The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is set to convene leading media voices across the globe for its 17th annual media lecture series to examine how surveillance and safety threats are silencing truth in society.
Scheduled for Sunday, 13 July, by 5:00 pm (WAT) via Zoom, the lecture will feature the regional director for Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Angela Quintal as keynote speaker.
Other panelists include the executive director of ARTICLE 19, Quinn McKew; the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Fisayo Soyombo, and the Associated Press correspondent, Sonja Smith.
With the theme ‘Surveillance, safety and the silencing of truth’, the event, which will be moderated by Jimeh Saleh, former editor of the BBC/MacArthur Foundation Series, is expected to draw journalists, editors, media owners, government representatives, diplomats, civil society actors, donors, and other stakeholders into a crucial conversation on press freedom and safety in Africa.
According to data, 1,952 were killed globally between 1995 and 2024, while several others were subjected to imprisonment, intimidation, attacks and silencing that threaten the representation of truth and the public’s right to know.
The annual report of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), described the year 2024 as a particularly deadly year for journalists and media professionals, indicating that as of 10 December 2024, 104 journalists had been killed worldwide.
17th Wole Soyinka Annual Lecture Series
Held every 13 July since 2009, the Wole Soyinka Centre’s annual lecture series seeks to interrogate the media’s role in shaping democracy, accountability and public discourse. The centre has through its lectures and various interventions, consistently played a vital role in strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
The Executive Director/CEO of the Centre, Motunrayo Alaka in a statement explained that the lecture commemorates the birthday of Wole Soyinka, a professor, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in literature and grand patron of the centre.
According to her, surveillance, intimidation and attacks on journalists are increasingly shaping how media is practiced in many countries. “These threats deserve more attention in global conversations about democracy and civic space.”
This year’s lecture, she said, will interrogate how sophisticated surveillance technologies, institutionalised harassment and shrinking press freedoms are undermining the safety of journalists and the public’s right to know.
She urged stakeholders across media, government, and other sectors to support, amplify and mobilise people in their networks to commemorate the event.
Global threat to investigative journalists
While journalism remains an honourable profession, some aspects of the practice expose practitioners to risks that may account for life and loss of identity.
A report in 2022 showed that 75 per cent of murdered journalists were killed outside their workstations. This indicates a threat to life in the profession, raising concerns over the safety of the practitioners across the globe amid security and political challenges.
The WSCIJ’s journalism and civic space status report revealed that 70 per cent of recorded attacks on journalists are perpetrated by politicians and police officers. It also indicated that 90 per cent of all recorded attacks on journalists occurred while they were discharging their professional duties.
According to Mrs Alaka, the data reflects the entrenched complicity of state actors in suppressing press freedom.
As investigative journalists face greater exposure to risks in the course of their work, renowned investigative journalist and founder of the FIJ, Mr Soyombo called for more proactive measures to protect them against intimidation, attacks, harassment and other forms of threats to journalism globally.
“When you try to hold people to account, they think you are against them. So, we do not have the same agenda, you want to steal, I want to expose your stealing, so, we cannot agree,” Mr Soyombo said during the June 12 Democracy Day celebration.