Putting together a good conference is a fine art. The logistics of getting the very best international experts all in the same room, at the same time and keeping the coffee and snacks flowing should not be underestimated. Which makes former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown’s inaugural global investigative journalism conference in partnership with Reuters and Durham University all the more jaw-dropping. Held on Wednesday in honour of her late husband and giant of the industry, Sir Harry Evans, it was described by attendees as the “Woodstock of journalism”. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (of Watergate), Jesse Armstrong (of Succession), war photographer Don McCullin, Emily Maitlis and Yalda Hakim (of the BBC), Branko Brkic (of South Africa’s Daily Maverick), Barry Diller (co-founder of Fox Broadcasting) and Alessandra Galloni (editor-in-chief of Reuters) were just some of guests. But more important than the journalistic star-power is the worry, as Brown said in her opening address, that the media industry is threatened by a “perfect storm of competing forces”. Catch up on the day and the debate here.
Photograph Andrew Parsons for Truth Tellers