The 17th edition of the Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series is set to hold on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at 5:00 PM (WAT) via Zoom, with a timely and urgent theme: “Surveillance, Safety and the Silencing of Truth.”
This year’s lecture will explore the increasing threats journalists face globally, including surveillance, harassment, and shrinking press freedoms, and how these dangers are undermining democracy, civic engagement, and the public’s right to know.
Angela Quintal, Africa Regional Director at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), will deliver the keynote address. She will be joined by a distinguished panel comprising Quinn McKew, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19; Fisayo Soyombo, Founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ); and Sonja Smith, correspondent with the Associated Press.
The session will be moderated by Jimeh Saleh, former editor of the BBC/MacArthur Foundation Series.
The event comes at a time when the media landscape is increasingly under pressure from state and non-state actors deploying advanced surveillance technologies and institutional tactics to intimidate journalists and restrict free expression.
According to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), the lecture aims to elevate global awareness on how these dynamics are silencing truth and threatening journalistic integrity.
Held annually on July 13 to commemorate the birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and grand patron of the Centre, the lecture series has, since 2009, provided a platform for examining the media’s role in deepening democracy and accountability in Nigeria and beyond.
In a statement signed by Executive Director/CEO Motunrayo Alaka, WSCIJ reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening press freedom and democratic ideals through advocacy, engagement, and thought leadership.
