School of Communications Robert Mayberry Memorial Lecture
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students
The annual Robert Mayberry Memorial Lecture will feature local
journalism in Nigeria’s conflict zones and its role in documenting
human rights abuses, exposing corruption, and amplifying the voices of
marginalized communities. Particular focus will be put on the unique
challenges faced by local journalists, including threats of
violence, censorship, inadequate resources, and a series of Strategic
Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuits aimed at
silencing journalists and small newsrooms. The presentation will also
explore why
America should care about the state of journalism in Nigeria.
About the speaker: Haruna Mohammed Salisu is a journalist in Nigeria, founder of WikkiTimes, an investigative news outlet focused on the desert areas of northern Nigeria. He has published a series of investigative reports that irked authorities and influential individuals. As a result, there are nine lawsuits against him and the publication. In April 2024, he fled Nigeria. A few months later, he got an award from Nigeria’s highest journalism association, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, for his courageous journalism. He has received several reporting grants and secured grants for WikkiTimes from various non-profit organizations. Currently, he is a master’s student and teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Schedule of Event:
6pm EST Reception in Loosemore Lobby
7-9pm EST Mayberry Memorial Lecture
Registration NOT required.
Location Information
Loosemore Theatre / Auditorium (DEV122E) - DeVos Campus, Grand Valley State University (301 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504)
Contact Information
Jeff Kelly Lowenstein - [email protected]
Anthony Spencer -
[email protected]
Peter Zhang - [email protected]
Hosting Department, Organization, or Business
School of Communications
Tags
academic academicfreedom alumni clas communications freespeech journalism robertmayberry schoolofcommunications wikkitimes
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This event was added to the calendar by Adrienne Wallace (wallacad@gvsu.edu) on Friday, January 17, 2025 and was last updated on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 12:33 p.m.
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