My mother said once, “Don’t become a journalist when you grow up, journalists get killed in Pakistan”. According to Dawn, Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. The price of truth that the journalist pens down on the paper is death. It’s ironic that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan punishes journalists for obeying a very important principle of the religion on which the country was found on. However, when the wrongdoings of the superior are justified through the manipulation of religion – truth becomes a sin. The tyranny that the state subjects onto journalists seep down at the educational level. Due to this, student journalists fall victim to the oppressive administration. Surprisingly, despite the hardship’s student journalists must face, it has managed to survive at some universities.
What was the International Student Journalism conference about?
The saying, “alone we can do so little, together we can do so much,” was put into practice by The LUMS Daily Student (LDS). On the basis of this ideology, LDS decided to initiate a conference where students and independent journalists from around the globe could connect with each other. The International Student Journalism Conference was a two-day online conference. The event was initiated on the 21st of Nov and ended on the 22nd of Nov. Furthermore, the conference consisted of workshops, panel discussions, and guest speaker sessions. The topics of the panel discussion revolved around how the world around us has shaped journalism. In the workshops, publications, present at the conference, gave presentations regarding their operations. Furthermore, the publications also discussed how they are able to provide unbiased information to their audience at the workshop.
The Attendees of the event
Attendees of the conference included publications such as the 68 (London School of Economics), 13 Stars (Europe), LSNB (Lahore School Economics), Union of Campus Journalists (Nigeria), Pride Press (Habib University), and the Aman Project. The diversity among the attendees made the discussions that took place during the whole conference insightful; as every attendee bought a new perspective and a story with them. Guest speakers such as Raza Rumi and Saiyana Bashir, enlightened the attendees regarding journalism in Pakistan through their experiences. Independent journalist such as Rebecca Duke Weinsburg, educated the attendees on the importance of communicating effectively through language.
Conclusion
Through this conference, I was able to interact with fellow student journalists and be able to discuss future projects with them. In conclusion, I feel such conferences help student journalists connecting with one and another. Such conferences can allow student publications to learn from other publications and improve their way of communicating news to their respective audience.
