For its 40th anniversary, RSF launches a call for papers on press freedom from 1980 to the present day, in partnership with La Contemporaine and Sorbonne-Nouvelle
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025. To mark the occasion, RSF is organising multiple events and activities to honor the NGO’s history. As part of these celebrations, RSF has launched a call for research papers, from France and abroad, on the theme, "Media and freedom of expression around the world from the 1980s to the present day: progress or regression?" A symposium on this theme will be held in October 2025 in partnership with the library-museum La Contemporaine and the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University.
In 1985, in the French city of Montpellier, four journalists founded Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Forty years later, RSF has become one of the world's leading press freedom and journalist protection organisations, and one of the few of French origin. In 2025, the NGO will celebrate its fortieth anniversary, and mark the occasion by transferring its archives to La Contemporaine, a library-museum located on the campus of Nanterre University, making them accessible for research.
To honor this event, RSF — in partnership with the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University and La Contemporaine, an establishment tied to University Paris-Nanterre — has launched a call for papers from members of the international scientific community who specialise in media, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. Selected papers on the theme “Media and freedom of expression in the world from the 1980s to the present day: progress or regression?" will be presented by their authors at a symposium in October 2025.
"RSF's 40th anniversary will be a high point in the organisation's history. It will be an opportunity to look back on its evolution, defining moments, major ‘coups’, leading figures, and 40 years of history. Opening RSF’s archives for research use is an essential step in writing the organisation’s history, and the evolution of the relationship between the media, freedom of expression, and press freedom since the 1980s."
The deadline for submission of paper proposals, in the form of a PDF file no longer than one page (and accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae) is 15 January 2025. They will be evaluated by a scientific committee, independent of RSF, which will publish a list of successful proposals no later than 15 February 2025. The email address for submissions is: [email protected].
