World Village Festival to discuss journalistic freedom in conflict zones

World Village Festival to discuss journalistic freedom in conflict zones

The programme produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the World Village Festival in Helsinki will discuss journalistic freedom in conflict zones. The discussion will feature Kaisa Rautaheimo, a foreign correspondent for Helsingin Sanomat, and Maxim Fedorov, a journalist and non-fiction author, who is joining the discussion remotely from Kyiv, Ukraine.

The discussion will take place on the festival's Speakers' stage at Bio Rex on Saturday 16 May at 14.20. Journalist and non-fiction author Olli Seuri will moderate the discussion.

Rautaheimo and Seuri will explore how the work of journalists has changed as civilians are now able to disseminate images from war zones. And how does the security situation and the nature of conflicts affect news coverage?

Maxim Fedorov works as a foreign correspondent for the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle in Ukraine and has followed the country's defensive war closely since May 2022.

Kaisa Rautaheimo has reported as a photographer and journalist from several conflict and crisis areas, including from Ukraine and Afghanistan as well as from Gaza and Syria in the Middle East.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs supports work on freedom of speech globally, for example through the Media Freedom Coalition, which promotes press freedom. Finland currently co-chairs the coalition with the United Kingdom.