Newspapers are now mere paper tigers, we are told, yet in the face of a tidal wave of fake news, misinformation and bias, perhaps we need good journalism more than ever. In a world where Facebook and Twitter have become the public sphere for Brexit and Trump, what is the role of news brands? Two top media executives with experience of leadership at the Sun, BuzzFeed, the Guardian and the TLS will debate the future of news with a leading media analyst. 

Stig Abell (@StigAbell) is the Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Britain’s leading weekly literary newspaper.  Stig joined the TLS having been Managing Editor of the Sun. Previous to this he was a fiction reviewer at The Spectator and reviewer at Telegraph Media Group. Away from print Stig can heard every Sunday afternoon on LBC with a round-up of the week’s news and a look at upcoming events from cultural happenings to political debates. He also regularly reviews newspapers on Sky News, and has appeared as a pundit on almost every broadcast channel. Stig’s previous career has taken in arts journalism, press regulation (he ran the Press Complaints Commission whilst still in his twenties) and crisis management. 

Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) is Political Editor of Buzzfeed UK.

Charlie Beckett (@CharlieBeckett ) is the founding director of Polis, the think-tank for research and debate into international journalism and society in the Media and Communications Department at LSE. He is a regular commentator on journalism and politics for the UK and International media.

Polis (@PolisLSE ) runs a series of public lectures and seminars for journalists and the public as well as a programme of Fellowships and Research. It has a Summer School and holds conferences and publishes reports.

Suggested Twitter hashtag for this event: #LSELitFest

This event forms part of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2017, taking place from Monday 20 - Saturday 25 February 2017, with the theme "Revolutions".

Podcast

A podcast of this event is available to download from Britain's Paper Tigers

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.