‘The Media Revolution: Changing the World’

Journalist included in ‘Time Person of the Year’ to speak at Camden Conference

Mon, 12/16/2019 - 8:45am

    CAMDEN — The 2020 Camden Conference, The Media Revolution: Changing the World,” will include a range of speakers.

    Most recently added is Maria Ressa, who is executive editor of Rappler, an online news site in the Philippines. Ressa is one of the most highly-regarded journalists in the Philippines, according to Camden Conference, in a news release. She spent two decades working as an investigative reporter, foreign correspondent and both Manila and Jakarta Bureau Chief for CNN. She then headed the news division of the Philippines biggest TV news channel, ABS-CBN.

    In 2012, she and three fellow female journalists came together to form Rappler, an online news platform with an ethos similar to a tech start-up, operating with a small team of 12 young reporters and developers. It was the first of its kind in the Philippines, and while initially seen as a site primarily for young readers, through the power of social media it has grown into the fourth biggest news website in the Philippines with more than 100 journalists. Rappler also works as a fact-checker for Facebook in the Philippines in the fight against fake news.

    Ressa’s role at Rappler has won her accolades around the world. She was among the journalists named Time Person of the Year 2018, as well as numerous other prestigious journalism awards.

    Other speakers will address

    • where people around the world get their news and information
    • the power and vulnerability of social media in political and social movements
    • the role of images in shaping awareness and understanding of political and social issues
    • journalism as a public service; rebuilding trust in media
    • fighting for freedom of speech and press under an authoritarian regime
    • personal and professional dangers facing journalists
    • cyberwarfare, past and future

    For more information on the Conference and biographies of the speakers visit www.camdenconference.org.

    Registration for the 2020 Camden Conference "The Media Revolution: Changing the World" is open. Members of the Conference, as well as members of Maine Public, a CC media sponsor, have been able to register early, so venues are filling up, according to the Conference.

    If you are interested in registering for the Conference, do so on the website or call the office at 207-236-1034.