Fearless Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, TIME magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year; Galina Timchenko, editor of the Russian news site Meduza, which the Kremlin has labelled a ‘foreign agent’ over its critical reporting; ProPublica editor Stephen Engelberg; The Wire’s Siddharth Varadarajan, a driving force behind the Pegasus Project’s explosive surveillance revelations in India; and the editors of two of Hungary’s last independent media – Veronika Munk of Telex.hu and Marton Gergely of HVG – are just some of the leading journalists and thinkers that will speak at the 2021 IPI World Congress from 15 to 17 September.

The 2021 IPI World Congress will take place as a hybrid event – both online around the world and in real life in Vienna, gathering in-person participants in three of the most historical locations in the city: the Rathaus (City Hall), Presseclub Concordia and Haus der Musik.

Throughout a number of panels and informal gatherings, we’ll try to find answers to some of the most urgent questions for the survival of a quality, independent journalism: How might we build resilience into our media models, resist misinformation and media capture, create a product-thinking mindset in our newsrooms, and combat online harassment?

We’ll also share lessons from the digital transition journey through the pandemic, including how we retain trust with our newfound audiences, journalism models to withstand economic and democratic recessions, and inspiring new local journalism experiments.

Some highlights include the critical mission of modelling the business under repression. Even when you’re under attack from the government you still need to be sure the business can go on. How does that work? Find out from journalists and editors like Dapo Olorunyomi of Nigeria’s Premium Times, and Cansu Çamlıbel of Duvar English in Turkey.

And given that independent media are under growing attack everywhere, we’ll be hosting a town hall meeting to focus on strategies for resistance. We’ll have a who’s who of journalists on the frontline from Maria Ressa, Zaffar Abbas (Pakistan), Galina Timchenko, and Pravit Rojanaphruk (Thailand), all known for defending that critical space for independent journalism in their countries. They will be joined by OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro.

And there’s much more. IPI World Congress is more than an event, it is a movement for journalism: Join us!

Register to IPI 2021 Hybrid World Congress here!

 

Confirmed speakers to date: https://ipiwoco2021.sched.com/directory/speakers

This is a “hybrid” Congress, a mix of in-person panels with online-only discussions. September 15 will be online only, while September 16 and 17 will be a hybrid format, with panels and special events being held in-person in Vienna, with a small number of speakers joining remotely. You’ll find all the information you need to join in – registration, panel discussions, venues, side events, etc – here: http://ipi.media/ipi-world-congress-2021/

Partner organisations:

The 2021 IPI World Congress is co-hosted by the City of Vienna, Presseclub Concordia and the Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

We also have an impressive roster of supporters including Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), IMS (International Media Support), the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Erste Foundation, the European Commission, Fritt Ord, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Al Jazeera Media Network, and the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

We’re also delighted to welcome as partners media organisations such as Metropole, The Fix, Fjum_forum for journalism and media, OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), JamLab Africa, Project Syndicate and The GroundTruth Project.

Health above everything else: 

We know things can change due to COVID-19. All registrations will be 100 percent refundable in the event of cancellation. Nonetheless we’re confident in proceeding, and we will make sure that all Congress gatherings at any of the venues fulfil Austria’s Covid-19 health regulations, meaning that all participants will have to show an official document proving one of these three:

  • Vaccination – International or EU vaccine certificates (vaccines approved in the EU: Biontech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson)
  • Negative test – Test certificates carrying a QR code. PCR tests valid for 48 hours; antigen test valid for 24 hours. There are numerous possibilities to get tests free of charge in Vienna and the IPI staff will provide support to Congress participants; or
  • Recent recovery from COVID-19 – EU Digital COVID Certificate carrying a QR code.

We will keep participants informed about any change in these regulations.

Media enquiries: 

For more information, or to request interviews with any of the 2021 IPI World Congress speakers, please contact:

Javier Luque, IPI Head of Digital Communications: [email protected]