WHO WE ARE
Founded in 2018, the Center for Media at Risk is devoted to fostering free and critical media practice and scholarship. Housed in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, the Center has become a robust platform for media practitioners of all sorts to share their experiences and strategies for resilience. At the Center, these real-world insights are combined with advanced research initiatives that systematically interrogate threats to media freedom. The Center’s collaborations with media advocacy groups amplify our impact, enabling us to challenge threats to media freedom wherever they emerge.
Led by director Barbie Zelizer, the Center for Media at Risk brings together a diverse group of practitioners and scholars who work closely with our advanced doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows to interrogate the threats facing media practitioners and media practice today. Working across institutions and disciplines, the Center is laser-focused on defending media freedom wherever it is threatened. Since its inception, the Center has been home to courageous scholars and practitioners seeking to defend media freedom, from exiled journalists to indie filmmakers to Tech industry disruptors.
Together, the Center’s practitioners and scholars develop research and programming that tackles emerging and persistent threats to media freedom. The Center’s publicly accessible research probes under-examined areas of risk and highlights their patterning worldwide. Bringing together media industry leaders, scholars, local media makers and interested community members, the Center’s public lectures, symposia, exhibits, workshops and colloquia provide ongoing and in-depth discussions of media practices and practitioners at risk.
HOW WE WORK
The Center for Media at Risk is run by a Steering Committee made up of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, visiting media practitioners, visiting media scholars and staff. The Steering Committee is a generative community that supports doctoral students in blending media practice and scholarship, producing publicly accessible research and engaging beyond the Academy to chart the patterning of risk, threat and intimidation. The Center also benefits from the expertise of Alumni affiliates and affiliate organizations who form a collaborative network advancing critical inquiry into media freedom.
ENGAGE WITH US
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Explore our archive of research studies, reviews, infographics and reflections.
Listen to our podcast series on key issues shaping media freedom.
Participate in our dynamic program of public events to learn from journalists, filmmakers and other media makers about the threats they face in the field.
Connect with scholars at the cutting edge of research on media and risk.