The iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2024 concluded after three days of impactful discussions, workshops, and networking, all dedicated to shaping the future of journalism. Held from September 26-28 in Athens, Greece, the event featured over 128 speakers from more than 30 countries, with more than 1,000 attendees participating in 52 sessions across the three days.
"Now more than ever, we need to do our job as best as we can. We need to produce cutting-edge journalism to serve the audience. Journalism, not content," said Anna Kynthia Bousdoukou, Co-founder and Managing Director of iMEdD, setting the tone for the event.
Participants had the opportunity to explore open-source techniques for investigating radicalism, creating narrative podcasts, and ethically harnessing AI while investigating the algorithms behind it.
The question isn’t whether we want to partner with big tech, it’s whether they want to partner with us,” said Juan Carlos Van Meek from Al Jazeera, sparking debate on technological developments, particularly artificial intelligence. Marina Walker Guevara from Pulitzer Center added, "AI is ideology, AI is power, and AI is money. So, it is our responsibility to understand, to investigate, and yes, to co-opt AI in really smart ways."
Workshops explored themes such as the looming threat of deep fakes, building trust with communities, and using vertical video storytelling on platforms like TikTok to combat misinformation.
In addition to addressing misinformation, many sessions focused on climate reporting. Joi Lee, Executive Producer at Earthrise Studio, emphasized, “Climate change is the biggest story journalism has never successfully told.”
Amid the shifting journalistic landscape, accountability remained a central focus. Nicole Lewis from the Marshall Project explained, "We are not advocates, not campaigning. We think about impact, accountability, and how to hold actors accountable."
A strategic collaboration between iMEdD and Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) brought the Uncovered Conference and the IJ4EU Impact Awards 2024 to the Forum, celebrating outstanding European cross-border investigative journalism. The awarded projects—The Pylos Shipwreck: Reconstruction of a Catastrophe, Story Killers, and The Border Graves Investigation, as well as the story Suspicion Machines, which received an honorable mention—demonstrated the power of collaboration in uncovering hidden truths.
The European Press Prize Community Event added another layer of significance, bringing together— for the third consecutive year—awarded journalists to strengthen journalistic ties across the continent and foster new collaborations.
Stratis Trilikis, Co-founder of iMEdD and Programs Director, emphasized the collaborative nature of the Forum: "For us at iMEdD, the Forum is not just an event. It is an exercise in cooperation, coexistence, and synergy."
Meanwhile, a special cohort of 21 students from 12 universities—representing countries such as South Africa, Sweden, the USA, Greece, and Hong Kong—provided real-time reporting on the Forum, deepening their understanding of global journalism.
"I would like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone,” said Liliane De Brauwer from Panteion University, Greece—a comment that closed this year’s gathering.
All sessions from the Forum are available to watch on demand at forum.imedd.org, allowing the conversations and insights to continue beyond the event itself.
