This event is presented in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

It is the news media’s major preoccupation – how can journalists best serve audiences in a world riddled with misinformation and “alternative facts”, and when the President of the United States makes baseless claims and labels accurate reporting as “fake news”?

But so far the debate has focused mostly on Western news media, where this challenge feels new. How does the discrediting of media take place in the Global South? Have other countries seen a similar rise in the prominence of fake news – or, as with Russian propaganda, has this challenge been around for years? In countries such as Cambodia and Burundi, leaders have been labelling unfavourable journalism as fake news – but is this the ‘Trump Effect’ or its precedent?

We will discuss how journalists new to these challenges learn from reporters elsewhere in the world who contend daily with misinformation and state hostility. This event, held to mark World Press Freedom Day 2017, will bring together journalists from a selection of countries to discuss these issues and explain how they are dealing with the “post-truth” environment.

This discussion will be chaired by John Lloyd. John is the co-founder of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, which was established in 2006 with core funding from Thomson Reuters Foundation, where he is a Senior Research Fellow and member of the Advisory Board. Lloyd has written several books, including “What the Media Are Doing to Our Politics” (2004). He is also a contributing editor at FT and the founder of FT Magazine.

Speakers:

Liz Wahl is an American journalist. She was a correspondent and anchor for the U.S. branch of RT TV and made international headlines following her resignation from the channel.

Maher Abderrahmane is former Senior Editor of Tunisian Television News.

Katya Gorchinskaya is a Ukrainian journalist and CEO of Hromadske TV

Abiye Teklemariam is an Ethiopian journalist based in the UK

The election of President Donald Trump has raised tensions between the US and Iran just as an intense power struggle plays out ahead of Iran’s presidential election in May. The upcoming election was expected to decide to what extent Tehran opens up domestically — and to the outside world — after the 2015 nuclear deal ended the country’s isolation.

As the Iranian vote nears, the US senate is poised to pass a bill that will further enable Trump to violate the deal. Iran’s plans to restart its nuclear program if the deal falls apart have been labelled by some as ‘disastrous’ for the Middle East. How will Donald Trump’s plans to kill the nuclear deal affect the upcoming election, and Iran’s already strained relations with the West and its Gulf neighbours?

Ahead of the election we will reflect on Iran under President Rouhani, the future of his involvement in Syria, and where the country’s international relations are headed.

Chaired by Azadeh Moaveni (@AzadehMoaveni), senior lecturer in journalism at Kingston University, former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times and author of Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran. Her research has long focused on how political instability impacts women, and she is writing a book about women and ISIS.

Kasra Naji (@BBCKasraNaji) is special correspondent for BBC Persian TV and author of Ahmedinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader.

Saeed Kamali Dehghan (@SaeedKD) is a staff journalist with the Guardian. He has previously written from the Iranian capital, Tehran. He is now based in London and was named 2010 Journalist of the Year at the Foreign Press Association awards.

James Rubin is a writer, commentator and lecturer on world affairs and US foreign policy. He contributes a weekly column to The Sunday Times. He served under President Clinton as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and chief spokesman for secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright from 1997 to May 2000.

The film introduces us to two defectors  – 26 year old Eunhee Park and 25-year old Suuyeoung Lee, who is about to make her first appearance on the show. Both escaped with the help of smugglers who charged about 7,000 US dollars to take the women on a terrifying journey across the border into China and eventually to Thailand, from where they could reach South Korea.  The Chinese authorities arrest defectors and send them back, where they can face execution.

These women’s intimate stories paint a picture of a country where communism is being supplemented by a North Korean version of capitalism, with entrepreneurs making money by selling goods from China on the black market.  As many men work for the government, black market enterprises are run by women – which perhaps explains why over 70 per cent of those with the money and contacts needed to escape from the North are women.

Reporter: Seyi Rhodes

Producer/Director: Kate Hardie-Buckley

Series Editors: Monica Garnsey & Hugo Ward

A Quicksilver Media production

Speakers:

Chaired by series producer Hugo Ward

Kate Hardie-Buckley is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker.

Paul French is an author and widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international and bestseller Midnight in Peking.

John Everard is former British Ambassador to North Korea and author of Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea

Winner of the 2016 Peabody Award, Don’t Tell Anyone (No Le Digas A Nadie) follows a young woman’s remarkable journey from poverty and civil war in rural Colombia to the front page of The New York Times.

Angy Rivera has lived in the U.S. with a dangerous secret: she is undocumented. Now 24, after years of living in the shadows, battling a complex and inequitable immigration system, and facing an uncertain future, Angy joins pro-immigration rallies and proclaims she is “undocumented and proud” – her compelling journey places a human face on the current national immigration debate.

Directed by: Mikaela Shwer
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Runtime: 75′

DOC:Supper is a media project created to bring communities together around meaningful documentary screenings, debates and food. We connect filmmakers , storytellers and field experts with community venues to stimulate social change and greater empathy.

All Governments Lie will change the way you look at mainstream media. Spotlighting the work of iconoclastic rebel journalist I.F. Stone, this eye-opening documentary lays bare the need for adversarial alternatives to the mainstream.

Giant media conglomerates are increasingly reluctant to investigate or criticise government policies – particularly on defence, security and intelligence issues. They are ceding responsibility for holding governments and corporations accountable to the independent journalists and filmmakers who risk their careers and their freedoms to expose the truth.

With government deception rampant, and intrusion of state surveillance into private life never more egregious, independent voices like Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, and Amy Goodman are crucially important. All three are inspired by I. F. Stone, whose fearless, independent reporting from 1953 to 1971 filled a tiny 4-page newsletter which he wrote, published, and carried to the mailbox every week.

Stone is little known today, but All Governments Lie will reveal the profound influence he’s had on today’s independent journalists.

Directed by: Fred Peabody
Produced by: White Pine Pictures
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Runtime: 90′
Twitter: @AllGovsLieDoc

How have cuts within the industry and the turn to online readership impacted the phenomenon of ‘fake news’? And how can journalism maintain its integrity in a time when unverified information circulates on social media under the guise of fact?

Readers across the political spectrum are calling for new standards of accuracy and impartiality. In a monthly series of exclusive talks hosted by media analyst Roy Greenslade, we are bringing together today’s leading news editors to discuss the new challenges facing the online journalism industry.  For the first of these talks, we will unpack the ‘fake news’ debate.

Host:
Roy Greenslade is one of Britain’s foremost media teachers. He is a leading commentator and columnist on the media, and currently blogs for The Guardian. As a journalist he rose to the highest levels of management in a career taking in The Sun, the Sunday Times, and culminating in the editorship of the Daily Mirror.

Speakers:

Ben de Pear is Editor of Channel 4 News. Previously Head of Foreign News, has led an award-winning team of foreign correspondents, including those that produced the BAFTA-winning coverage from the 2011 Japan earthquake. He also led the programme’s investigation into the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war which has prompted a UN investigation and global calls for a war crimes tribunal.

Rory Cellan-Jones has been a BBC reporter on business and economics for nearly 30 years. For the last decade he has been the BBC’s Technology Correspondent, charged with widening the Corporation’s coverage of the impact of technology on business and society. He has also presented a number of Radio 4 documentaries, including The Secret History of Social Networking and The Force of Google, an investigation into the power of Google’s search algorithm.

Madhumita Murgia is a prize-winning journalist and editor with expertise in the fields of technology and science. As the FT’s European tech correspondent, she reports on major news, trends and innovations in global technologies, and their impact on Europe. She was formerly head of the Telegraph’s technology section, where she wrote a weekly column on the business of technology, and has written features about data privacy, security and digital health for publications such as Wired, Newsweek and BBC Future.

Owen Bennett is Deputy Political Editor of The Huffington Post UK and a critically acclaimed author. His second book, ‘The Brexit Club: The Inside Story of The Leave Campaign’s Shock Victory’ was published in 2016, and was described as “a riveting inside account” of the referendum by The Observer. Bennett is a regular contributor to the BBC and Sky News and has also written for the New Statesman website and other political blogs.

Trump’s hostile campaign targeted minorities, religious groups and women while painting an uncertain image of an America turning inward; his campaign has suggested disengagement from NATO and mass deportation while leaving the international diplomats bracing themselves for the unpredictability of the Trump White House.

Trump’s presidency means radical change in America’s foreign policy. Among the many questions remaining as the world looks on are what is going to happen to trade, international relations and the country’s role in overseas conflicts. The fear among some Western diplomats is that the Trump election will encourage other populist, anti-establishment politicians across Europe and the world.

How will campaign talk compare to real world policy? We will be joined by an expert panel who will offer their initial reactions to this unprecedented election, and discuss what global impacts are expected as Donald Trump takes office.

Chaired by Michael Goldfarb, journalist, author and broadcaster who has reported for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and Global Post.

Speakers (full panel announced soon.)

Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) is the Guardian’s Washington Bureau chief, covering politics and US national affairs. Previously, he worked as the national editor in London and was head of business.

Steven Erlanger (@StevenErlanger) is London bureau chief for The New York Times. Previously he has served as bureau chief in Paris, Jerusalem, Berlin, Moscow, Bangkok and Central Europe and the Balkans. He has also been cultural news editor, chief diplomatic correspondent based in Washington, Moscow correspondent and Southeast Asia correspondent.

Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) is a journalist, feminist and author of five books including Unspeakable Things (Bloomsbury 2014), Cybersexism (Bloomsbury 2013) and Meat Market (Zer0 2011). She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and a contributing Editor at New Statesman. Writes and speaks on social justice, pop culture, gender issues and digital politics for The Guardian, The New York Times, Vice, Salon, The Nation, The New Inquiry and many more.

Shelina Janmohamed (@loveinheadscarf) is an established commentator on Muslim social and religious trends, particularly around young Muslims and Muslim women, and writes for Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the National and the BBC. She is the bestselling author of Love in a Headscarf, a memoir about growing up as a British Muslim woman. Her new book, Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World​, was published in August 2016.

Professor Inderjeet Parmar (@USEmpire) is President of the British International Studies Association. His doctorate, from the University of Manchester, was in the fields of political science and international relations. Prior to appointment at City University London, he taught at the University of Manchester for 21 years, mainly in its Department of Government. He is also Principal Investigator and co-ordinator of the AHRC Research Network on the Presidency of Barack Obama.

Alex Sundstrom is a member of the board of Republicans Overseas UK. He holds a BA in English from Duke University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Originally from Tennessee, he is now based in London.

Introducing The GroundTruth Project – Please Join us For a Drink and Discussion

The GroundTruth Project, a Boston-based non-profit news organisation, is dedicated to supporting the next generation of international correspondents.

On the eve of the US election, GroundTruth founders Charles Sennott and Gary Knight look forward to introducing GroundTruth to the London media community.

Calvin Sims, former New York Times correspondent and GroundTruth Board member, will moderate a panel discussion with columnist and author Laurie Penny and GroundTruth journalists from the US and the UK.

The Bonfire of The Vanities: America’s Election and the Media in an Age of Disaffection and Distrust

This US election is unprecedented. Partisan politics and aligned journalism have all but destroyed the reach of the US mainstream press.

Millennials prefer to voice their grievances on Twitter than in the polling booth. And in the media maelstrom, opinion often passes for fact.

We ask:
How much credibility has the media lost in this election?

Where does journalism fit in the polarised political and social landscape? What role should the media play to improve discourse?

Where will millennial journalists take the role of the media and can social media get out the millennial vote?

Chair:

Calvin Sims has more than 20 years of experience in journalism, philanthropy, and international affairs. He has served in senior roles at International House, The New York Times, Discovery Times Channel, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Ford Foundation, and leading non-profit organisations. At The New York Times, he served as bureau chief and foreign correspondent in Argentina, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.

Speakers (full panel announced soon):

Laurie Penny is a journalist, feminist and author of five books including Unspeakable Things (Bloomsbury 2014), Cybersexism (Bloomsbury 2013) and Meat Market (Zer0 2011). She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and a contributing Editor at New Statesman. Writes and speaks on social justice, pop culture, gender issues and digital politics for The Guardian, The New York Times, Vice, Salon, The Nation, The New Inquiry and many more.

Michael Goldfarb is a journalist author and broadcaster. He has reported for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and Global Post.

Matt Negrin is a freelance journalist who has written for Diane Sawyer, Politico, and The New York Times.

Kevin Grant is The GroundTruth Project’s Co-founder and Managing Editor. Previously Senior Editor of Special Reports at GlobalPost, he edits award-winning coverage on global religion and youth unemployment among others. He holds an M.A. in Online Journalism from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School, where he was a Dean’s Scholar and the founding Executive Editor of Annenberg’s thriving 24/7 news organization Neon Tommy. Grant is the former Operations Director of semantic news analyzer Inform.com.

The evening will begin at 8pm but make sure you are set for a long night and book a table in the restaurant. Book a table via the restaurant page, or call 020 7479 8950.

Tickets are £5 standard and free for Frontline Club members however booking online is required.

Seen through the lens of filmmaker Brian Oakes, Foley’s close childhood friend, Jim: The James Foley Story takes us from small-town New England to the adrenaline-fuelled front lines of Libya and Syria, where photojournalist James (Jim) Foley pushed the limits of danger to report on the plight of civilians impacted by war.

On Thanksgiving Day 2012, Jim Foley was kidnapped in Syria and went missing for two years. Thrown into a world of false leads and misinformation, the Foley family was threatened with prosecution by the U.S. government if they paid a ransom. In Oakes’s gut-wrenching film, Foley’s family, friends, and fellow journalists tell Jim’s story, while his fellow hostages reveal the details of captivity with chilling immediacy.

Brilliantly constructed with unparalleled access, Jim is a harrowing chronicle of bravery, compassion, and pain at the dawn of a new World War against ISIS.

Tickets can be booked through the Bertha DocHouse website and the screening will take place at the Curzon Bloomsbury cinema.

Directed by: Brian Oakes
Country: United States
Year: 2016
runtime: 120′