The IPI 2022 World Congress kicked off yesterday on the campus of Columbia University in New York City – the same location where IPI was founded 72 years ago, in 1950.
This year’s Congress is focused on how independent journalism can meet the challenges of the moment. With journalists, editors and media thought leaders from around the world, we’re discussing how independent media can survive and thrive amid growing repression. And we’re exploring how we can harness new technologies and drive innovation to ensure the survival of a critical press.
With over 400 in-person registered participants and many more online, the #IPIWoCo 2022 is more than a conference. We’re a movement for journalism.
Here are some of the key highlights from Day 1:
We kicked off with welcome messages from IPI Executive Board Chair Khadija Patel, IPI Vice Chair John Daniszewski of the Associated Press, and Simon Li, former IPI Board vice chair and former Los Angeles Times foreign editor.
We are here because humanity must exist…That is why journalism must survive …Free media must not only survive the challenges, it must thrive…There is hope in collective action. – @khadijapatel, IPI Executive Board Chair @globalfreemedia #IPIWoCo pic.twitter.com/gNmLcdQFFk
— Wole Soyinka Centre (@WSoyinkaCentre) September 8, 2022
The IPI World Congress then had the pleasure of hosting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dimitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of Russia’s Novaya Gazeta. In conversation with the New Yorker’s Masha Gessen, Muratov described how Russia’s independent media faces total eradication.
Read our summary of Gessen’s conversation with Muratov.
🗨️Paying tribute to his friend Mikhail #Gorbachev, who helped found Novaya Gazeta in 1993 with the money from his own Nobel Peace Prize and who passed away last week, Muratov says: “He gave us the gift of 30 years of a world without the threat of nuclear war.” pic.twitter.com/8WLC5Nfp6w
— IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media (@globalfreemedia) September 8, 2022
🎙️ Right now at #IPIWoCo: Nobel Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov and @mashagessen discuss #Russia‘s #media blackout amid the war in #Ukraine.
💻 Join online here: https://t.co/q62A7uQP1e #MediaDev #PressFreedom @globalfreemedia https://t.co/loIAzURHmd pic.twitter.com/KvA4g2v8HN— Global Forum for Media Development #MediaDev (@MediaGFMD) September 9, 2022
‘In #Russia the genocide of media has come to its conclusion. Russian people are now left alone, face to face with propaganda’ – legendary Dmitry Muratov at #IPIWoCo pic.twitter.com/23sRICY4mc
— jessicajerreat (@JessicaJerreat) September 8, 2022
Nobel Peace Prize-winning-editor Dmitry Muratov of @novaya_gazeta spoke at the opening session of the #IPIWoCo 2022 yesterday.
He told the crowd the elimination of critical journalism in #Russia has “come to its conclusion” after the war in Ukraine 👇https://t.co/X8xHy9Ur7p
— IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media (@globalfreemedia) September 9, 2022
After that, a star-packed IPI Town Hall tackled the question of disinformation and what newsroom can do about it, including when it comes to protecting journalists from the smear campaigns that have become a weapon of intimidating and silencing the press.
Read our summary of the Town Hall meeting.
Sally Buzbee has said disinformation, alongside climate change, is the challenge of our generation and even of this century. It can only be coped with if journalists powerfully expose disinformation campaigns, and the public can be educated to fight it. https://t.co/SAoYdlUuuL
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) September 8, 2022
On truth in 2022, by @meslackman from @nytimes: “Everything is what you want it to be. The most read articles are opinion articles that make you feel good. I think it’s about education: every kid needs to be schooled in media literacy.”#IPIWoCo pic.twitter.com/Q1YbhuZj5i
— Ryan Powell (@ryan_c_powell) September 8, 2022
Excited to kick off #IPIWoCo tonight with the launch of the Li Center for Global Reporting @columbiajourn, and for our town hall on journalists dealing with disinformation campaigns. Newsroom leaders from around the world will get candid. Join us: https://t.co/TQoA2Eoia8 https://t.co/2VH9WUazWN
— Azmat Khan (@AzmatZahra) September 8, 2022