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Diane Foley, founder and president of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation dedicated to press freedoms, representatives from the New York Times and the Voice of America and journalism educators formerly with Marquette and Northwestern will launch a new Journalist Safety Task Force at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmaker event on Monday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. in the Zenger Room. As war rages in the Gaza region and correspondents are working at risk in active war zones, this timely panel on reporting in conflict zones will address journalist safety training. 

Club President Eileen O'Reilly will make preliminary remarks and introduce the panelists.

Speaking at the Newsmaker are:

Ellen Shearer, Board Chair of the Foley Foundation and Emerita Professor, Medill School of Journalism
Eric Phillips, Program Manager, Office of Language Programming at Voice of America
Jason Reich, Vice President of Safety and Security at The New York Times
Tom Durkin, Director of Journalist Education and Safety Training, Foley Foundation and Marquette Center for Peacemaking
Diane Foley, Founder & President, Foley Foundation

Moderating and leading the panel will be academics associated with Marquette University and Northwestern University where Jim Foley attended journalism schools. Foley was brutally murdered by ISIS on August 19, 2014, after 21 months in captivity. He had been covering the Syrian civil war for Global Post and Agence France Presse at the time of his capture. The Foley Foundation advocates for the safe return of all Americans held hostage and provides journalist safety education.

The National Press Club is located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building at 529 14th St., NW, Washington, D.C.

PRESS CONTACT: Cecily Scott Martin for the National Press Club; [email protected]; (202) 662-7525

SOURCE National Press Club