The International Journalism Festival weekly round-up. Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter, by following us on Instagram or Telegram, or by joining us on Bluesky.
The unresolved legacy of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The decade since the attack on a French satirical magazine
Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2025. News organisations are braced for multiple challenges in 2025 that will likely include further attacks from hostile politicians, continued economic headwinds, and battles to protect intellectual property in the face of rapacious AI-driven platforms
Recognizing independent video journalism with the ICFJ News Creator Award. Applications are now open for the inaugural News Creator Award for Excellence in Independent Video Journalism from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). The award, organized by ICFJ with support from YouTube, will honor independent journalists and news creators from across the world who produce high-quality, reliable news in the public interest. A total of eight winners will be recognized at the 2025 International Journalism Festival in Perugia. Deadline for nominations: 15 January 2025
Mark Zuckerberg is playing narrow politics with Trump—but Meta is a global company. Something has to give. The Meta boss has decided to ditch fact-checkers and ask users to contest facts—or create alternative ones, write Alan Rusbridger and Khaled Mansour, who sit on the company’s oversight board
Indian reporter murdered for exposing corruption surrounding road contract. 32-year-old freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar was reported missing on 3 January shortly after he wrote about the poor state of a road built by a local contractor
Academics team up to address the biggest challenges in local news research. “A lot of people assume that there is some list somewhere of all the local news outlets in particular places. And that just doesn’t exist”
What’s in store for technology in 2025? McKinsey’s technology leaders offer their insights on important technology priorities leaders should keep in mind this year.
“A hard hit for the fact-checking community and journalism”: Meta eliminates fact-checking in the US. Angie Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network and a 2023 Nieman fellow, said Meta’s decision “will hurt social media users who are looking for accurate, reliable information”
Reporting alone from Ukraine’s frontlines – Ukrainian freelancers covering the war. From negotiating their own safety protocols to processing trauma alone, Ukraine’s independent journalists are reshaping war reporting – at a personal cost
Documents found after the fall of Assad show Syrian intelligence spying on journalists. A file discovered at General Intelligence Directorate headquarters details an operation to investigate SIRAJ, a Syrian journalist collective that is part of the OCCRP network
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala returns home after release from prison in Iran. Sala, who had been held since 19 December, was greeted by family members and the Italian Prime Minister at Rome airport
News companies respond as TikTok’s short-form video format captures massive young audience. Why is TikTok embracing news content as others run away?
Image credit: screenshot from 7 January 2025 Columbia Journalism Review article entitled The Unresolved Legacy of the Charlie Hebdo Massacre