Wole Soyinka Centre to host media lecture spotlighting global surveillance, threats to journalists
The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) will on Sunday, July 13 host the 17th annual Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture, focusing on the growing threats of surveillance and attacks on journalists worldwide.
The event, themed “Surveillance, Safety and the Silencing of Truth”, aims to spotlight how advanced surveillance technologies and institutional harassment are endangering journalists and restricting press freedoms, thereby undermining democracy and the public’s right to information.
Scheduled for 5:00 pm West Africa Time on Zoom, the lecture will feature Angela Quintal, regional director for Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as keynote speaker. She will be joined by panellists Quinn McKew, executive director of ARTICLE 19; Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ); and Sonja Smith, correspondent for the Associated Press. The session will be moderated by Jimeh Saleh, former editor for the BBC/MacArthur Foundation Series.
Motunrayo Alaka, Executive Director and CEO of WSCIJ, said the increasing use of surveillance, intimidation and attacks on journalists is shaping how media is practiced in many countries.
She emphasised that “these threats deserve more attention in global conversations about democracy and civic space”.
Alaka explained that the lecture 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.
The Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series has been held every 13 July since 2009 to commemorate the birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and grand patron of the Centre.
According to Alaka, the annual event “engages the most pressing issues facing journalism and democracy today” and through its lectures and interventions has consistently played a vital role in strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
