News World Conference to Examine Media Coverage on Recent War in Iraq
(Banff, Canada, October 2, 2003)
The conduct of the media war in Iraq will be a main topic of discussion at this year's News World International conference in Dublin, Ireland. Hundreds of news journalists, correspondents, editors, technicians and other industry stakeholders from around the world will meet October 21 to 23, 2003 at the Burlington Hotel to take part in talks on this and other hot topics in the news industry.

Tuesday, October 21 leads off with a Keynote Address from Stewart Purvis, acclaimed news journalist, field producer, editor and recent CEO of ITN and President of EuroNews. Mr. Purvis will address delegates on the extraordinary events of the past year in the broadcast news business. Following this is "The News World Inquiry", a full day investigation and "public inquiry" into the media coverage on the war in Iraq. Participants include Mark Brayne of the BBC; John Cameron, National Editor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; David Chater, correspondent for Sky News England; Michael Portillo, Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom; and Marek Pruszewicz of the BBC.

"In Conversation with Cronkite" featuring an interview with celebrated news anchor Walter Cronkite, and winner of this year's News World Lifetime Achievement Award, will bring the first day of the conference to a close. Mr. Cronkite will talk about some of the historic events he covered during his 53 years at CBS.

Wednesday's sessions will include such topics as the search for low-cost news, the SARS sensation with speaker Kwai-yeung Cheung of Radio Television Hong Kong, long form news, leading edge news technology and the traits of the modern broadcast journalist. The Documentary Master Class "Al Jazeera from the Inside" will screen the BBC documentary on a day in the life of the Arab language news channel and feature a live discussion with editor-in-chief Ibrahim Helal in conversation with News World's Editorial Director Patrick Stoddart.

The final day of the conference will showcase "The News World Debate: Islam vs The Rest" taking an in-depth look at why there is so much deep-rooted suspicion on both sides of the religious divide and what the media could do to narrow it.

An additional highlight of this year's News World event is the launch of "The Pitch" where leading manufacturers will have the opportunity to demonstrate their latest equipment to delegates. News World will also feature is successful documentary screenings and Next Generation Master Classes for media students.

News World International is the world's premier annual independent news forum of the international broadcast community, created by journalists for journalists. It is managed by Banff Media Enterprises, a division of the Banff Television Foundation, the internationally recognized organizer and presenter of high quality electronic media events. For more information on News World, go to banffmedia.com/newsworld.

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