Inside AFP

The team included Asia Pacific regional director Mike Mainville, sales & marketing director Sarah Stewart and commercial team members Jhalak Srivastava, Tim Hardingham and Adele Ng. Together they held a series of meetings and fielded dozens of enquiries at the AFP booth, sharing insights and strengthening partnerships. 

Islamabad-based news editor for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Emma Clark, took part on a panel discussion on “Facts, Lies, Hate and Elections” in a particularly relevant discussion given Pakistan’s recent bout of political violence and a surge of misinformation. 

“The media landscape is now not just one of blatant censorship, but also shrouded in fear,” she said of the national mood after the arrest of Pakistan's ousted former prime minister Imran Khan unleashed a wave of unrest. 

Despite all this, the media scene remains remarkably vibrant in Pakistan, she said. “Women make up a small but growing number of journalists despite the very specific challenges.” 

AFP’s booth buzzed with inquiries about our editorial strategy, our ‘boots on the ground’ commitment, the rise of AFPTV, our fact-check operations, and the challenges of legacy media moving into a digitised environment.  

Maria Ressa, CEO of trailblazing Philippines digital news site Rappler, who was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her fearless work on safeguarding freedom of expression, set the tone with a bracing opening address entitled “The Battle for Facts” which set out the threat of misinformation fuelled by the growth of AI. 

The conference also saw the WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to journalists Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi, who have been jailed in Iran. 

The award recognises the bravery and determination “of two courageous young women whose journalism kept sight of truth as the Iranian regime attempted to rewrite history,” the organisers said. 

An AFP video screened during the awards ceremony showcased the dramatic events of 2002, when a wave of protest swept Iran after the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini who had been detained by the morality police following an attempt to enforce strict hijab rules. 

Both Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi reported on the aftermath of Ms Amini’s detention and subsequent death, marking them targets for the Iranian regime as it attempted to suppress the story and contain a growing nationwide uprising.