media 23_0683_1920X830_red pic22

Events

Authoritarian populism and media freedom | LSE Festival

Hosted by LSE Festival: Power and Politics

In-person and online public event (Great Hall, Marshall Building)

Speakers

Alan Rusbridger

Alan Rusbridger

Dr Damian Tambini

Dr Damian Tambini

Dr Kate Wright

Dr Kate Wright

Chair

Professor Bart Cammaerts

Professor Bart Cammaerts

How did the Trump administration capture one of the world’s most important public service news networks, The Voice of America? How did the BBC, an exemplary public service broadcaster, end up being accused of bias towards the privileged and the ruling elites?  

Join our expert speakers to examine the disconcerting dynamic between authoritarian populism and public service media - from the politicisation of public service media, beginning with Trump's presidency in the US and Boris Johnson's government in the UK, to the unremitting threats of democratic backsliding facing journalists today.  

Meet our speakers and chair

Alan Rusbridger (@arusbridger) is editor of Prospect Magazine and Chair of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, having been Editor in Chief of the Guardian from 1995-2015. Until 2021 he was Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. During his time at the Guardian, both he and the paper won numerous awards, including the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism. The Guardian grew from a printed paper with a circulation of 400,000 to a leading digital news organisation with 150m browsers a month around the world. He is a member of the Facebook Oversight Board. His latest book, News and How to Use it, was published in 2020. 

Damian Tambini (@damiantambini) is a distinguished policy fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. He is an expert in media and communications regulation and policy, and active in policymaking as well as academic research. He was inaugural Director of the Media Policy Project at LSE. He is frequently called to give evidence to parliamentary committees and provide formal and informal policy advice to government. From 2014-2015 he served on the UK Government Expert Panel advising on the value of electromagnetic spectrum. He was called to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in 2012, and from 2009-2010 he served on the Communications Consumer Panel, a non-executive role at the communications regulator Ofcom. His books include Media Freedom

Kate Wright is Associate Professor in Media and Communications at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. She studies how international news journalists negotiate tensions between their normative values and the changing political, economic and technological factors shaping their work. Her interest in these issues is informed by her background as an award-winning BBC journalist working on Scottish, UK, and international news flagships. She is author, with Martin Scott and Mel Bunce, of Capturing News, Capturing Democracy: Trump and the Voice of America

Bart Cammaerts is Professor of Politics and Communication and Head of the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. He is the former chair of the Communication and Democracy Section of the European Communication and Research Association (ECREA). His most recent publication is The Circulation of Anti-Austerity Protest.  

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Power and Politics running from Monday 10 to Saturday 15 June 2024, with a series of events exploring how power and politics shape our world. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 13 May.  

The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) is a world-leading centre for education and research in communication and media studies at the heart of LSE’s academic community in central London. The Department is ranked #1 in the UK and #3 globally in the field of media and communications (2021 QS World University Rankings).

Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival  

LSE Blogs

Many speakers at LSE events also write for LSE Blogs, which present research and critical commentary accessibly for a public audience. Follow British Politics and Policy, the Business Review, the Impact BlogEuropean Politics and Policy and the LSE Review of Books to learn more about the debates our events series present.

Photography

Photographs taken on behalf of LSE are often used on our social media accounts, website and publications. At events, photographs could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, of speakers during the talk, and of audience members as they participate in the Q&A.

If you are photographed participating in an event Q&A but would not like your photograph to be stored for future use, please contact events@lse.ac.uk.

Podcasts

We aim to make all LSE events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1-2 working days after the event. Podcasts and videos of past events can be found online.

Social Media

Follow LSE public events on X (former Twitter) for notification on the availability of an event podcast, the posting of transcripts and videos, the announcement of new events and other important event updates. Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on the LSE's Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. For live webcasts and archive video of lectures, follow us on YouTube

Accessibility

If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, as well as on accessibility and special requirements, please refer to LSE Events FAQ.  LSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events, but please contact the events organiser as far as possible in advance if you have any access requirements so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. If the event is ticketed, please ensure you get in touch in advance of the ticket release date. Access Guides to all our venues can be viewed online.

Automated live captions are also available at most livestreamed events. Please note that this feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, or machine generated transcription, and is not 100% accurate.

WIFI Access

LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.
Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use eduroam. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.

The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use eduroam instead.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event. 

How can I attend? Add to calendar

This event is free and open to all, but a ticket is required. Online booking for events in the LSE Festival will open on Monday 13 May 2024.

For any queries contact us at events@lse.ac.uk.

This event will be streamed live on YouTube

  Sign up for news about events