
Fires, hurricanes, tornados and floods, oh my! That’s just the start of the list of safety issues journalists are facing in 2019. This panel will look at how you can keep safe from natural or unnatural disasters, whether you are covering a political rally, mass shooting or a firestorm.
Panelists: Maria Salazar Ferro, Sean Taylor
MARIA SALAZAR FERRO became director of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Emergencies Department in October 2016. She oversees CPJ’s assistance and safety work worldwide. In 2018, she was elected president of the board of the ACOS (A Culture of Safety) Alliance, a coalition formed in 2015 that improves protections for freelance journalists. Salazar Ferro joined CPJ in 2005, and has served as coordinator for the Journalist Assistance Program and the Global Campaign Against Impunity, and as senior research associate for the Americas program. Salazar Ferro has spearheaded international coalitions to support journalists in distress in East Africa and in Syria. She has written about exiled, missing and murdered journalists. She has represented CPJ on missions to Mexico, Kenya, Turkey and the Philippines, among others, and served on the IFEX council from 2011 to 2013. Prior to joining CPJ, Salazar Ferro worked as a researcher for the United Nations Fund for Population Aid and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and as an associate reporter for Inter-Press Services in New York.
SEAN F. TAYLOR joined the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California local as the executive director in fall 2016. Prior to leading the San Francisco-Northern California SAG-AFTRA local, Taylor served as the assistant executive director/central regional director at Actors’ Equity Association from 2013 to 2016 representing actors and stage managers. Beginning in 2004, Taylor was house counsel for AFTRA in Chicago. In 2005, Taylor was promoted to assistant executive director/house counsel for the New York local and remained in the role for SAG-AFTRA following the 2012 union merger. During his tenure, he served as lead negotiator in numerous broadcast collective bargaining agreements for Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He also served as senior counsel for the Chicago Park District, where he negotiated several union collective bargaining agreements.
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