Will crisis reporting survive? - Humanity House

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Tue
11 Jun
2019

CANCELLED

Will crisis reporting survive?

Due to circumstances this event has been cancelled

The media is in crisis. It is becoming increasingly difficult to finance qualitative investigative journalism, certainly when it comes to subjects far away, such as war, conflict and humanitarian crises. How does this impact on the way people and policy-makers think and respond to these issues? How can we support independent, responsible journalism about the most critical global challenges of our time? 

At a time of fake news and serious global challenges like migration, climate change and the war in Syria, independent, quality journalism is needed to make sense of a complex world. Yet the media industry is in crisis. Reporting about international issues has declined steadily in recent decades. There is hardly any funding available for real investigative reporting that reveals the complexity on the ground. To ensure coverage of humanitarian crises, NGOs and journalists often become more dependent on each other, which raises concerns about the independence of journalism. According to a recent consumer survey among people working or interested in humanitarian aid, the mainstream media coverage of humanitarian crises is ‘selective, sporadic, simplistic and partial’.

Join this debate on the ethics and viability of crisis reporting in a divided world, and on how to support independent, responsible journalism that highlights some of the most critical issues of our time.

Heba Aly, editor-of-chief of The New Humanitarian, gives a keynote speech on the value of independent, qualitative crisis reporting. This will be followed by a panel discussion with Dutch journalists, funders and aid workers. What are the consequences of the lack of funding on how Dutch readers and policy-makers read about and act upon conflict and crises? What is the role of journalists in reporting on humanitarian crises? And how can we make sure that crisis reporting remains independent of and critical on the work of aid organizations?

Keynote speaker

  • Heba Aly is the director of The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News), an independent, non-profit newsroom reporting from the heart of conflicts and disasters. TNH amplifies the voices of those affected by conflict and disasters, to inform more effective and accountable responses by the international community. Heba Aly was named by New African Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2018. In 2018, the World Economic Forum named Heba one of 100 Young Global Leaders under 40. For her work she has been reporting from conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. She received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for work in northern Sudan. Her recent TEDx Talk – “Stop Eating Junk News” – drives home the importance of responsible journalism from crisis zones.
  • Joeri Boom is a Dutch journalist, specialized in conflict reporting. He has reported from the frontlines in Kosovo, Macedonia, Darfur, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. From 2012, he was South Asia correspondent for NRC Handelsblad based in New Delhi. And from 2014 Joeri he was also a radio and TV correspondent for the NOS in the region. He still returns regularly back to the region. In June 2011, Joeri won the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize for critical foreign journalism, with his book “Als een nacht met duizend sterren”, about his struggle with embedded journalism in Uruzgan. From the jury report: “He was one of the few who kept digging and did not give up. In this way Boom fulfills one of the most important tasks of journalism: controlling the government, which in the case of Uruzgan did not hesitate to temper with the truth.”
  • Cees van der Laan is the editor-in-chief for the Dutch newspaper Trouw.
  • Wessam Alessa is Iraqi journalist, who reported on the war against ISIS from the front line. From 2005 – 2015 has was a freelance journalist for English broadcasts such as BBC radio. Before that he was correspondent China for Central Television and chief correspondent for Press TV.
  • Tineke Ceelen is the director of Stichting Vluchteling, a Dutch NGO that provides humanitarian aid to refugees all around the world. Media attention is important for the organisation to bring public attention to neglected humanitarian emergencies.

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Details

  • English
  • 19:30
  • 20:00
  • 21:30