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Edited by Marco Nurra
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange arrested in London. Parts of the indictment go head-to-head with basic journalistic activities protected by the first amendment, academics say. Here’s our news selection:
- Julian Assange’s charges are a direct assault on press freedom, experts warn
- Traditional journalists may abandon WikiLeaks’ Assange at their own peril
- The Guardian view on Julian Assange: it would be wrong to extradite him
- US: Assange’s possible extradition threatens journalism
- You don’t have to like Julian Assange to defend him
- The Assange prosecution threatens modern journalism
We’ve decided to dedicate this release almost entirely to the International Journalism Festival that took place in Perugia from 3 to 7 April 2019. Here are some recommendations and reviews:
International Journalism Festival: Disinformation and censorship in Malta. The 2019 International Journalism Festival, which takes place in Perugia, brings together journalists, students, media agencies and NGOs to discuss the current role of media in society. Also on the agenda are a number of workshops and panels, headed by some of the sector’s leading voices and stakeholders, including Pulitzer-prize winner Matthew Caruana Galizia. – The Shift News
‘Hold the line’: Journalist Maria Ressa says democracies are fragile. Filipino journalist Maria Ressa says journalists need to “hold the line” as democracy is under threat throughout the world. The Philippines and her news organization, Rappler, she says, are the “canaries in the coal mine.” – PRI
Journalists call for social media platforms to clamp down on politically targeted abuse. Speaking at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia (4 April 2019), four journalists from across the world spoke of their experiences with state-sponsored and state-inspired harassment and trolling on social media, in a session titled ‘When a state trolls: strategies for responding to online harassment against journalists’. – journalism.co.uk
The journalists trying to stop the dangerous — and deadly — spread of fake news in Mexico. In three months, the Verificado cohort collectively debunked or confirmed over 150 political news stories. Alba Mora Roca, executive producer AJ+ Español, has been #ijf19 speaker: ‘Deepfakes, shallow fakes and real deal journalism’. – Global Investigative Journalism Network
How Perugia (almost) broke my heart. “For now, I suppose we have to hold tight and keep talking about how we’re going to get ourselves out of this mess. But there is something important about remembering that we can save ourselves by doing what we do best. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Forbidden Stories have kept the work of murdered journalists Jan Kuciak and Daphne Caruana Galizia – whose son Matthew spoke in Perugia – very much alive. We owe it to them and reporters like Don Bolles to continue fighting the good fight. Here’s to journalism.” – Global Investigative Journalism Network
‘Saving lives is an obligation’ says founder of Spanish NGO. Oscar Camps, who was a guest at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, believes there is no immigration ’emergency’. “If you look at real data, you see that between three and four percent of the world’s population migrates, and it has been that way since we began registering data, from the Sixties, after the Second World War,” he said. “What the Pope said is right” Camps said he shares the Pope’s words that people shouldn’t be afraid of migrants. – ANSA
Misinformation and platform influence dominate Perugia media conference. “It’s difficoult to sum up the main themes of a conference like the International Journalism Festival, in part because it is so vast,” writes Mathew Ingram. ” The conference lasts for five days and involves more than 400 speakers, almost 300 panels, and events in a dozen different locations in Perugia’s historic district (it’s also free of charge to all attendees).” – Columbia Journalism Review
Afraid of misinformation? Don’t be! DW’s selection of verification-specific #ijf19 Perugia sessions: from deepfakes to verification tools. – Deutsche Welle
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Julia Angwin sharing do’s and don’ts of data journalism projects at the International Journalism Festival. – Global Investigative Journalism Network
Lessons in newsroom innovation from Perugia. Innovators from the FT, CNN, NRK and RISJ shared their knowledge of how to kickstart deep, lasting changes inside news organisations. – journalism.co.uk
#ijf19: Driving deep-change and fuelling mobile journalism. Journalism.co.uk caught up with some of the speakers in this week’s podcast. – journalism.co.uk
Watch all #ijf19 sessions on-demand: media.journalismfestival.com