Jesse Beentjes
co-founder Huis voor de Journalistiek
Maurice Otieno
executive director Baraza Media Lab
Sameer Padania
director Macroscope Consultancy
Natalia Viana
co-founder and executive director Agencia Publica
Once upon a time, what we knew, the news we read and heard and watched, was gathered and processed and shaped in beautiful buildings on landmark sites in the centre of town. The owners of these buildings, news organisations, had power, money, influence - and, more importantly, presence. But then a dark wind swept across the world, and sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, those organisations found their influence much diminished, their parent companies acquired, their assets - those selfsame buildings - sold off, and bit by bit, the journalists left town (often for peri-urban office parks or working from home to produce 8 stories per shift).
But in recent years, independent media have rediscovered the value - social and financial - of having a space, a presence, in the heart of the city, and in the lives of the communities they serve. Learning from Houses of Literature, of Debate, of Culture, now we’re seeing a wave of Houses of Journalism, in diverse ways and places, around the world. From PUBLIX in Berlin and the Maison des Medias Libres in Paris to the examples we’ll talk about in this panel, media are planting a flag in city centres and in the cultural conversation once more.
Moderator Sameer Padania, himself involved in an effort to build a House of Journalism in the UK (inspired by last year's IJF session on Lighthouses for Journalism), will talk with pioneers from three continents - one who led a groundbreaking initiative in Brazil, another who is building a public interest arts, culture and media venue in Kenya, and another creating a House of Journalism in the Netherlands.