Press Freedom and Journalist Safety 

From 2011, during the Arab Spring and major shifts in both social and traditional media, local and freelance journalists were an essential part of the news-gathering apparatus. Operating on small budgets, insecure employment terms, and facing huge dangers, it was a precarious and challenging career path, and both freelancers and news organizations alike struggled to adjust to the changing news landscape and to protect these critical media workers. As the Arab Spring turned into a brutal Arab winter, the risks journalists faced skyrocketed–detention, attacks in protests, injury, kidnapping, and even death were increasingly common. Emma drove a years-long effort to change how the media industry protects freelancers working in conflict. 

In 2013, Emma was instrumental in founding the Frontline Freelance Register as part of the Frontline Club in London. The organization allowed freelancers to organize and work constructively with the industry to improve their working conditions and safety. It gave freelancers a seat at the table, and Emma became a key player in the press freedom and journalism safety space, working with media NGOs and media organizations to protect colleagues worldwide. She spoke at UNESCO, the State Department, the UK Parliament, the US Press Club, and other conferences and events. She ran informal online groups and assisted with individual cases regularly, learning about personnel security, kidnap and hostage-taking, and case management. Emma continues to use the skills she learned doing this work in her role as an Advisory Council Member of Hostage US. 

Following the death of James Foley in Syria, this work expanded, and Emma went on to help found the ACOS Alliance, a joint project between freelancers and the media, with the involvement of media NGOs. Born of a collaboration between a group of US editors and Emma on behalf of the FFR, the Alliance expanded its scope and ambition on the sidelines of an event at the US State Department in early 2014. For several years, Emma co-chaired the boards of both FFR and ACOS and helped secure initial funding for both organizations to hire directors, and she stepped back from this work in 2019. 

In 2017, Emma was awarded the James Foley Legacy Foundation World Press Freedom Award for Moral Courage for her work to protect and support freelance journalists worldwide.