Saving Journalism 2: What Can We Learn from the Rest of the World?

Friday, October 21, 10:00am
Room 1501,
International Affairs building
Columbia University
420 West 118th St
New York City, NY 10027

In the aftermath of the report “Saving Journalism 2,” this all-day event will gather panels of scholars researching media policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with donors supporting media development. Discussions will highlight measures being tried around the world, what works, and what can be replicated. Specifically, panels will concentrate on the motivation behind the development and enactment of media bargaining codes in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the role civic media funds should play in the future of journalism funding, and similar efforts taking hold in South Africa, Mexico, and New York City. This event is sponsored by Columbia World Projects, the Technology, Media, and Communications program at the School of International Public Affairs, the Knight First Amendment Institute, as well as the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University.

Agenda

10:00am           

Opening Remarks by Anya Schiffrin, Director, Technology, Media, and Communications Department at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs

Panel 1: Comparing Media Bargaining Codes: Australia, Canada and the U.K. 

This panel will examine the motivation behind the policy development and enactment of the respective media bargaining codes in Australia, Canada, and the U.K., as well as the successes/challenges in their implementation. Moderated by Taylor Owen, Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications, Associate Professor and founding Director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University

Panelists: 

• • • • Sarah Hanson-Young, Green MP (Australia)
      • Poppy Wood, Reset (U.K.)
      • Jonathan Haywood, (U.K.)
      • Thomas Owen Ripley, Heritage Canada (Canada) (to be confirmed)
      • Emma McDonald, Minderoo Foundation (Australia)

Respondent: Bill Grueskin, Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia Journalism School

11:30am         

Panel 2: Civic Media Funds

This panel will discuss what role civic media funds should play in the future of journalism funding. Given the backlash from tech platforms in both Canada and Australia regarding their respective media bargaining codes, panelists will deliberate the merits and drawbacks of having tech platforms pay into a central fund that would then be administered to publishers via some sort of standard formula.

Panelists: 

• • • • Courtney Radsch, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UCLA School of Law
      • Victor Pickard, Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy, University of Pennsylvania
      • Julia Cagé, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Sciences Po Paris
      • Brigitte Alfter, Editorial Director and Lecturer, Arena for Journalism in Europe and the University of Gothenburg

1:00pm             

Lunch Break

2:30pm             

Panel 3: Other ideas being tried around the world…

Panelists: 

• • • • Graciela Mochkofsky, Dean, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, will speak about the role of municipal advertising in supporting local news.
      • Theodora Dame-Adjin Tettey, Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, will speak on an overview of media development initiatives in Africa.
      • Michael Markovitz, Head, GIBS Media Leadership Think Tank, will speak about proposals to sustain independent media in South Africa and changing the funding model of the public broadcaster, the SABC.
      • Alicia Bell, Director of Racial Equity in Journalism Fund, Borealis Philanthropy, will speak on government and philanthropic funding.
      • Brier Dudley, Columnist, Seattle Times, will speak about the successful efforts to sustain and grow local, independent news outlets, including his work and progress.
      • John Marshall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, will speak about a recent intervention with radio stations and newspapers across Mexico designed to empower media outlets to report on topics relating to political accountability.
      • Bruno Patino, Associate Professor, Sciences Po. 

Discussants: 

• • • • Andrea Prat, Richard Paul Richman Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
      • Julia Cagé, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Sciences Po Paris
      • Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor, Columbia University

Download the agenda here