Reporting on Conflict, a Two-day Conference at CEJ-IBA Starts Saturday

The Centre of Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration (CEJ-IBA) will be hosting a two-day conference on ‘Extreme Reporting: Conflict and Peace in the Digital Age’ on June 25th and 26th.

There will be seven panels spread over two days where industry experts will talk about media laws and regulations, reporting from conflict zones and the need for journalism among other topics.

This conference is a part of the Peace Journalism program, held by the CEJ in collaboration with US Consulate Karachi, which began in May 2021 and will conclude this month.

The program included online workshops on peace and conflict reporting, mobile journalism, data journalism, social media & photojournalism. The program also offered a mentorship with senior journalists.

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Talking about the program, CEJ-IBA Director Amber Rahim Shamsi said: “Conflict has traditionally fueled journalism, but social media has turbo-charged political polarization, and disinformation and misinformation.

The CEJ-IBA is honored to host leading journalists, political figures, creators from film and music, budding satirists and commentators on the pressing issues plaguing the media industry in the digital age, and to celebrate the young journalists from across Pakistan who participated in the CEJ-IBA’s peace journalism workshops.”

IBA’s Executive Director, Professor Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi said that he was delighted to be part of this conference which brings together Pakistan’s best and bravest journalists talking peace and about the challenges they face in an age of growing conflict, from those related to control and regulations, to outright intimidation and threats.

For the last eight years CEJ-IBA has been training and facilitating journalists’ networks to improve the quality of conflict and peace reporting. Over 2,000 journalists across Pakistan have published articles and stories with the combination of knowledge and skills imparted through these workshops.

The CEJ-IBA is celebrating the work of the journalists who participated in these trainings through a conference acknowledging the progress these individuals made, as well as collectively as an industry reflecting on the threats to responsible journalism in the digital age.

About the program

The year-long program has provided training and mentorship to 63 journalists from all over Pakistan. Theoretical, technical and optional trainings were conducted by journalists, editorial consultants, documentary filmmakers, editors and photojournalists including: Beena Sarwar, VOA Bureau Chief for Afghanistan & Pakistan, Ayesha Tanzeem, Shahzad Sharjeel, Hina Ali and Independent Urdu’s Social Media Editor Saqib Tanveer, Shahzeb Ahmed Hashim, Director of the Pakistan Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center Uzair Younus, VICE World News South Asia Editor Sahar Habib Ghazi, Founder and CEO of The Centrum Media (TCM) Talha Ahad, US-based photojournalist Sally Ryan, and Khaula Jamil. The participants of this program were mentored by senior journalists Shahzad Sharjeel, Lok Sujag’s Badar Alam, Beena Sarwar and Ayesha Tanzeem. Under the guidance of these mentors, the participants worked on their stories which were published on different media outlets and platforms.