91˛Öżâ senior Carter Adams is committed to journalism and keeping media professionals safe.
Knowing that students would likely benefit from media safety training, the journalism major was inspired to turn his passion into an idea and pitch it during Student Media’s FlashLab Innovation Pitch Contest in 2018. Adams won first place and funding for his idea, a safety/security workshop dedicated to properly training media specialists.
Fast forward to Spring 2020: Adams is watching his idea come to life through Unscathed.
Unscathed is a two-day, hands-on workshop aimed to prepare journalists and media specialists to cover stories in hostile environments and to be better prepared for working in potentially dangerous situations. .
Adams’ experiences as a student journalist inspired him to pitch this idea at Student Media’s first-of-the-kind pitch contest in 2018.
“I'm speaking from experience when I say this training is necessary,” Adams said. “I've been there with and without training, and I can tell you, you’ll end up a lot less battered if you’re trained.”
The workshop welcomes both journalists and media specialists, including all majors within the College of Communication and Information that will deal with the media in some capacity during their future careers.
Unscathed will be led by Steve Cook and Chris Post, internationally renowned professionals with expertise in media safety and security. This is the first time these professionals will lead a safety and security workshop at a college campus, explicitly for students. Those in attendance will learn critical techniques and skills to use in the field, such as situational awareness, digital security, basic first aid and much more.
“To have this training before you graduate college is an opportunity afforded rarely,” Adams said. “… A lot of publications want you to have some type of training under your belt already in working nationally or even in some domestic hotbeds.”
Adams expresses his gratitude to Student Media and FlashLab for their support. “I really can't stress enough how much Student Media has helped bring this idea to life, because they believe in it too.”
Adams has worked alongside Kevin Dilley, Director of Student Media, while implementing his idea. Dilley urged Adams to pitch his idea for the 2018 contest.
“FlashLab is contributing to a culture of innovative thinking and breaking down what that word means,” Dilley said. “I want students to walk out of here with a toolbox full of things and know that they are as innovative as anyone else.”
Dilley also invited some recent 91˛Öżâ alumni to attend the workshops.
“Since they have been out in the field for a few years, they might have had a couple experiences that they can bring to the workshop that might be a teaching moment for the current students,” Dilly said.
Unscathed will be offered twice over the course of four days. Sessions are available March 5-6 and March 7-8.
Register for March 5-6 here:
Register for March 7-8 here: