The SafeBox

The group carrying on investigations when journalists are silenced.

Over the last five years, almost 200 journalists have been killed outside conflict zones, with reporters being murdered while investigating corruption, organised crime and environmental destruction. For World Press Freedom Day, People Fixing the World looks at the work of a pioneering organisation that is trying to help. Forbidden Stories, based in France, pledges to continue the work of journalists who have been killed, imprisoned or forced into exile. To help them do this, they encourage the use of a digital “safe box”, where reporters whose lives are at risk can keep notes and interviews, and which can be opened in the event of their death. This tool means that even if reporters die, their work can live on – but many reporters believe SafeBox helps keep them safe too.

We meet Laurent Richard, founder of Forbidden Stories. From Ecuador, Tamia Villavicencio explains how she is continuing her father Fernando’s work despite serious risks to her safety. And we hear how a network of reporters finished the investigations of Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno after he was murdered in 2022.

Presenter: Myra Anubi
Producer: William Kremer
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound mix: Hal Haines

(Image: Amanda and Tamia Villavicencio holding a photograph of their father, Fernando Villavicencio. Credit Tamia Villavicencio)