President Zelensky’s Keynote Address

The Society of Editors Media Freedom Conference 2023 – The Future of News took place today at the Leonardo Royal Hotel, London City on 15 March 2023.

In an exclusive video address to attendees at the conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to the “strength” of journalists reporting on the war and said that, now the first anniversary of the Russian invasion had passed, worldwide media coverage remained essential to giving “life a chance to win” in Ukraine and ensuring that crimes committed in Ukraine do not “pass without a trace”.

The one-day event, held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London, brought together more than 150 leading editors and journalists from all sectors of the UK news media industry to discuss the future of news and the vital role, opportunities and challenges facing the UK news media industry.

The high-profile news conference also heard from BBC journalist and presenter Clive Myrie, Alison Phillips, Editor of the Daily Mirror, LBC presenter Rachel Johnson and The Sunday Times’ Editor Ben Taylor. The conference also saw Clive Myrie, one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, presented with a Special Fellowship Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.

The Society’s conference was sponsored by Camelot, the Google News Initiative, Cision, UK Power Networks and the UCLan Journalism, Innovation and Leadership programme.