Acknowledging the mounting threats against journalists throughout the world, the 2Lives Steven Joel Sotloff Memorial Foundation will hold a three-day Security Training Scholarship Program to help prepare freelance journalists, journalism students and researchers operating in high-risk environments.
The University of Miami’s School of Communication will support the course by providing classroom space, dormitories and dining facilities during the first day of training on July 24. The training will continue on July 25-26 at a location in Northwest Dade.
Twelve journalists – including two UM students – will participate in the course, which will provide them with methods to keep themselves safe in threatening situations, including situational awareness; how to improvise stretchers; concealment vs. cover; travel security; convoys and checkpoints; kidnapping risk reduction; basic digital hygiene; personal safety against street crime; sexual assault and hostile mobs as well as how to react to active shooters, combat hazards, interrogations and captivity.
The 2Lives Steven Joel Sotloff Foundation was founded by the parents of Steven Sotloff, a dedicated journalist who was brutally killed by ISIS operatives after he was kidnapped in Syria.
“If we can make a difference in saving the life of one journalist, it will be worth it,” said Art Sotloff, founder of 2Lives and Steven’s father.
In 2015, the Sotloff family pledged $125,000 to create the Steven Joel Sotloff Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, awarded annually to a student pursuing journalism who demonstrates both academic success and financial need, and who is also a Florida resident.
