iMEdD's International Journalism Week will serve as a meeting point where renowned media professionals coming from around the globe will focus on the matter of trust in journalism. In the face of declining public trust, outstanding speakers with notable achievements and unique life experiences will encourage discussion by sharing their illuminating ideas and thought-provoking solutions.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor and host of the network’s flagship global affairs program “Amanpour”, is one of the numerous award-winning professionals who will be speaking during iMEdD’s Journalism Week. She began her distinguished career in 1983 by joining CNN as an entry-level assistant on the international assignment desk. Today, she is a leading international correspondent and has interviewed some of the world’s top leaders and influential personalities. She has received major broadcast awards for her fearless reporting including fourteen News and Documentary Emmys, four Peabody Awards and two George Polk Awards. On Saturday, 8 October at 18:00, Amanpour will be participating in a discussion moderated by Valerie Biden Owens about the role of media in democracy, emphasizing on the opportunities and challenges for journalism as it strives to uphold democratic ideals.
Another acclaimed speaker who will be taking the stage is Marc Marginedas. He started working as a junior journalist in El Periodico in 1992 and since then, he has covered some of the world’s major wars and conflicts including Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Arab springs. In his book “Periodismo en el campo de batalla”, Marginedas shares more about his experiences as a war correspondent. During his coverage of the Syrian civil war, he was kidnapped by the Islamic State. After his release in 2014, he decided to go to Russia and seek answers about the conflict that put his life in danger. Marginedas will be speaking among other war journalists at the panel “Journalists at War” on Saturday, 8 October at 19:00 and will go into depth about his riveting story during his flash session on Thursday, 6 October at 13:00.
Trust in journalism will be the main focus of Jelena Cosic’s keynote speech. Jelena Cosic is the training manager and Eastern European partnership coordinator of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) as well as a data and research journalist. She has been awarded numerous investigative journalism prizes and has worked on groundbreaking projects such as the Panama Papers and the FinCen Files. Some of the awards she has received with ICIJ include the Tom Renner Award, EPPY award, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. More about ICIJ’s remarkable network of journalists and innovative investigative journalism model will be presented during Cosic’s keynote speech “How to trust a journalist” on Friday, 7 October at 18:00.