Educational Program: Critical New Tools in the Fight to Protect Journalists
The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) is collaborating with the Irish-based technology company Yubix Ltd. as it takes a significant step aimed at helping ensure the safety of journalists working in perilous situations around the world.
The company's innovative systems, Vertex Pro and Buzz Now, are designed to protect individuals facing high-risk scenarios, and Yubix announced in an Association-sponsored Webinar last week that it will offer some of this technology for free to members of the AFPC-USA. This collaboration aims to provide journalists with essential tools to mitigate risks while reporting on hazardous stories, conflicts and authoritarian regimes.
“The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents supports and defends the role of journalists and seeks methods of protection in a world that is increasingly violent and in which journalists have become the targets of intimidation, retaliation and physical, verbal, legal and online harassment, and even murder,” said Nancy Prager-Kamel, Chair of the Association, in opening remarks at the Webinar.
The AFPC-USA and Yubix began collaborating during the 2023 Press Freedom Forum, held in May in New York City, where leaders from media, business, government, UN and NGOs explored innovative solutions to enhance security for journalists covering dangerous assignments. As part of this initiative, Sam Levy, a global security expert and director of Yubix Ltd., has generously offered to try to adapt some Yubix technologies for AFPC-USA members and American journalists. The endeavor to protect journalists and expand tools for reporting in challenging environments is among the key AFPC-USA missions, and this collaboration aligns with that goal.
Critical information on an attempted kidnapping in Ukraine, as seen as on Buzz Now.
The Webinar, "Critical New Tools in the Fight to Protect Journalists," took place on Thursday, July 20, and was moderated by AFPC Vice President Storer H. "Bob" Rowley. A contributing writer for the Washington Monthly and the Chicago Tribune, Rowley brought his experience as a foreign correspondent and Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism to lead the discussion. His expertise in covering wars and dangerous stories helped steer the Webinar, providing valuable insights on the pressing need for innovative solutions to protect journalists working in high-risk environments.
Journalists will be notified via the Association’s newsletter in the coming days how they can sign up or register their interest in the Buzz Now system, and the AFPC-USA will facilitate getting their contact information to Levy to connect on next steps.
The AFPC-USA is solely responsible for the content of this educational program, and Rowley noted, “While we are not promoting these tools, we are happy and eager to facilitate this discussion about them. In turn, the Association is pleased to collaborate with Yubix, as appropriate, to make that happen.”
Levy is a security professional with extensive experience in operational behavior in high-risk situations, emergency response, counter-terror, intelligence, combat and the protection of sensitive installations. He also has created innovative solutions that integrate advanced technological products for the prevention of, and response to, multiple threat scenarios. These tools can help with risk prevention and mitigation, and emergency management in crisis situations. Levy has been a leading consultant in these areas for the past 25 years to various organizations around the world.
Below, readers will find a summary of some of the most important takeaways from the presentation.
ON HIS COMPANY AND ITS MISSION
Levy says his company “has devoted itself to developing specialized technologies which will prevent and respond to multiple threats, and therefore, it's very relevant to journalists safety and security.”
The “pillars” of his presentation revolve around “protecting journalists in high risk areas, both at the prevention level and at the emergency level.”
He defines the preventative level as one in which the technology his company has developed “is able to assist users in identifying risks and threats and suspicious signals in real time.” He adds: “The whole purpose here is to connect the dots and be able to understand the situation at the micro [and] macro level and be able to respond before that becomes an imminent danger to your safety, to your security at the response level.”
IMPORTANT POINTS IN REGARD TO THE TECHNOLOGY AND HOW IT’S USED
Levy points out that the speed of the information “coming into journalists when you're in danger is extremely imperative because if information comes fast, you are able to actually assess it and respond.”
He emphasizes the importance of the technology being “user-friendly,” which would make it easier for journalists to respond in highly stressful situations. The technology was tested “under rigorous conditions” to be sure of its viability and reliability.
Critical information that can be used and is applicable is defined as “actionable intelligence.”
It is important, he says, to “make sure that it will work in different realities and for multiple scenarios” that can put the safety and life of a journalist at risk regardless of their magnitude.
ON THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE TECHNOLOGY AND HOW IT CAN POTENTIALLY BE USED
The premise behind the technology’s development is that “there are many things you can do before you are faced with the direct threat.” While these things might “not necessarily prevent you from being in danger,” they will “make you sure that you are much more prepared during the first critical seconds” because usually most casualties—and the biggest impacts on a journalist’s safety—are in “the first critical moments and clearly after the incident so you can recover.”
In this respect, the Yubix system “minimizes the impact” of the emergency scenario. Both domestic (such as mass demonstrations) and international scenarios (such as war and terrorist attacks) are considered.
Levy underscores his points with a nod to the recent demonstrations in Paris as “a typical example of where the technology could be used.” Anyone who finds themselves in a scenario like this “needs to know how to act.” He adds: “You have to know how to evacuate yourself, and you have to make sure that the ongoing information that you're receiving is in real time and it is actually representative of what is happening, so that you don't enter a wrong area or evacuate yourself in the opposite direction.”
ON BUZZ NOW, THE SYSTEM YUBIX IS OFFERING TO AFPC-USA MEMBERS FOR FREE
The technology, built for smartphone platforms, was developed “in order to build a language of communication that could facilitate communicating in a moment of danger,” and its foundation is in facilitating that communication in “dangerous areas.”
“When things of a violent danger happen,” Levy observes, “the technology must be able to share critical information, which is only relevant to what is happening.” He refers to this as “essential elements of information.”
The technology shares “information which is only relevant to what is happening,” and it was developed so that actionable intelligence can be channeled through a series of “Hints, Tips, Spots and Alerts.”
The technology gives journalists the capability to “share hints on different locations, on different dangers, on different things they've seen or they've prevented, or they think are dangerous tips.” Facilitating this critical information helps other journalists who might not be aware of the situation.
The technology is already being used “in high-risk hostile environments in different industries” so the value it adds to journalists is “incredible,” Levy says. It’s a communication tool for essential information and features a “live map so you can tell where other journalists are.”
Because the technology helps journalists—to say nothing of others—connect with their community, it can help them “actually be part of the solution and actually communicate on related events, which may not necessarily be related only to very high-risk events, but also domestic events and also lower scale events.”
Information can be shared “on the national level” but also within a media organization; journalists would have the ability to attach both media files and audio files, which helps share this information with the outside world. Buzz Now also has a feature that allows a user to limit the geographical area of their scope, though that depends on factors such as how large the global community is, how many journalists are on the platform, and what their geographical locations are.
Additionally, the “community side” of the system is important because it helps users determine the level of importance of a “buzz” one might receive due to community feedback on the micro and macro levels.
ON WHETHER THE TOOL MIGHT HELP JOURNALISTS PUSH THROUGH THEIR COMPETITIVE INSTINCTS TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER AND HELP KEEP EACH OTHER ALIVE
A “Byngo” alert as seen on Vertex Pro
“When it comes to imminent dangers to threats and risks, there has to be a common denominator where competition doesn't come in,” Levy says. In fact, the app includes a feature that gives journalists the option to “report a story only with a specific department” or only within their own media organization.
He adds: “But when it comes to tips, when it comes to hints, when it comes to imminent things which are endangering you and could endanger others, there has to be that balance between [competition and] sharing that critical information--because tomorrow, you may need critical information that somebody else is sharing with you.”
Promoting the ability to share general information with others—outside of specific media organizations or departments—encourages others to also use the feature and take care of each other.
This technology also gives journalists the ability to send “buzzes” in the absence of an internet connection.” It was developed, Levy says, “to close the gap and to actually be able to assist those that are in need,” whether it’s those on the frontlines or those sitting at their desks. In fact, those who are at their desks can also benefit from the tool “because
when they're getting critical information, they can make better administrative and tactical and intelligence decisions.”
All in all, Buzz Now is a “holistic tool,” he observes, because there is a “very operational balance between the preventative side and the emergency management side,” and Buzz Now ensures that these two things are interconnected.
ON VERTEX PRO
● Another technology system Yubix invented is called Vertex Pro, and it is tailored to actually give individuals in high-risk environments “directives when they are in an emergency situation.” The system operates via “predetermined organizational departments feeding information in real time.” ● The technology has three modules:
Byngo: Allows users to identify anomalies and “generate recommendations for you to follow so that there's no escalation of a situation.” It could be adapted for journalists to use it to identify anomalies through observation, interviews and interaction with “potential sources,” Levy explains. It could help journalists brief themselves, brief each other and prioritize--so they only have to look at “what is actually suspicious.”
Push: Can generate an alert that goes out to all people within an organization and automatically could give journalists directives so they know what they can do in real time--because there are certain types of threats that arise from specific scenarios, “and every organization can decide according to the location which scenarios are most important.” It is not a substitute for 911 or the authorities: It is about “real time directives, real time status, supervision and real time information on evacuation, escape routes, safe houses, points of interest--which are very, very useful when you are in an emergency scenario.”
Share: The ability in the same app to “share critical media on the incident, the location and the activities taking place” to aid journalists—and even organizations and authorities outside the app.
ON HOW JOURNALISTS CAN ACCESS THIS TECHNOLOGY AND WHERE IT’S BASED
If Association members express interest, Levy is offering to provide the Buzz Now technology to members of the AFPC-USA free of charge. Buzz Now is more geared toward immediate communication and could benefit the journalistic community, he says, while Vertex Pro has been used up to now for private executives, governments and global organizations. However, there will be a version of Vertex Pro in the future that could be adapted for journalists, including AFPC-USA members and American news organizations.
Journalists will be notified via the Association’s newsletter in the coming days how they can sign up or register their interest in the Buzz Now system, and the AFPC-USA will facilitate getting their contact information to Levy to connect on next steps.
ON HOW INDIVIDUAL JOURNALISTS CAN PROGRAM THE TECHNOLOGY TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS AND LOCATIONS OF A GIVEN SITUATION
Once connected, users will need to download the app, register and build a profile. They will then have the ability to customize their settings so they can specify which areas they would like to use, including how to buzz colleagues and be buzzed by others.
There is training provided through a manual and through video. Within 10 minutes of registering, journalists will be able to use the app, Levy says.
“We are compelled to be ever vigilant, forge partnerships and remain committed to achieving sustainable, necessary and durable solutions,” declared Prager-Kamel in her remarks at the Webinar. “This is not a seasonal battle. It is an ongoing effort, including reaching out to our governments, international entities and the public at large.
“Please join in this fight with your voice, your efforts and your support.”
