05/27/2025
Subsidized Training Opportunity for Qualified Freelance Journalists
4th Steven Sotloff Memorial Training
Course in Miami for Qualified Freelance Journalists
3-Day Hostile Environments & Emergency First Aid – Armed Conflict
Miami, Florida USA
July 14 – 16, 2025
What will the course cover?
This 3-Day course is designed for high-risk environments where threats like crossfire, combat, active shooter, and captivity are possible and is recommended for international and frontline journalists, aid workers, and other personnel active in politically unstable areas. The curriculum covers emergency first aid including vehicle accidents and improvised stretchers & carries, concealment and cover, weapons and ballistics, active shooter, risk reduction, travel security, basic digital hygiene, personal safety against street crime, sexual assault avoidance, civil unrest and hostile mobs, ordnance and combat hazards, interrogation and captivity, and tactical stress management. This intensive 3-Day course meets duty of care and insurance standards for operating in high-risk areas.
What costs are covered by this opportunity?
Supported by the Steven Sotloff Foundation, trainees will be provided with lodging and meals in Miami from the evening of Sunday, July 13 through the morning of Thursday, July 17. The Sotloff Foundation will also cover the costs of the training in Miami over three days from Monday, July 14 through Wednesday, July 16, along with ground transportation between the hotel and training facility. The training will be in English, although our entire Miami training crew is also fluent in Spanish.
What costs must trainees cover themselves?
To qualify, candidates must be prepared to pay for their airfare to Miami, and ground transportation round-trip between the Miami Airport and the hotel. The opportunity is open to freelance journalists of different nationalities, but journalists who are not U.S. citizens must demonstrate in advance that they have or would qualify upon arrival for a valid entry visa into the United States. No queries for additional funding will be accepted.
Who is eligible to apply for this opportunity?
This opportunity is open to freelance journalists who can credibly demonstrate proof of their prior news reporting in print, online, or in either audio or visual production.
Applicants should send a cover letter and relevant clips or links to gjs@gjs-security.com.
Who was Steven Sotloff?
Steven Sotloff was an American Israeli freelance journalist. In August 2013, he was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On September 2, 2014, ISIS released a video showing one of its militants beheading Sotloff, a month after ISIS militants beheaded the American freelance journalist, James Foley.
Sotloff had reported for Time, The Christian Science Monitor and Foreign Policy, among others. Steven told CNN about the Benghazi attack that there was no protest before it began, leading CNN's Suzanne Malveaux to describe his account as "an excellent piece of journalism." The performer Dave Matthews and his Dave Matthews Band planted 120 trees in Israel in Sotloff's name and dedicated the song "Mercy" to Steven’s memory.
