Upcoming Trainings
Past Trainings
Protecting Personal Online Data: Practical Guidance for Journalists
July 2 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT
From doxing to the hacking of online accounts, journalists are increasingly vulnerable to targeted digital attacks making it more difficult and dangerous to do their work safely and effectively.
In this one-hour session, digital security specialist Ela Stapley will guide journalists through practical steps for protecting their personal data and online accounts. Participants will learn how to find and remove personal information, strengthen their digital security and respond effectively before, during and after an online attack. Packed with practical guidance, tools and resources, this session is designed to help journalists better protect themselves and their work.
Ela Stapley is a Senior Advisor in Digital Security and Strategy. For the past decade, Ela has provided high-level digital security support to journalists and newsrooms around the world. She has trained and provided individual assistance to media workers in more than 50 countries and writes regularly on digital security best practices for journalists. A former freelance journalist, Ela is the founder and director of Siskin Labs, a consulting firm that works with the media and non-profit organisations to find practical ways to increase their digital safety. Ela has an MA in International Journalism from Cardiff University, UK.
A Primer on Newsroom Digital Security
June 18
(Private Training – request a private training for your organization)
Reducing Reporters’ Digital Risk: Risk Assessment and Threat Mapping for Journalists
June 23 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT
Journalists face a wide range of digital threats that can put them and their sources at risk. Understanding how to reduce these threats is essential to ensuring that journalistic work can be carried out as safely and securely as possible.
In this one-hour session, digital security specialist Ela Stapley will cover practical approaches to identifying and reducing risk through threat mapping and risk assessment. Participants will learn how to make informed digital security decisions around the stories they work on, including identifying potential hostile actors and their attack methods. The session will provide practical steps, tools and resources to help journalists strengthen their digital security planning and better protect themselves, their reporting, and their sources.
Ela Stapley is a Senior Advisor in Digital Security and Strategy. For the past decade, Ela has provided high-level digital security support to journalists and newsrooms around the world. She has trained and provided individual assistance to media workers in more than 50 countries and writes regularly on digital security best practices for journalists. A former freelance journalist, Ela is the founder and director of Siskin Labs, a consulting firm that works with the media and non-profit organisations to find practical ways to increase their digital safety. Ela has an MA in International Journalism from Cardiff University, UK.
Digital Safety and Source Protection for Investigations
June 25
(Private Training – request a private training for your organization)
Protecting Documentary Sources: Safeguarding Sources and Sensitive Materials in Documentary Film Production
Webinar – Monday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT
Visual mediums such as documentary filmmaking present unique challenges to source protection. This workshop will address protecting sensitive sources throughout the documentary filmmaking process, from making sure raw footage is stored securely in order to minimize the risk to sensitive sources, to various ways to protect source identities onscreen without compromising artistic creativity.
Election Interference Roundtable
Webinar – Tuesday, June 9 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT
With nationwide elections happening in a highly politicized environment, nonprofit newsrooms need to know how to cover campaigns, candidates, and key issues — delivering essential information to their audiences — without running afoul of the prohibition on campaign intervention.
Securing Communications: When Encryption Isn’t Good Enough
Webinar – Tuesday, May 26, at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
Using end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms is just the first step in developing a cohesive defense-in-depth secure messaging protocol for sensitive communications between reporters and their sources. This workshop will go through secure communications best practices to minimize the chances that sensitive information such as source communications can fall into undesirable hands.
Safeguarding Journalism in the AI Era: Disabling Unwelcome AI Features in Your Workflows
Webinar – Thursday, May 14, at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
The stakes have never been higher as AI features silently collect, analyze, and potentially expose sensitive information without user consent, with more and more services now integrating AI features into their core functionality. From auto-saving drafts to cloud-based transcriptions, these capabilities create vulnerabilities for source protection and unpublished investigative materials. Our workshop provides the knowledge and frameworks needed to identify these risks, implement effective solutions, and develop policies that safeguard journalism in a digital ecosystem.
Best Digital Security Practices When Traveling: Protecting Your Sources and Other Sensitive Information
Monday, April 27, 2026 3-4 p.m. ET/12-1 p.m. PT.
This training will walk through keeping sensitive information digitally safe during all stages of your travel: arriving at a destination, staying at a location, and returning home. We’ll discuss how to reduce the chances of your information being compromised when going through security checkpoints, when staying at unknown lodging, and when heading out and about at your destination. Secure methods for collecting and storing field materials such as source interviews and other audiovisual elements will also be covered.
An Overview of Device Protection From Government Raids
Webinar – Monday, February 9, 2026 3-4 p.m. ET/12-1 p.m. PT.
The recent FBI raid of a Washington Post reporter’’s home is only the latest episode in the Trump administration’s ever-intensifying crackdown on the press and whistleblowers. It is more important than ever that journalists know how to protect themselves and their sources from a raid or device seizure. In this one-hour session, digital security specialist Robert Flummerfelt will discuss critical countermeasures that ensure sensitive data is encrypted, hidden, and inaccessible in the event that your devices are seized.
This workshop will be presented by the Press Freedom Defense Fund, and will be led by Robert Flummerfelt.
Robert Flummerfelt is an award-winning investigative journalist and a specialist in digital security and surveillance self-defense. He has provided training and consultation on state surveillance and information security for journalists, activists, and civil society organizations operating under conditions of extreme repression and surveillance, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Palestine, Uganda, the United States, and elsewhere, supporting newsrooms including The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and others.
Owing to the ever-evolving nature of the contents, our training sessions are not recorded. Instead, we may offer repeat sessions of the same topics at future dates. We ask that you not record the sessions, including by not bringing any AI or other recording, transcription, or note-taking bots into the session. Any such bots will be removed from attendance.
Securing Your Devices Against Raids, Seizure, and Surveillance, Part 2: Securing Your Computers
Webinar – Friday, February 6, 2026 3-4 p.m. ET/12-1 p.m. PT.
Government raids, mass surveillance, and targeted spyware pose more of a threat to journalists and whistleblowers now than ever. As the Trump administration’s crackdown on the press and civil society intensifies, protecting the devices you use to review documents, conduct research, and communicate with sources is critical. In this in-depth, one-hour session, digital security specialist Robert Flummerfelt will walk attendees through securing their laptop and desktop computers, covering device protection from raids, techniques to defend against malware, and software tools to use for communications with confidential sources and collaborators.
This workshop will be presented by the Press Freedom Defense Fund, and will be led by Robert Flummerfelt.
Robert Flummerfelt is an award-winning investigative journalist and a specialist in digital security and surveillance self-defense. He has provided training and consultation on state surveillance and information security for journalists, activists, and civil society organizations operating under conditions of extreme repression and surveillance, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Palestine, Uganda, the United States, and elsewhere, supporting newsrooms including The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and others.
Owing to the ever-evolving nature of the contents, our training sessions are not recorded. Instead, we may offer repeat sessions of the same topics at future dates. We ask that you not record the sessions, including by not bringing any AI or other recording, transcription, or note-taking bots into the session. Any such bots will be removed from attendance.
Contact Us
Interested in setting up a training session for your newsroom or organization? The Press Freedom Defense Fund specializes in custom-tailored trainings on source protection, safeguarding reporting in the AI era, newsroom cyber security, protection against raids and seizures, safe travel protocols, and more. Get in touch and let us know what you’re looking for.