"Captured Democracy" - launching Birkbeck Centre for Media and Democracy

Captured Democracy: Media, Politics and Power

Roundtable hosted by the new Birkbeck Centre for Media and Democracy, 15 May 2023, 4-6pm

Room 311, Birkbeck Central, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London WC1E 7HY and online

Register: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/events/remote_event_view?id=37350

Our democracy is in trouble, as is our media. From the corporate grip on media institutions to the destabilising effects of social media, democratic accountability has increasingly been in question in recent years, and so has the ability of our media to hold those in power to account. Hosted by the Birkbeck Centre for Media and Democracy, this This panel discussion hosted by the Birkbeck Centre for Media and Democracy will feature leading journalists, campaigners, and academics, who will explore the problems and possibilities for media and democratic politics.

Panellists:

• Natalie Fenton, Professor of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths

• Frances Foley, Deputy Director of Compass

• Matt Kennard, Investigative journalist, co-author of Silent Coup

• Claire Provost, Investigative journalist, co-author of Silent Coup

Chair: Dr Robert Topinka, Senior Lecturer of Media and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck

Natalie Fenton is a Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research focuses on the role media play in the formation of identity and democracies and how people seek to change the world for socially progressive ends. She is author of Digital, Political, Radical and co-author of Media, Democracy and Social Change and The Media Manifesto. She is also a co-founder of the Media Reform Coalition

Frances Foley rejoined Compass in May 2020 as Deputy Director. She is currently drawing together the different strands of Compass’ work to make the organisation fitter, sharper and more focused. She draws her energy from the versatile and varied Compass family which is always imagining, building and connecting.

Matt Kennard is the co-founder and Chief Investigator of the investigative journalism website DeclassifiedUK. He has co-authored (with Claire Provost) the recently published book Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy. Previously, he has been a fellow and then the director at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, based at Goldsmiths, University of London. Matt has worked as a staff writer for the Financial Times in London, New York and Washington DC. He has written extensively on the US military and published two books, Irregular Army and The Racket, on the topic.

Claire Provost is an investigative journalist and co-author (with Matt Kennard) of the recently published book Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy. She has been the head of global investigations at openDemocracy and founded the “Tracking the Backlash” project which investigates anti-democratic movements and tactics threatening women’s and LGBTIQ rights around the world. She has also worked at The Guardian as a data journalist and was a fellow at the Centre for Investigative Journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. She currently teaches Investigative Reporting at Birkbeck.