EVENT: Democracy under fire: Freedom of Media in Guinea – Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Alliance Guinea, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Columbia University’s Graduate School of  Journalism present:

Democracy Under Fire: Freedom of Media in Guinea

When: Wednesday, May 12, 7-9pm
Where: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Stabile Student Center

Moderator: Milton Allimadi, Publisher & CEO, Black Star News

Featured Speaker: Nassirou Diallo, Le 4ème Pouvoir

Panelists:

Josh Friedman, Head of international programs, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and board member, Committee to Protect Journalists

Alice Backer, Former Global Voices Online editor responsible for African blogs, new media communications consultant

On September 28, 2009, the military of the West African country of Guinea stormed a stadium filled with tens of thousands of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators and opened fire. In the end over 150 people were killed, 1700 wounded and more than 100 women and girls brutally raped in what a Human Rights Watch and a UN Commission of Inquiry have deemed crimes against humanity.

Journalist Nassirou Diallo was there – covering the events live on the radio before the station owner cut the signal. It wasn’t the first time his reporting and political talk shows had put him in danger and the previous threats, arrests, and beatings he and other journalists in Guinea had received from soldiers told him that this last eye witness report would not be tolerated. He left Guinea that night and is now a journalist in exile living in New York City, using new media to continue his work in the run-up to the Guinean elections now scheduled for June 27. If held they will be the first democratic presidential elections in the country’s history.

Join this discussion with a journalist and panel on the frontlines addressing questions of the freedom of media in times of political and social turmoil and the situation in Guinea in particular, the nexus of journalism and activism, and the role of new media in opening the space for expression across borders and diasporas.

Presented in partnership with the Guinean Forces Vives in the USA and Columbia University’s African Studies Working Group

For Black Star News’ feature on Nassirou Diallo, “Guinea Frontline Reporter,” see here.

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