The International Journalism Festival weekly round-up. Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter, by following us on Instagram or Telegram, or by joining us on Bluesky.
The initial and partial 2026 speaker list is now online. There are currently (the morning of Friday 23 January) 324 speakers in the list. Many more are still to be added. The definitive speaker list will be online in March.
What The Continent has learned from five years of WhatsApp-first journalism. Are they proof that the metrics obsession driving digital journalism is measuring the wrong thing? Interview of Sipho Kings, co-founder of The Continent
After 25 years, Wikipedia has proved that news doesn’t need to look like news. It’s not a news site. But there’s a lot to learn from how Wikipedia constructs shared knowledge about what’s happening in the world. By Joshua Benton
Israeli drone strike on vehicle kills 3 journalists in Gaza. The victims were named as freelance photographer Abed Shaat, a regular contributor to Agence France-Presse, Mohammad Qeshta and Anas Ghnaim
The information ecosystem cosplaying 1989 in Davos. Carney told the Davos crowd to stop waiting for the old rules to reassert themselves. That advice applies for us too. By Peter Erdelyi. Peter Erdelyi will be a #ijf26 speaker
Mamamia, the Aussie blog that grew to $100 million. The country’s dominant women’s media publisher, Mamamia is a powerhouse with articles, podcasts, videos and newsletters from broad interests right down to tiny niches. Ricky Sutton talks to CEO Nat Harvey and COO and chief product officer Luca Lavigne
The Mill Media’s simple bet: readers pay for quality. Trading traffic for subscribers: The Mill’s four-year experiment. Joshi Herrmann will be a #ijf26 speaker
Narrative warfare and the breakdown of reality. In a new study, The Nerve documents the systematic importation of the authoritarian playbook and how the ‘Deconstruction Model’ turned narrative warfare into kinetic reality. By Maria Ressa. Maria Ressa will be a #ijf26 speaker
Can you imagine a world in which every person in the world enjoys at least Switzerland’s standards of living today? In a recent interview, five authors of the McKinsey Global Institute’s new book, A Century of Plenty: A Story of Progress for Generations to Come, explore this question and more.
Device safety. Safeguarding sources and sensitive information in the event of a raid. Concrete measures reporters can take to minimize the amount of source-compromising information a raid and accompanying device seizure can produce
File security. Everything you wanted to know about media metadata, but were afraid to ask. By Harlo Holmes. Harlo Holmes will be a #ijf26 speaker
On how to write a book that sparks a movement. The only way to avoid this type of smear campaign and online harassment is not to criticize authoritarianism. This is not a trade-off I’m willing to make, and I don’t think journalists should either. Interview of Ayala Panievsky. Ayala Panievsky will be a #ijf26 speaker
Our BBC: a blueprint for a more independent and future-proofed BBC. The BBC represents a fundamental component of the UK and indeed the world’s information infrastructure. At the commencement of the BBC’s Charter Renewal process in 2026, this paper proposes routes to securing its survival, responsiveness and resilience in a highly volatile information environment. Sameer Padania, lead author of the paper, will be a #ijf26 speaker
News to savour: Cukr is making Sumy cool through slow journalism and community-building. Cukr.city shares their vision of growth, which puts the people and local community at the center of the local media ecosystem
Floodlight: gaming in the public interest. The call for submissions for the 2nd Floodlight Gaming Investigative Journalism Game Jam is now open. This special edition is focusing on investigative journalism outlets. We want to help turn your investigative journalism into interactive, in-browser games developed in collaboration with independent game creators. These video games can be hosted on your organization’s website to further connect with your readers. Deadline for submission of entries: 15 February 2026
How the refugee system fails the whistleblowers it should protect. ‘If protection is to mean anything, it must extend to those who take the greatest risks – especially those who speak when silence would have been easier.’
Photo credit: Sipho Kings at #ijf24 by Francesco Cuoccio