2018 AGENDA

(work in progress)
AN EBU CONFERENCE

Representation, relevance, redefinition.
These are three words which will define NX19.
As structures in our society are being challenged, are we doing enough to
challenge the structure of our house, our industry?
REPRESENTATION


Who’s in our newsrooms? Are they fortresses for the privileged?
Will the fortress burn?
RELEVANCE


As our audience shifts, how can we remain relevant? Do we have
to be relevant to be trusted?
REDEFINITION


The game is changing, are we alive to the possibilities?
“Truth springs from arguments amongst friends” – David Hume.
This is a famous quote from the Scottish Enlightenment period. At NX18,
we are building a set of discussions and debates that will challenge us:
challenge our assumptions, challenge our willingness to consider another
point of view. You will find these challenges in our topics, in our speakers,
in our structure.
This year, we are introducing several unique elements. Here are three:

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 News Xchange will be designed around four key blocks:
1. Representation
2. Activism and Social Movements
3. Truth & Lies, and
4. Innovation.
Each block will contain a number of panel discussions, presentations, short
sharps and keynotes.
We will have one moderator for each block. This will give us something
new, something we believe will deepen our learning and expand our ability
to find the connections – and the discrepancies and contradictions – in our
agenda.
This year’s Executive Producer is Chris Gibson, BBC News.
Chris.Gibson01@bbc.co.uk

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 TUESDAY, 13 NOVEMBER


7:00pm to 9:00pm

Opening Reception, National Museum of Scotland
Co-hosted by BBC World News and the European Broadcasting Union
7:15 (TBC)
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish
National Party, introduced by Sarah Smith, BBC News, Scotland Editor

WEDNESDAY, 14 NOVEMBER
8:00am

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTER OPENS TO NX18
8:00am

REGISTRATION DESK IS OPEN
09:15am

OFFICIAL OPENING FOR NX18 BY AMY SELWYN, MANAGING DIRECTOR,
NEWS XCHANGE
09:30am

NOEL CURRAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, EBU WELCOMING REMARKS
09:40am
TONY HALL, DIRECTOR GENERAL, BBC
Opening Keynote
10:00am
Q&A FOR TONY HALL

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 10:05am
QUESTION TIME!
Moderated by Amol Rajan, BBC News
Question Time is a BBC topical debate television programme in the United
Kingdom. We will launch a special edition, live from News Xchange 2018. This
will be your opportunity to ask your toughest questions of our studio guests.
Guests include:
• Michaela Kufner, Political Editor, Deutsche Welle
• David Rhodes, President, CBS News
• Ash Sarkar, Senior Editor, Novara Media
• Nick Wrenn, Facebook 
11:05 to 11:25am
BREAK
11:25am to 12:15am
STEVE BANNON, POLITICAL STRATEGIST

Moderated by Sarah Smith, BBC

THEME: REPRESENTATION
Moderator: Julie Etchingham, ITV News
Are we relevant to our audiences? Do we look like them? Sound like
them? Do we come from the same places? Do we share their
perspectives? Do we understand their challenges?
In 2016, we asked our audience if we were ‘out of touch’ post Brexit and
Trump.
In 2018, the structures of power are being challenged across the globe
in a wave of empowerment sweeping across boardrooms, catwalks and
even newsrooms.
After numerous focus groups, we believe the most important question
facing our industry in 2018 is a simple one – can we remain relevant
without being more representative?

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 12:15pm
MIND THE GAP 

Young audiences expect greater representation. Is that one of the reasons many
18-24-year-olds are tuning out or, more likely, never tuning in? Frankly, they can
see their reflection on YouTube, Instagram, Twitch. But they cannot see their
reflection in the news industry.
The purpose of this session is not to devolve into a shouting match based on
binary arguments about hiring black or gay journalists. Rather, it is to dig deep
into the issue and identify what we agree on, what we disagree on, what is
working, what is not, how to proceed.
Panelists:
• Kumba Kpakima, Apprentice, Sky News
• Anshul Tewari, Founder, Youth Ki Awaaz India’s number 1online youth
portal
• Noriko Kudo, NHK News
• Tobi Oredin, Black Ballad
• Mika Rahkonen, Yle
• Lucille Werner, Dutch TV Host and Disability Rights Campaigner
13:05 pm to 13:25pm
REPRESENTATION VIA INSTAGRAM: NEW WAYS OF TELLING STORIES
AND ENGAGING NEW AUDIENCES
Lila King, Instagram
1:25pm
GLOBAL YOUTH AND NEWS MEDIA PRIZE
Presentation of inaugural joint award to the Guardian US and the student
journalists of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida, USA.
Presenters: Dr. Aralynn McMane, prize co-director, and Nelson Graves, founder,
News-Decoder.
Accepting the award: Melissa Falkowski, advisor, and Dara Rosen, staff writer,
The Eagle Eye; Jane Spencer, deputy editor and head of strategy, Guardian US.
Award partners are News-Decoder, the Google News Initiative and the
European Journalism Centre.
1:35pm
BREAK FOR LUNCH
2:15pm
MASTER CLASSES (OPTIONAL)

We are pleased to announce four outstanding master class workshops for this
year’s News Xchange. Descriptions to follow soon.


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 There will be a choice of 3 master classes:
•
•
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Dataminr (Moorfoot Room)
Sony (Tinto Room)
Storyful (Kilsyth Room)
European Parliament (Harris Suite)

3:10pm
RETURN TO MAIN HALL
THEME: JOURNALISM/ACTIVISM
Moderator Iman Rappetti, PowerFM, Author
We are going to look at some of the most powerful new socal
movements, #MeToo, #IHaveTheRightTo, #WhyIDidntReport
#GunControlNow. We will hear firsthand how the stories and the
reporting have evolved over the last 12 – 24 months.
Media has been loathe, traditionally, to “take sides” or get involved in
any way. For some audiences, especially the young, this insistence that
we continue to have “impartial” discussions about rape, gun violence,
etc., is not only antiquated but dangerous. And also impossible, some
say. For others, the trial-by-journalist approach is an affront to decency
and an abrogation of duty. “That’s not your job!” they say.
We’ll look at:
•
•
•
•
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How do journalists cover rape, sexual assault and sexual
misconduct?
What happens when a story becomes a movement?
Is it sensible and practical to keep insisting that journalists cannot be
activists?
What if the activism is coming from the journalist(s) him or herself?
What are the dangers and how do we prevent “witch hunts”?

3:20pm - 4:20pm
SHORT PRESENTATIONS
Parkland - Melissa Falkowski, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher
and adviser to the Eagle Eye, and student/staff reporter Dara Rosen

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 Megan Twohey – Pulitzer prize winning journalist, The New York Times on the
Harvey Weinstein investigation (via prerecorded video interview with Nada
Tawfik, BBC News)
Jenn Abelson, Spotlight team, The Boston Globe
Chessy Prout, Author, “#IHaveThe RightTo” (via pre-recorded video)
Asun Gomez Bueno, RTVE - On the Black Friday campaign against alleged
political interference, gender bias and unequal pay.
4:20pm - 5:10pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR JOURNALISM?
JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS IN DISCUSSION
Is media part of political/social movements? Should we be? How do
editors and journalists view this?
Panel to include:
• Jenn Abelson, Spotlight Team, The Boston Globe
• Asun Gomez Bueno, RTVE 
• Ben DePear, Channel 4 
• Marcel Gelauff, NOS
• Melissa Falkowski, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
• Dara Rosen, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
• Riyaad Minty, Manager of Digital Strategy, TRT World

BREAK
Back of room
5:10pm - 5:30pm
WRAP UP FOR DAY
Preview Day Two, announcements, etc.
5:45pm
COCKTAIL AT VENUE (SPONSORED BY AFP)


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 THURSDAY, 15 NOVEMBER
9:45am

Welcome back
THEME: TRUTH & LIES
Moderator: Clarissa Ward, CNN
This is not a morning of lamenting fake news.
We’re not asking the question about whether there is misinformation.
There is. The more important question is how to deal with it and how to
demonstrate to audiences that we are honest brokers…if that is what we
are…
10:10am - 10:40am
OPEN SOURCE INVESTIGATIONS
Aliaume Leroy, Bellingcat and Daniel Adamson, BBC Africa Eye
10:40am - 11:00am
THE DAPHNE PROJECT
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Matthew Caruana Galizia, Investigative journalist and son of slain
Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Nominee for the 2018
Reporters Without Borders 2018 Press Freedom Award.
Steven Grey, Author and Investigative Reporter, Reuters

11:00am to 11:20am 

BREAK
11:20am to 11:45am
DUTERTE’S WAR
• Claire Baldwin, Reuters.

Claire is part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team reporting on the brutal
killing campaign behind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on
drugs



Produced by Sarah Charlton, Reuters

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 11:45am to 12:10 pm
WHERE DOES FACT-CHECKING COME IN? IS IT EFFECTIVE?
Phil Chetwynd, AFP + guest (TBC)
In the post-Trump, post-Brexit world, many believe journalism is now
experiencing an existential crisis. In an intimate discussion with AFP’s Editor in
Chief, Phil Chetwynd, we will look at how news organizations feel the need to
double down on neutrality and quality, and go behind the scenes of a major
mainstream news agency to look at fact-checking. AFP is Facebook’s largest
fact checking partner, with projects in 12 countries and three new projects
scheduled for 2019. We will look at fact checking with particular focus on the
European migration story and the incendiary politics surrounding it.
12:10 to 12:45
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUTH & LIES
Panel to include:
• Jamie Angus, Director World Service. – UK
• Jane Spencer, Deputy US Guardian - US
12:45 to 1:00pm
EBU NEWS REPORT – 50 WAYS TO MAKE IT BETTER
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Atte Jääskeläinen, Reuters Institute, Oxford
Maike Olij, Media Consultant

We know that there are problems with trust in journalism. We also know that
younger audiences are not as connected to our brands anymore as audiences
used to be. But what to do about these problems?
Atte Jääskeläinen and Maike Olij have been conducting an intensive study about
these issues for the EBU, sending out a survey to EBU news leaders, evaluating
more than 150 candidates for success stories and talking to almost 100
(experienced) experts, searching for root causes for the problems and examples
that something can be done. Now 50 interesting success stories are ready to be
told and will be shared in a special EBU News Report 2018 – 50 ways to make it
better, published in November. They will give us the highlights of the report.
1:00pm
LUNCH
SPECIAL: EBU News Report luncheon (Optional, seating is limited)
Come and join the team that worked on the report and is ready to give
you a digest of the stories they have found: The most inspiring and

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 fascinating examples and lessons learnt. We are sure you will leave the
lunch with plenty of ideas that will help you face the big journalistic
challenges of building trust, connecting with the society, and engaging
challenging audiences.
You will learn, for example, how you can address both individual and
societal needs. How the internal culture of your organisation can be
radically changed. And how new metrics can be introduced that are
mission-based. And that for some things, you just need to accept your
new position in the world.
Join Maike Olij, Atte Jääskeläinen and Justyna Kurczabinska for News
Xchange lunch.
Stay tuned for sign-up information!
2:15pm
WELCOME BACK

THEME: INNOVATION

NOW

Moderator Benjamin Zand
We will look at three important strands of innovation that stand out in the
“new world” where issues of representation and relevance, the possible
redefinition of journalism as activism (or as the launcher of movements)
and the struggle for truth above lies, facts above fictions continues.
2:25pm to 3:15pm
THE FUTURE OF VOICE
“The Future of Voice” will look at the potential and also the limitations of voice
activated speakers such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home et al and voice
interfaces for news. Presented by Nic Newman of the Reuters Institute, Oxford
University, News Xchange delegates will be the first to hear the results of a
brand new study completed by Nic and his team.
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•
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Nic Newman, Reuters Institute, Oxford University
Alastair Mackie, Head of Digital Advertising Development, FT
Laura Doward, News Publisher Marketing Lead, Google News

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 3:15pm to 4:15pm
THE SECOND REVOLUTION OF PODCASTING
As a New York magazine piece noted last year, the increasing popularity of
audio storytelling owes a lot to technology, as smartphones allow people to
consume shows on demand anywhere, and cars increasingly come equipped
with satellite radio and Internet-friendly dashboards. A recent report by Edison
Research estimated that 64 percent of 12- to 24-year-olds and 37 percent of 25to 54-year-olds in the United States listened to online radio weekly in 2014. The
same year, 30 percent of respondents reported that they had listened to a
podcast at least once, with 15 percent indicating that they had listened to a
podcast within the last month.
Beyond the obvious convenience factor of listening on the go, what is it that
makes some audio storytelling so engaging? And what happens in the brain
when someone hears a really compelling story?
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Anne McElvoy – Head of Radio, The Economist.
Cilla Benkö – Director General, Swedish Radio
Susie Warhust - Global Head of Content, Acast.
Sacha Pfeiffer – Spotlight reporter, US #1 podcast ‘Gladiator’, Boston
Globe.

4:15pm - 4:30pm
#THECUBE
Emmanuelle Saliba, Euronews
The Cube is a newsdesk run by a team of Euronews journalists specialising in
social discovery and verification. They comb through social media to find, verify,
and debunk stories, in real-time, for audiences on-air and online. What can we
learn (and copy at home?!) from this innovative team of journalists?
4:30pm
THE FUTURE IS…A COCKTAIL!
Drinks served in main room, prior to start of AP session – we’ll feature the Robot
Rum Punch or something fun like that.
4:40pm
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: WHAT IS IT AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
Produced by The Associated Press
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Lisa Gibbs, Director of News Partnerships, The Associated Press
Dr. Marios Savvides, Founder and Director of the CyLab Biometrics
Center, Carnegie Mellon University 

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 •

Amy Webb, Futurist, New York University (via pre-record)

What is AI? Why should we care about it?
This will be a unique opportunity to hear from a dynamic combination of
practitioners, futurists and academics about artificial intelligence and
what it means now and in the future.
We’ll look at real life media company examples of where AI is already
part of workflows and what the technology offers in terms of opportunities
to transform journalism, reduce grunt work, know more about our
audiences and drive personalization.
5:20pm 

Q&A FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
5:30pm
WRAP UP
6:00pm
CLOSING RECEPTION, SPONSORED BY RUPTLY
7:00pm
COACHES DEPART FOR THE CLOSING CNN PARTY
All delegates welcome

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