International Journalism Festival 2024: the events you shouldn’t miss in Perugia

From 17 to 21 April, journalists worldwide will gather for the International Journalism Festival in Perugia again. Many voices from the Reuters Institute will speak at the festival. Here's a selection of some of the highlights this year, which include panels on AI and the media industry, reporting from conflict zones and how journalists are planning to cover this year’s elections.

All the panels will be live-streamed on the festival's IJF YouTube channel. See you in Perugia or online.

Skip to: 18 April | 19 April | 20 April

Thursday 18 April

10.00. Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani
Applying AI in small newsrooms: lessons from the AI in Journalism Challenge
Claudia Baez from Cuestión Pública | David Caswell from Storyflow | Shuwei Fang from Open Society Foundations | Bahareh Heravi from Institute for People-Centred AI University of Surrey

• Read David Caswell’s essay on what’s next for journalism and AI

11.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani
Regulating AI in (and for) the news
Emily Bell from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism | Natali Helberger from the University of Amsterdam | Ritu Kapur from Quint Digital Media Ltd | Felix Simon from OII

12.00. Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani.
Climate catalysts: a conversation with funders shaping journalism's impact on understanding the climate crisis
Robert Elder from the Outrider Foundation | Mitali Mukherjee from RISJ | Marina Pravdic from The Rockefeller Foundation | Nina Sachdev from Media Impact Funders

• Read this piece by our own Diego Arguedas Ortiz and Katherine Dunn on what they've learnt from running the Oxford Climate Journalism Network.

12.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori
Beyond the Taliban’s media censorship: the story of Afghanistan’s Amu TV 
Lotfullah Najafizada from Amu TV | Phil Chetwynd from AFP

12.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani
The new voice of journalism: audio news in the age of AI
Cheryl Brumley from FT | Ezra Eeman from NPO | Mark Little | Lena Beate Hamborg Pedersen from Aftenposten

15.00. Sala Priori, Hotel Brufani.
New generation, new rules: how to manage a newsroom?
Federica Cherubini from RISJ | Marine Doux from Medianes | Clémentine Forissier from Contexte | Anup Kaphle from Rest of World

• Read Federica’s report on how newsrooms are changing in response to issues such as hybrid work, the need for diversity and the rise of generative AI.

16.00. Sala del Dottorato.
Defending the defenders: upholding justice in the face of lawfare
Carlos Gaio from Media Defence | Caoilfhionn Gallagher from Doughty Street Chambers | Advocate Karuna Nundy | Journalist José Carlos Zamora | Antonio Zappulla from TRF 

16.00. Sala Priori, Hotel Brufani.
Seven practical strategies to counter news avoidance
Ellen Heinrichs from Bonn Institute | Nic Newman from RISJ

• Read Nic’s report on how media leaders are planning for the year ahead.

16.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori.
Palestinian journalism between occupation, daily violence and global censorship
Shuruq As’ad from the Palestinian Journalism Syndicate | Fatemah Farag from Welad Elbalad Media | Nadim Nashif from 7amleh | Muamar Orabi from Wattan Media Network

• Read Matthew Leake’s piece on how reporters in Gaza have risked their lives to report on the war.

16.00. Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori.
Eastern Europe: how to adapt editorial coverage with elections under threat?
Jakub Gornicki from Outriders | Rafal Madajczak from Gazeta.pl | Stefan Onica from Stirile TVR | Nino Robakidze from IREX Georgia

17.00. Centro Servizi G. Alessi.
Reader revenue beyond the English language
Carine Fouteau from Mediapart | Carolina Guerrero from Radio Ambulante | Mari Luz Peinado from El País | Eduardo Suárez from RISJ

• Read our report on how and why audiences are paying for news online.

17.00. Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori
Publisher audio apps in Europe and US: what next for audio news?
Renée Kaplan from ARTE | Mukul Devichand from NYT 

17.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori.
Here be neurons: how to tame neural networks in AI models
Christina Elmer from the Institute for Journalism, Dortmund Technical University | Uli Koppen from Bayerischer Rundfunk | Maren Urner from HMKW University of Applied Sciences Cologne | Olle Zachrison from Swedish Radio

Friday 19 April

10.00. Sala del Dottorato.
Independent Arab newsrooms: the frontlines of the war on Gaza
Lina Attalah from Mada Masr | Alia Ibrahim from Daraj.com | Michael Jensen from MENA International Media Support | Jean Kassir from Megaphone

• Read our interview with Daraj’s founder Diana Moukalled.

10.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori.
Can journalism survive AI?
Julia Angwin from Proof | Meredith Broussard from Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute | Dhruv Mehrotra from WIRED | Courtney Radsch from the Center for Journalism and Liberty

• Read our interview with Julia Angwin on her new outlet, AI and more.
• Read this article by Courtney Radsch on this issue.
• Read this essay by our Director Rasmus Nielsen on this topic.

11.00. Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori.
The promise and peril of public service news in a changing media landscape
Renée Kaplan from ARTE | Anne Lagercrantz from SVT | Naja Nielsen from BBC News | Rasmus Nielsen from RISJ

• Read this chapter from last year’s Digital News Report on what audiences think of public service media around the world.

12.35. Auditorium San Francesco al Prato.
Motaz Azaiza: reporting the war in Gaza
Motaz Azaiza | Jodie Ginsberg from CPJ

• Read our interview with Jodie Ginsberg on the journalists killed in Gaza.

15.00. Centro Servizi G. Alessi.
Balanced election coverage: focusing on the facts
Stephanie Burnett from Reuters | Anette Dowideit from Correctiv | Ritu Kapur from Quint | Kieran Murray from Reuters

• Read our deep dive into Correctiv’s scoop on the secret plan against Germany.

16.00. Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani.
How does implementing AI in your newsroom drive sustainability?
Desmond Barnes from The Washington Informer | Josh Brandau from Nota | Noreen Gillespie from Democracy Forward Microsoft | Jennifer Robillard from McClatchy

16.00. Sala del Dottorato.
Social media is dead. Long live the social web
Joanna Geary from Bloomberg | Mark Little | Johanna Rudiger from DW Culture & Documentaries | Zoe Schiffer from Platformer

16.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani
How to effectively cover climate change and reach an avoidant audience
Juan Manuel Benítez from Columbia University | Anna Bresanin from BBC Reel | Adam Levy | Amy Westervelt from Critical Frequency 

Saturday 20 April

10.00. Sala della Vaccara, Palazzo dei Priori
Reframing visual journalism in the age of synthetic media
David Campbell from The VII Foundation | Joumana El Zein Khoury from World Press Photo Foundation | Alessia Glaviano from Global PhotoVogue | Arthur Grimonpont from RSF

10.00. Sala del Dottorato
How should Europe’s mainstream media cover far-right political parties?
Ann-Katrin Muller from Der Spiegel | Gilles Paris from Le Monde | Laura Saarikoski from Helsingin Sanomat | Mirjana Tomic from Forum Journalismus und Medien

10.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani
X and journalists: should I stay or should I go?
Phil Chetwynd from AFP | Aaron Rupar from Public Notice | Zoe Schiffer from Platformer | Marianna Spring from the BBC

10.00. Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani
Africa: exploring new news (why news doesn’t have to be bad)
Moky Makura from No Filter | Ebele Okobi from the New Humanitarian | Nishant Lalwani from IFPIM | Sipho Kings from The Continent | Tomiwa Aladekomo from Big Cabal Media

10.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori
The complexity of covering your own country at war
Sevgil Musaieva from Ukrainska Pravda | Alona Vinograd form Shomrim | Vivian Schiller from Aspen Digital

11.00. Sala del Dottorato.
Avoiding the news: why people avoid the news and what can be done about it
Rasmus Nielsen from RISJ | Ruth Palmer from IE University Madrid | Benjamin Toff from Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication

• Read an excerpt from the speakers’ book on news avoidance.

11.00. Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori
Covering Gaza, against all the odds
Lina Attalah from Mada Masr | Youmna ElSayed from Al Jazeera English | Nadim Nashif from 7amleh | Wafa’ Abdel Rahman from Filastiniyat

11.00. Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani
Social media, AI, and elections: perspectives from the Global South on the “Year of Democracy”
Thandi Bhengu from Open Cities Lab | Patricia Campos Mello from Folha de Sao Paulo | Luis Fernando Garcia from Red de Defensa de los Derechos Digitales | Ika Ningtyas from Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia

• Read Patricia Campos Mello’s 2021 Reuters Memorial Lecture.

12.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani.
The rise of AI: journalism after platforms
Emily Bell from the Tow Center | Gabby Miller from Tech Policy Press | Taylor Owen from The Center for Media, Technology and Democracy | Charis Papaevangelou from the University of Amsterdam

14.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani.
The rise of news influencers: what journalists must learn
Mercy Abang from Hostwriter | Enrique Anarte Lazo from Thomson Reuters Foundation | Fatu Ogwuche from Big Tech This Week | Johanna Rudiger from DW

• Read this piece by Gretel Kahn on news influencers in Kenya and Peru.

14.00. Centro Servizi G. Alessi.
Elections, elections, elections: how to cover the blockbuster 2024 polls safely
Beh Lih Yi from CPJ | Shahina K.K. from Outlook | Julie Pace from AP | Brianne Pfannenstiel from The Des Moines Register

• Read this piece by Mitali Mukherjee on what’s at stake at the Indian election in terms of misinformation and press freedom.

15.00. Auditorium San Francesco al Prato.
The AI Elections 
Ed Bice from Meedan | Maggie Farley from Knight Fellowships ICFJ | Ritu Kapur from Quint | Maria Ressa from Rappler | Vivian Schiller from Aspen Digital

• Read this piece by Marina Adami on how AI-generated might impact this year’s elections.

15.00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani.
Freelance journalism in the age of AI
Anna Codrea-Rado | Abigail Edge | Nikita Roy from Newsroom Robots | Chris Stokel-Walker

• Read Gretel Kahn's piece on the problems freelance journalists are facing around the world.

15.00. Centro Servizi G. Alessi
Fact-checking: dead or alive?
Lucas Graves from the University of Wisconsin | Shayan Sardarizadeh from the BBC | Tai Nalon from Aos Fatos | Lee Mwiti from Africa Check | Marie Bohner from AFP

• Read our interview with Shayan Sardarizadeh on fact-checking the war in Gaza.

16:00. Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani.
Generative AI in the news: one year on
Nicholas Diakopoulos from the Computational Journalism Lab, Northwestern Univ. | Chris Moran from the Guardian | Felix Simon from OII | Agnes Stenbom from IN/LAB

16.00. Sala del Dottorato.
Digital resilience for journalists in a year of elections
Catherine Mackie from the Thomson Foundation | Charlotte Maher from Bellingcat | John-Allan Namu from Africa Uncensored | Jon Roozenbeek from Social-Decision Making Lab, University of Cambridge

• Read our interview with Kenyan journalist John-Allan Namu.

17.00. Auditorium San Francesco al Prato.
How India's independent media are collaborating to cover the parliamentary elections… and beyond
Preethi Nallu from Report for the World | Supriya Sharma from Scroll | Siddarth Varadarajan from The Wire | Vignesh Vellore from The News Minute