Student Journalist Safety with the Foley Foundation

By Clare Sherman —

The Center for Community News at the University of Vermont recently hosted a Zoom discussion focused on student journalist safety. Dr. Lauren Walsh and Dr. Thomas Durkin, two experts on this topic from the Foley Foundation, led the event with practices in teaching student safety, before participating in conversation with the audience. 

Meg Little Reilly, Managing Director of The Center for Community News and the event facilitator, opened the Zoom call with an explanation of the organization’s mission. Among other things, the Center supports college reporting programs by hosting events that bring involved educators and experts together. Previous to today’s event, their event on Artificial Intelligence was a big hit.

After Reilly gave the floor to the guest speakers, Dr. Durkin spoke about the Foley Foundation. A freelance war correspondent, Jim Foley was kidnapped and killed in Syria in 2012. Dr. Durkin, who was friends with Jim Foley in college, has been with the Foundation dedicated to Jim Foley since its origin, when it resolved to build safety training within journalist education. One of the foundation’s current initiatives, led by Dr. Walsh, is a safety toolkit aimed at student reporters, freelancers, and underdeveloped newsrooms. Throughout the event, Dr. Walsh shared information from the toolkit in the form of a slideshow.

To start off, Dr. Walsh spoke about the hardships journalists face in today’s world. In 2025, there were 170 verified assaults on reporters in the US, and 32 reporters were arrested. Because of the risks associated with their profession, over 90% of journalists reported feeling stressed and overwhelmed when working. The Foley Foundation aims to offer strategies that help mitigate the industry-wide burnout by educating young journalists regarding how to prioritize their physical, psychological, and emotional health. 

Risk assessments were stressed as crucial to getting young journalists into the habit of promoting their safety above their success. Before reporting at an event, one discusses with his or her editor the potential risks associated with various categories: emotional, legal, reputational, financial, digital, and physical. A similar technique involves asking what, who, why, where, and when questions, such as “What’s my plan B for getting out?” or “Who are my potential subjects?”

Following pre-event safety strategies, Dr. Walsh described ideal safety practices to use during and after events. Situational awareness and quick risk response must be turned on. Dr. Durkin recommended taking 30 seconds when arriving at every event to simply listen to what’s going on and gauge surroundings. After an event is over, journalists should debrief and reflect, as well as keep a balanced routine, with energy equally split between work, social life, and leisure, to prevent burnout. 

Meg Little Reilly opened up the conversation with participants following Dr. Walsh’s presentation. With many of the audience members being educators for college reporting programs, there was an understanding of the risks posed to student journalists by the various protests around the country. One person asked for guidance on how to navigate her university’s discouragement of student reporting due to liability issues. Understanding both the importance of student safety and the need for student journalism, Dr. Walsh reiterated the necessity of equipping students with safety knowledge, so that they can make informed decisions. Additionally, she recommended scenario practices inside the classroom and buddy systems during events. 

Another relevant question came from an educator who wondered how she could specifically promote the safety of her female students. For this, Dr. Walsh suggested stressing the importance of highly individual risk assessments. After all, female journalists will have much different risk assessments than male journalists. Dr. Durkin pointed out that part of ensuring such safety includes creating an environment where journalists can speak up without shame. A young female journalist he knew went along with covering an unsafe solo event, because she was afraid to back out of it. 

At the event’s end, the group felt empowered to advocate for student journalist safety, embracing the Foley Foundation’s insistence that safety must be woven into journalist education itself, not treated as a secondary add on. To learn more about the Foley Foundation, click here, and to find out more about The Center For Community News, click here.