Monday, October 20
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Pinnacle Systems Welcome Reception
Social Event
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
Pinnacle Systems
Tuesday, October 21
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Welcoming Address
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Speaker:
W. Paterson Ferns, President & CEO
Banff Television Foundation Canada
9:15 AM - 9:45 AM
Keynote Speech
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
Leitch
Speaker:
Stewart Purvis, former Chief Executive, ITN (UK) and former Managing Director, Euronews
UK
9:45 AM - 4:30 PM
The News World Inquiry
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
A major investigation into coverage of the war in Iraq and its aftermath, conducted by an inquiry panel gathering evidence from the reporters, technicians, editors, politicians and combatants most closely involved.
Chair:
Michael Portillo MP, Former UK Secretary of Defence
UK
Inquisitors:
Edward Mulhall, MD news
RTE Ireland
Daniel Sandelson, Head of Media
Clifford Chance UK
9:50 AM - 10:15 AM
The News World Inquiry - ITC Research
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
The research manager of the Independent Television Commission, Jane Sancho, will unveil for the first time the results of a survey of 4,000 viewers into attitudes to the TV coverage of the Iraq conflict. This is regarded as the most comprehensive industry survey of its kind and among the areas covered are attitudes to embedded reporters.
Speaker:
Jane Sancho, Research Manager, Strategy Economics & Finance Group
ITC UK
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
The News World Inquiry - Embed with the enemy
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
SISLink
Embed with the enemy. Was the embedding of reporters designed to enable or disable their freedom of movement? Either way, are they here to stay? And were the unilaterals better placed, or in the wrong place? Centcom or Centcon? The information centre at Doha was the largest and most sophisticated PR operation ever set up by the military. But why was the relationship between briefers and reporters often marred by mutual suspicion, and what can be done in future to improve the flow of useful information?
Speaker:
David Chater, Special Correspondent
Sky News UK
Arnim Stauth, Correspondent
WDR Germany
Lt Col Angus Taverner
Ministry of Defence UK
David Loyn, Developing World Correspondent
BBC UK
John Irvine, Correspondent
ITN from Baghdad UK
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Coffee Break
Exhibition Area
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
The News World Inquiry - Pulling Focus
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
No war in history was filmed by so many cameras from so many places as the conflict in Iraq. But did the torrent of images make it more difficult, rather than more easy, for both editors and viewers to decide what was really happening? And if the image overload provided constant fodder for 24 hour news channels, did it also make viewers more thankful for the concise nightly bulletin?
Speaker:
Nick Pollard, Head of News Sky News
BSkyB UK
Adrian Van Klaveren, Head of News Gathering
BBC UK
Shoba Purushothaman, CEO
The NewsMarket Inc. USA
Participants:
John Cameron, National Editor
ABC News Australia
12:45 PM - 1:30 PM
The News World Inquiry - How the war was spun
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
How was the war watched and reported by organisations as diverse as Germany’s ZDF and Japan’s NHK? How did the same incident come to look so different according to whether you were watching on Abu Dhabi TV or ABC? A look at the way specific incidents during the war were treated by a wide variety of news outlets.
Speaker:
John Cameron, National Editor
ABC News Australia
Tetsushi Wakita, Foreign News Editor
NHK Japan
Nart Bouran, Director of News Centre
Abu Dhabi TV UAE
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Lunch and documentary screening
Pembroke Room
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
The News World Inquiry - The Safety Catch
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Every major news organisation on the planet takes hostile environment training seriously, and journalists going into harm’s way have never been better or more thoroughly equipped to look after themselves. Yet no war has claimed the lives of so many journalists in so short a time as the Iraq conflict. Are there lessons to be learned for the future, or must we accept that as more reporters go to war, the death toll will continue to rise?
Chair:
Mark Brayne
Dart Foundation, Europe UK
Speaker:
José Rodrigues dos Santos, News Director
RTP Portugal
Craig Summers, Safety Advisor High Risk Team
BBC UK
Col Paul Brook
Ministry of Defence UK
Susan Ellingwood, Editorial Director
Committee to Protect Journalists USA
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Coffee Break
Exhibition Area
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
In Conversation with Cronkite
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
BBC News
Walter Cronkite – the man who virtually invented the role of news anchor and was once voted “the most trusted man in America” – is the recipient of the 2003 News World Lifetime Achievement Award. This afternoon, he recalls in conversation with RTE news anchor Bryan Dobson some of the world-shaking events he covered during 53 years at CBS and passes his verdict on the state of broadcast journalism in the 21st century.
Wednesday, October 22
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Brand It Like Beckham: The Search for Low-Cost News
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Middle American girls who have never seen a football kicked in anger know as much about David Beckham as the most hysterical Real Madrid fan – possibly more, thanks to the massive growth of celebrity news across every popular medium. Are editors seeing stars because the public can’t get enough of the super rich and passingly famous, or is this news on the cheap, screened at the expense of more costly stories? And who decides who’s famous – the media or the image makers?
Speaker:
Tony Donovan, MD
Reuters UK
Marc Roche, International Business Editor
Le Monde UK
John Sage, Editor-in-Chief
Teletext UK
Nick Higham, Formed Media and Arts Correspondent
BBC UK
Jonathan Munro, Assistant Editor
ITV News UK
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Jack of all trades...?
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
The modern broadcast journalist has to be a multi-skilled creature able to write, shoot and edit at great speed from anywhere on the face of the earth. This new breed of self-starting reporter helps the streamlining and economics of the newsroom, but is it enhancing journalistic quality? Esteemed journalism training managers debate the benefits and challenges offered by the steady spread of video journalism and multi-tasking.
Chair:
Stefan Pauli, Editor
ZFP Germany
Peter Coles, Head of Production Facilities
BBC News UK
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Coffee
Exhibition Area
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Technology Case Studies: Forget the Tanks, Did the Kit Work?
Master Class
Pembroke Room
The war in Iraq might have been what much of leading edge news technology was invented for. This session examines how the most significant equipment stood up to such a demanding test - and the promise it holds for the future.
Chair:
Adrian Scott
The Bakewell House Consultancy UK
Speaker:
Malcolm Smith, Director of Operations
ITN UK
Nick Evansky, Director of Technology
APTN UK
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Lunch and documentary screening
Pembroke Room
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM
Health News Coverage: The SARS Sensation
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
ITN International
The SARS epidemic claimed fewer lives than the average year’s death toll from influenza, yet media reaction to it brought travel and trade across Asia to a virtual standstill and cost the Canadian tourist industry a 30% drop in revenue. Do journalists understand enough about medical matters to make a proper judgement when new diseases strike, and do governments do enough, soon enough, to alert the public? Is there a tendency to overstate the danger of new diseases to compensate for what is now seen as the failure to take the Aids crisis seriously? Or does the blanket coverage help prevent the spread of diseases which might otherwise have much worse consequences?
Chair:
Lawrence McGinty, Health and Sciences Editor
ITN UK
Speaker:
Kwai-yeung Cheung, Head of Chinese News and Current Affairs
Radio Television Hong Kong Hong Kong
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Long Form News - The Best of Times or the Worst of Times?
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Serious current affairs documentaries might be feeling the pinch on terrestrial primetime, but many in the field argue that the proliferation of niche cable and satellite channels is providing more international outlets for top documentary producers than they have ever enjoyed before. Are these new channels spreading the word, or preaching to the converted? Supported by The Discovery Times Channel
Chair:
Michael Oreskes, Assistant Managing Editor
New York Times USA
Speaker:
Vivian Schiller, General Manager and Senior Vice President
Discovery Times Channel USA
Steven Rosenbaum, CEO
Camera Planet USA
4:15 PM - 4:30 PM
Coffee
Exhibition Area
4:30 PM - 5:45 PM
Documentary Master Class: Al Jazeera from the Inside
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
A chance to strip away the confusion and suspicion that often surrounds the controversial Arab language news channel, with a screening of a revealing BBC documentary on a day in the life of Al Jazeera to be followed by a live discussion with editor-in-chief Ibrahim Helal in conversation with News World's Patrick Stoddart.
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Reuters Reception
Social Event
Lansdowne Room
Sponsored By:
Routers
Featuring the 2003 Mohamed Amin Award, the second annual News World Documentary Award.
Thursday, October 23
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Nationalism and Bias - Do News Organizations Have To Be Impartial Anymore?
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
War brings out the best and worst in broadcast news. Every accusation of flag waving jingoism can be matched by allegations that cynical news organisations deliberately undermine both government policy and military morale – and it is not only in times of conflict that governments cry foul whenever the broadcast media are thought to have strayed from the straight and narrow. But as such stony impartiality has never been expected of newspapers, and the number of terrestrial, satellite and online news outlets are growing fast, is it time for broadcasters to be allowed the same freedom of opinion as their print press rivals? Supported by the Westminster Media Forum
Chair:
Mervyn Hall
News World International UK
Speaker:
Chris Shaw, Controller, News, Current Affairs and Documentaries
Five UK
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Editing the Future
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Why is Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 giving post-production houses the heebie jeebies? Because, like other developing PC technologies, it threatens to put them out of business by placing the power of a fully-fledged edit suite in your desktop. It could also change, utterly and forever, the way we produce - and consume - news and entertainment.
Speaker:
Glenn Hall, Media Anthropologist
HP Labs UK
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Coffee
Exhibition Area
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Who Says There's A Right To Know?
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
Western journalists consider their right to the truth a central plank of the profession, but is it always wrong for governments and institutions to declare that other factors may legitimately deny full disclosure? Is there any way both sides can agree on a code of compromise, or will media certainty and political secrecy continue to create a climate of mutual distrust? Supported by Index on Censorship
Speaker:
Anna Politkovsaia, Reporter
Novoya Gazeta Russia
Fran Unsworth, Head of Political Programmes
BBC UK
Rear Admiral Nick Wilkinson, Secretary of the Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee
Ministry of Defence UK
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Lunch and documentary screening
Lunch
Pembroke Room
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
The News World Debate: Islam vs The Rest
Plenary
Lansdowne Room
News World 2003 closes with a major examination of the greatest challenge facing the world today – the widening chasm between the world of Islam and what it increasingly sees as the forces ranged against it. Does the Western media treat its Islamic viewers with the same understanding and respect it shows its own non-Islamic constituency, or instinctively regard all Muslims as potential terrorists? And does the Islamic media make any attempt to explain Western values to its readers and viewers or simply reinforce their growing fears and prejudice? Produced by Ten Alps Know Comment
4:00 PM -
Drinks on News World in the Bar
Social Event
Buck Mulligan's Bar