Department of Journalism, City St George's University of London

Defending Democracy: how does journalism play its part? Democratic backsliding and the decline of journalism are connected. A panel at the Media Freedom Forum discussed how one can save the other.

Last week I sat in on a panel discussion featuring experts on big tech, politics and misinformation, including @carolecadwalla.bsky.social of @thenerve.news and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social.

It wasn’t a cheerful discussion. But it was a thoughtful and worrying one. Here’s my notes:

Don't miss this stellar lineup! @mariannaspringbbc.bsky.social (BBC), @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social (@theguardian.com), @jonsopel1.bsky.social (@thenewsagents.co.uk), & @katietarrant.bsky.social (@thetimes.com) will be talking to @glendacooper.bsky.social on reporting the US.

✏️ shorturl.at/RJ0m8

Our @sanammahoozi.bsky.social on @forbes.com 👉

Today! come join us 👉

Excited to have with us the rockstar scholar, Editor-in-Chief
@ijoc-usc.bsky.social, ex-President @icahdq.bsky.social, author of too many groundbreaking books to name them here, and a vocal champion of globalising media studies -
@swaisbord.bsky.social!

📆 Wednesday, 11 March, 4PM
✏️ Free for all

Jodie Ginsberg: the urgent need to protect journalists An attack on journalism is often the herald of an attack on democracy. In this year's James Cameron Memorial Lecture, Jodie Ginsberg sounded the alarm.

“Facts are our superpower” said @jodieginsberg.bsky.social in the James Cameron Memorial Lecture at @journalismatcity.bsky.social. But it’s one that can preserve democracy – and that makes it a threat to those who want to undermine it. And that’s why we need to protect journalism. Read on:

"Let’s all be half as brave as our colleagues who are risking everything to do their job".

We were excited to have @jodieginsberg.bsky.social for the James Cameron Lecture last night. If you missed it, you can see her at the Media Freedom Forum we're hosting: lnkd.in/etSUWaSH

📷: @adders.blog

Jodie Ginsberg speaking at City St George’s, London.

Listening to @jodieginsberg.bsky.social of the Committee to Protect Journalists giving the James Cameron Memorial Lecture at @journalismatcity.bsky.social on the increasingly hostile environment for journalists.

📢🟡100+ academics have signed a letter calling for the introduction of universal anti- #SLAPP provisions to protect #AcademicFreedom.

antislapp.uk/2026/03/04/a...

This couldn't be more timely.
Hope to see you at @journalismatcity.bsky.social next week!

Our fantastic @sanammahoozi.bsky.social reporting on the latest in Iran for @nytimes.com 👉

Twenty-year sentence for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai is a further blow for journalists feeling the heat of Beijing’s crackdown on press freedom Journalists are self-censoring and negotiating shifting ‘red lines’ to avoid falling foul of the territory’s draconian national security law.

I wasn't sure there was anything to add when @uk.theconversation.com asked me to write a piece about the Jimmy Lai ruling. Then I came across a curious Ming Pao editorial that said the ruling made journalistic red lines clearer. Here's why it doesn't.
theconversation.com/twenty-year-...

The Return of Russia: new details of upcoming live events. This post is an update on the latest live events planned about my new book The Return of Russia: from Yeltsin to Putin, the Story of a Vengeful Kremlin. Between now and the end of May, I am due to …

New on my website: details of my live book events in London, Birmingham, and Derby in the coming weeks
'The Return of Russia: From Yeltsin to Putin, the Story of a Vengeful Kremlin' is published by @yalebooks.bsky.social .
Do please come along if you can.
jamesrodgersauthor.com/the-return-o...

Join us for a week of fearless inspiration and powerful collaborations at @citystgeorges.bsky.social!

🎙️ The UK Media Freedom Forum, with @chriselmoremp.bsky.social @emilythornberry.bsky.social @carolecadwalla.bsky.social @janemartinson.bsky.social @julieposetti.bsky.social @christinalamb.bsky.social and many more!
📆 5-6 March
✏️ shorturl.at/Sww7Q

🎙️ James Cameron Memorial Lecture by @jodieginsberg.bsky.social from @pressfreedom.bsky.social
📆 4 March
✏️ shorturl.at/Abnyl

Join us for a week of fearless inspiration and powerful collaborations at @citystgeorges.bsky.social!

🚨 Media Freedom Matters: Launching the Centre for Journalism and Democracy
🗓️ 5 March | 16:20–17:00

A new research centre focused on strengthening #Journalism and #Democracy at a critical global moment.

🔗 Register: mediafreedomforum.co.uk/registration/

We take full credit! 🔥🔥

Have you all seen the incredible anti-ageing effect of journalism studies at @citystgeorges.bsky.social? Just saying...

There’s an urgent need to protect journalists worldwide and no better time for Jodie Ginsberg of the Committee to Protect Journalists to give the James Cameron Memorial Lecture City St George’s, University of London. Details & registration here: shorturl.at/6xY21

NEW DATE ALERT!

Our James Cameron Memorial Lecture will be delivered by @jodieginsberg.bsky.social, CEO of @pressfreedom.bsky.social. This urgent talk about journalists' safety in hostile climates will take place on March 4th.

📆 4 March, 6:30PM
✏️ Entrance is free, register here: shorturl.at/Abnyl

The UK Media Freedom Forum is coming together in a particularly critical moment for press freedom in the UK and beyond.

Come to hear from our fearless reporters and passionate advocates!

📆 5-6 March at @citystgeorges.bsky.social
✏️ Secure your place here: mediafreedomforum.co.uk/registration/

The UK Media Freedom Forum is coming together in a particularly critical moment for press freedom in the UK and beyond.

Come to hear from our fearless reporters and passionate advocates!

📆 5-6 March at @citystgeorges.bsky.social
✏️ Secure your place here: mediafreedomforum.co.uk/registration/

Join us for "Broadcasting Appartheid: British TV and the Anti-Appartheid Campaign (1950-1990)", a book launch and Q&A at @citystgeorges.bsky.social next month!

📆 9 March 2026, 5:30 PM
✏️ Details & registration here: shorturl.at/WVzin

Tonight! Still a few tickets left so please come along if you can. I will be talking about the book, and my reflections on travelling in, and writing about, Russia since the early 1990s

🚨 Our presidential fellow @panievsky.bsky.social has a new paper out titled "Anti-Media Media", offering an alternative, normative, global approach to evaluating the contribution and potential harms of media outlets. Open access, now in the International Journal of Communication: shorturl.at/VomLl

Crowdsourcing as a methodology for global movements: building counter-hegemonic knowledge of de-privatisation The repertoire of contemporary social movements increasingly includes utilising data in strategic pursuit of their goals. In this paper, we explore the potential for co-produced crowdsourced data i...

🚨 Our research fellow @bethiapierson.bsky.social just published "Crowdsourcing as a Methodology for Global Movements" in Social Movements Studies, together with @franziskapaul.bsky.social and Andrew Cumbers, they offer a path to building counter-hegemonic knowledge - check it out: shorturl.at/kBBKq

🚨 Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, head of our PhD programme, has published "The Risks and Resilience in Reporting Violent Extremism" in the Journal of African Media Studies, where he dives into the lived experiences of Nigerian reporters covering Boko Haram: shorturl.at/Mau6R

“News Cabaret”: Live Journalism and Theatre “Making Human Contact Again with the News Agenda” At a time of political polarisation, social fragmentation and continuing mistrust in journalism, the practice of “live journalism” is flourishing. The practice aims to reconnect audiences and rebui...

🚨 Our @glendacooper.bsky.social, reader and UK director of the European Journalism Observatory, published "News Cabaret" in Journalism Practice (together with Catherine Adams), exploring the potential of theatre, human contact & live journalism for the future of news (open access): shorturl.at/jWjOJ