On October 28, JHR President Rachel Pulfer joined a roundtable on transnational repression of women journalists, hosted by the Coalition for Women in Journalism and the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Pulfer shared insights from Journalists for Human Rights’ work to support journalists in exile, emphasizing the need to help them continue reporting on their communities and combat the chilling effect that targeting journalists can create in their home countries.
Pulfer highlighted the impact of the JHR-Meta Fellowships, a program that provides newly arrived Afghan journalists with paid, year-long placements in Canadian newsrooms such as The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, and Global News. “Many do not have the industry connections to find relevant work,” she explained. “One fellow, Soraya Amiri, spent a year at The Walrus and continues to write for them. Her first story for the magazine was nominated for a digital publishing award in 2024. About 50% of the fellows have found permanent work.”
She also shared a compelling success story from JHR’s work with Syrian diaspora journalists in Turkey. “Consider the case of Reem Haleb, a journalist who fled Aleppo after being shot for covering a protest in 2011,” Pulfer said. “In Turkey, she faced hostility both as a Syrian refugee and as a woman leader in media. Yet, she persevered and founded Radio Nasaem Souria, a station dedicated to the Syrian diaspora community.”
Since 2015, JHR has supported Haleb’s work. Radio Nasaem Souria has since brought critical issues to light, catalyzing change: a much-needed school for Syrian children was built in Hamah in 2017; healthcare provisions for Syrian women in Turkey expanded to include mental health services in 2021; and a refugee rights center was established in 2022, giving Syrian women better access to legal aid for cases of gender-based violence.
“All of these life-changing outcomes were the result of a strongly supported diaspora media organization.,” Pulfer concluded.
JHR hopes to replicate these successes in our new program supporting Russian and Belarusian journalists, now living in the Baltic States.
Watch the complete recording of the roundtable here.
