The Fourth Yemeni Media Conference concluded on Thursday, November 6, 2025, under the theme “Standing Together to Defend Media Freedoms.” The event was organized by the Marsadak (Yemeni Media Freedom Observatory) affiliated with the Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), with support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Over the course of five days, the conference featured discussions, dialogues, and training sessions that brought together around 600 participants, including journalists, academics, researchers, media students, civil society actors, and human rights advocates, from various Yemeni governorates and several Arab countries.
The closing day featured two sessions focusing on feminist journalism and its role in promoting justice and equality within media institutions, as well as on legal, psychological, and digital support for journalists, highlighting its importance in ensuring the safety of media professionals and their institutions amid current challenges.
In his closing remarks, Mustafa Nasr, Chairman of the SEMC, stated that the conference “revived the spirit of the profession and the sense of solidarity among journalists,” emphasizing that “protecting press freedom is the key entry point for building a professional and independent media sector in Yemen.” He added that the conference’s rich discussions “reflected a growing awareness of the importance of keeping pace with digital transformations and the ethical use of AI in media work,” expressing hope that participants would meet again in the fifth edition of the conference “with broader horizons for press freedom in Yemen.”
Several speakers affirmed that the conference served as an important professional milestone for restoring dialogue among journalists and media practitioners, and for renewing their commitment to the values of freedom, accountability, and social responsibility, especially at a time when Yemen’s media landscape is undergoing profound transformations driven by technological and digital advancements, alongside a noticeable decline in professional solidarity as a unifying value among journalists.
The conference included ten specialized sessions in addition to the opening session, addressing diverse topics such as journalistic ethics, AI, data journalism, professional safety, and the state of local media in Yemen.
Ahead of the conference’s official opening, two training sessions were held on October 30, 2025, at 26 September Boys’ School and Al-Shaheed Al-Hakimi Girls’ School, benefiting 75 students as part of a media and information literacy initiative. In parallel, a specialized workshop was also conducted for 22 journalists representing 22 independent media outlets, offering intensive training on digital content production and the use of AI tools in journalism.
The conference concluded with a reaffirmation of the ongoing commitment to promoting press freedom, protecting journalists, and supporting professional initiatives that aim to build a safer, more independent, and equitable media environment in Yemen.
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