Julie Posetti: Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age



A major new UN study of 121 countries’ legal source protection frameworks has found that they are out of date and need strengthening. It also recommends that ‘acts of journalism’ should be shielded from targeted surveillance and data retention to prevent the exposure of confidential sources.



The study, Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age (UNESCO 2017) was authored by Australian Journalist & researcher Julie Posetti. It includes case studies on practice adaptations within investigative journalism based on interviews with three dozen editors, investigative reporters and legal counsel to media houses, and one on the development of an assessment tool for measuring the effectiveness of legal source protection frameworks globally.



What are the implications of this study’s findings for the future of investigative journalism practice? How should governments, activists, reporters and editors respond? And what can be done to mitigate the risks?



Find out at CryptoAustralia's event for Posetti's study, where she will discuss its recommendations and take your questions.



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About the Speaker



Julie Posetti is an award-winning Australian journalist and academic.



Posetti is the author of a major UNESCO study, Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002480/248054E.pdf), just published in affiliation with WAN-IFRA.



Julie Posetti is the Head of Digital Editorial Capability at Fairfax Media (http://www.fairfaxmedia.com.au/) (publisher of Australia's oldest newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/), and The Age (http://www.theage.com.au/)).



A former editor, presenter and reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (http://www.abc.net.au/), Posetti was based in Paris as Research Fellow and Editor with the World Editors Forum (http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/world-editors-forum) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (http://www.wan-ifra.org/) in 2014/2015.



Previously an Assistant Professor and Lecturer in Journalism at two Australian universities, she is currently a Journalism Fellow at the University of Wollongong (https://www.uow.edu.au/index.html). Posetti has consulted widely to media organisations on the digital transformation of journalism, and delivered extensive social media training. Her primary research interests are source protection and freedom of expression, social journalism, newsroom transformation, and reportage of refugees and asylum seekers.



Follow her on Twitter: @JuliePosetti (https://twitter.com/julieposetti)