As part of World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), the Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield, and the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St George’s, University of London, with the support of Wiggin, invite you to join the launch webinar of the ‘Media Freedom Under Threat’ series. This series brings together leading experts to examine the most pressing challenges facing media freedom and the safety of journalists today.

The opening discussion focuses on democratic backsliding across Europe, as right-wing populist movements gain ground in countries such as Italy, Slovakia, France, Germany and the UK. When in power they seek to tighten control over the flow of  information, putting financial pressure on independent newsrooms, restricting access for journalists, and allowing dis-and-mis-information to flourish.

This webinar will examine these growing challenges and draw insights from those already navigating severe crackdowns on press freedom. It will also explore recent political shifts, including the electoral defeat in Hungary of Viktor Orban, and consider what lessons can be learned on how to challenge populist rule.

The event will take place on Zoom. Registration is required to attend, please click here.

Speakers

– András Pethő, is co-founder, editor and executive director of Direkt36. Previously, he was a senior editor for leading Hungarian news site Origo before it had been transformed into the government’s propaganda outlet. He also worked for the BBC World Service in London and was a reporter at the investigative unit of The Washington Post. He has contributed to several international reporting projects, including The Panama Papers and the Pegasus Project. He plays a leading role in the production of Direkt36’s documentaries, including The Dynasty, the award-winning film on the business empire of Viktor Orbán’s family. He won the Soma Prize, the prestigious annual award dedicated to investigative journalism in Hungary, three times. He was a World Press Institute fellow in 2008, a Humphrey fellow at the University of Maryland in 2012/13, and a Nieman fellow at Harvard University in 2019/20. András has taught journalism courses at Hungarian universities.

– Adelaide Lopez is a partner at Wiggin LLP, specialising in complex data protection, media, and intellectual property disputes. She has acted in many of the most high-profile media litigation cases in recent years, including defending HarperCollins in libel and data protection claims arising from the publication of Putin’s People, and defending The Sun in the High Court and Court of Appeal against breach of confidence claims. Before qualifying as a lawyer, Adelaide spent nearly a decade working in the UK and US film industry, giving her unique insight into the challenges facing the media sector. She is dual-qualified in New York and England and Wales, and is a certified Data Protection Practitioner.

– Fiona O’Brien is the Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia at The Committee to Protect Journalists. After starting her career on a local paper in the UK, she moved to Reuters, taking postings to Nairobi and Beirut and covering news and features across Africa and the Middle East. She has worked as a consultant editor for the United Nations, ran the MA in Journalism at Kingston University and was also UK Director for Reporters Without Borders. She has degrees in Arabic and Comparative Literature from Cambridge and King’s College London, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority and a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.

The discussion will be chaired by Professor Mel Bunce, Director of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St George’s, University of London, and a Professor of International Journalism and Politics. Her research focuses on media freedom, foreign policy, and international reporting. Her books include: ‘Capturing News, Capturing Democracy: Trump and the Voice of America’ , ‘Humanitarian Journalism’ and ‘The Broken Estate: Journalism and Democracy in a Post-Truth World’. She has a doctorate from Oxford University for work on foreign correspondents in Africa.