What the EJC team is looking forward to in Perugia
Our top recommendations for sessions at the International Journalism Festival 2019
From April 3–7, Europe’s biggest gathering for journalists is opening its doors.
The International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy (short: Perugia) is going into its 13th edition, featuring 280 different sessions. The European Journalism Centre will be involved in the programme more than ever this year.
We’ll be there with 14 sessions and six staff members, as well as many EJC friends. We will be discussing topics surrounding our focus areas: Freedom, Funding, Leadership, Storytelling and Digital.
Are you interested in catching up on these topics — or with our colleagues? Here’s an overview of our sessions and where you can find us.
Freedom
With press freedom increasingly under attack, one of the EJC’s goals this year is to enable media environment by implementing and connecting press freedom initiatives globally.
4 April, 15:00–16:00, Palazzo Sorbello
A panel discussion featuring the columnists of our ‘Press Released’ series on press freedom and journalism safety issues, produced in partnership with Project Syndicate.
5 April, 16:00–17:00, Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani
Media capture constitutes one of the gravest threats to independent journalism. This session will cover the issue by featuring stories of panelists from countries strongly impacted by state and business entities bent on stifling freedom of expression.
For all sessions around press freedom, get in touch with our colleague Josh.
Funding
To help journalism discover new means of sustainability, in 2019 we will focus on the testing and development of new funding models.
6 April, 10:00–11:00, Hotel Brufani — Sala Raffaello
How do foundations take decisions when it comes to funding projects, organisations and ideas? We will discuss this with the decision makers from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Luminate Group, Open Society Foundations and Rudolf Augstein Stiftung.
4 April, 11:00–12:00, Sala Brugnoli, Palazzo Cesaroni
What is Google trying to achieve with its 150 million euro DNI fund for European media? The panel will discuss the findings of a cross-border investigation on how Google uses its money as a soft-power tool in journalism.
4 April, 14:00–15:00, Sala del Dottorato
It seems like there’s always something new that promises to “save” the industry. This session will look at the important lessons we can learn from adjacent industries about testing and learning in ways that help the news business move forward.
Leadership
Leadership and diversity are crucial to the reinvention of journalism. This year the EJC will focus on supporting new journalism leaders, freelancers and cultural change.
4 April, 12:00–13:00, Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori
Discussing everything from hierarchy to workflows, join an honest conversation with our News Impact friends Alex Entwistle, Cristian Lupsa, Anita Zielina and Zuzanna Ziomecka, and our colleague Paula Montañà Tor, to discuss some of the vital challenges our industry is facing.
6 April, 12:00–13:00, Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori
How can news organisations re-learn to listen and regain trust? Our panelists will discuss the ways we can restore trust in newsrooms.
5 April, 10:00–11:00, Centro Servizi G. Alessi
A look into new ways of quantifying the impact of great journalism. Both sessions will be moderated by our colleague Kathryn Geels.
Storytelling
As news organisations cut back, certain types of journalism have suffered. In 2019, we will support new forms of storytelling, especially on underreported topics.
6 April, 15:00–16:00, Sala San Francesco, Arcivescovado
Featuring grantees of our Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR), this panel discussion will look at parachute journalism, asking whether development reporting is a thing of the past.
4 April, 11:00–12:00, Palazzo Sorbello
A discussion with grantees of our publishers grants and the New Arrivals project, on the challenges in development reporting and on how development reporting is changing the way newsrooms think about topics like migration, climate and equality. Both sessions will be joined by our colleague Elise Rochez.
4 April, 18:00–19:00, Palazzo Sorbello
This interactive panel on reality journalism will showcase our investigative journalism TV shows in Europe and Africa that are regularly watched by more than 2 million people. This session will be joined by our colleague Josh LaPorte.
Digital
Digital skills and data journalism have great value in journalism. For this reason, the EJC will focus on connecting and training students and journalists in digital and data skills.
4 April, 14:00–15:00, Sala San Francesco, Arcivescovado
An interactive Ask Me Anything session with Christina Elmer, Paul Bradshaw and Lindsay Green-Barber, authors of the Data Journalism Handbook. Tip-off: during this session, we will be previewing our new DataJournalism.com website.
6 April, 17:00–18:00, Palazzo Sorbello
What are the challenges of data journalism done at a local level? This panel will look at data journalism for local newsrooms with Megan Lucero of The Bureau Local, Marianna Bruschi & Marie-Louise Timcke.
For all things data journalism & EJC get in touch with Letizia Gambini.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
