The conference Fighting Back will focus on editors’ efforts to build new platforms for news delivery, revenue streams and working practices at a time when the world economic downturn is having a dramatic effect on media organisations.
It will take place at the Radisson SAS hotel at London Stansted airport from Sunday November 15 to Tuesday November 17.
Press Complaints Commission chairman Baroness Buscombe (pictured) will deliver the 2009 Society of Editors Lecture that will open the conference. It will be her first major public speech since taking over from Sir Christopher Meyer at the PCC.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, will deliver a keynote speech during the conference and other senior figures from the media, politics and the law will also take part in what, the Society claims, has become firmly established as the key event for senior newsroom figures from all branches of the media.
SoE president Nigel Pickover, editor of Evening Star, Ipswich said: “While our main focus will be on fighting back to recovery from the combined effects of recession and structural change that are having dramatic impact on the media, we shall also be debating the vital issues of media freedom that are so vital to our efforts to inform and serve readers, listeners and viewers on paper, through broadcast, mobile technology and the internet.
Previous conferences have spotlighted the amazing innovation demonstrated by traditional media companies and the ingenuity and adaptability of editors and journalists.
This year we will show that despite tremendous battering the media at all levels is more than ready to take on new challenges.
We have chosen Stansted because it is in the region where I work but it is also close to London. It has top of the range conferencing and hotel facilities and of course superb travel connections with the whole of the UK and beyond.”
The conference is attended by editors and senior executives from across the UK and beyond. The Radisson is minutes away from main road, rail and air links.
It will open on Sunday 15 November with the Society of Editors Lecture. Monday 16 November will be given over to working sessions on numerous topics with time in between to meet faces old and new. The annual gala dinner will follow in the evening and will include the presentation of the Rat up a Drainpipe award that celebrates the life and work of political journalist Anthony Bevins.
Closing with the now traditional 20:20 Vision breakfast seminar on the morning of Tuesday 17 November, the conference sets the agenda for media debate throughout the year, says the Society.
The conference is supported by Camelot, the East of England Regional Development Agency, newspaper publisher, the BBC and ITV
Delegate fees are being held at or below previous levels and discounts will be available recognising the special difficulties faced particularly by the regional media.
Delegates can book now online at www.societyofeditors.org, by email (conference@societyofeditors.org) or by telephone (01223 304080). Early bird and members’ discounts apply until 31 July.
