Journalists and experts debated Russian disinformation, Romania’s canceled elections and war reporting at the annual Ratiu Forum-LSE Ideas Journalism Masterclass, coordinated by John Lloyd of the Financial Times.
More than 60 participants – journalists from Romania and across Central and Eastern Europe, media experts, and academics spent two days debating the toughest challenges facing journalism today at the Ratiu Democracy Centre in Turda, Transylvania, home of Romanian democracy icon, Ion Ratiu.
The Masterclass opened by his son, Nicolae Ratiu, on April 12, covered issues shaping the media landscape today: media dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe, including media freedom and judicial systems, financial independence and editorial integrity; the rise of New Right parties across Europe and how the growing distrust in traditional institutions has contributed to this phenomenon; disinformation and fake news; war reporting and insights into the evolving nature and increasing dangers of reporting from conflict zones; the evolving global political landscape and its impact on journalism.
Among the speakers were Vadim Ghirda, Associated Press photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner, Ionut Iordachescu, AFP video journalist based in Istanbul and Victor Ilie, an investigative journalist who has written about Russian disinformation and meddling campaigns in Romania.
Mircea Toma, a member of the National Audiovisual Council of Romania was joined by Nick Thorpe, the BBC Central Europe Correspondent, and Liam Hoare, Europe Editor for Moment Magazine
Ovidiu Vanghele, founder of the Centre for Investigative Media and John Florescu, Executive Producer at Chainsaw took part in discussions, joined by Universul.net’s Alison Mutler.
From Poland, there was Adam Jasser, News Director at TVP World and Wojciech Pryzybylski the Editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight.
Talking about the tentacles of Russian disinformation in Moldova were Mădălin Necșuțu, Correspondent for TVR Moldova and Balkan Insight and Mariana Rata , TV Journalist, Media Alternativa Association.
Dan Perry, the former AP Chief for Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Caribbean participated via Zoom for the final session on “A New Era for Global Politics; A New Era for Journalism? examining how the new leaders of the world economies are less committed to supporting the free press and ways to strengthen these values now to meet future challenges.
Images of the April 12-13 Journalism Masterclass courtesy of the Ratiu Forum.
