Journalism at a Crossroads
Key takeaways from the 2025 International Journalism Festival
The 19th edition of the International Journalism Festival kicked off last week in the medieval Italian city of Perugia, which looks out on the mind-blowing views of Umbria's mountains and valleys. Thousands of journalists travelled from across the globe for what feels like an annual family reunion of professionals, media organizations and funders. First-time IJF attendees and veterans mingled at Perugia's venues, alleys, and plazas, seeking inspiration, new contacts, or simply to wander in the midst of the crowds and information overload.
While the festival has no central theme, a quick analysis of the agenda reveals the current state of the profession – what preoccupies the hearts and minds of journalists at this moment in time. Here are my personal takeaways and watch back recommendations:
Redefining journalism
As traditional power structures disintegrate and new conflicts erupt across both physical and digital landscapes, journalism finds itself fighting not just for relevance but for existence itself. This existential crisis formed the backdrop for many discussions at the festival, where speakers repeatedly returned to fundamental questions about journalism's purpose and the information ecosystem in a changing world.
"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters." These memorable words of Antonio Gramsci, quoted by Nienke Venema, the director of the Dutch foundation Stichting Democratie en Media, captured the tension that the current fate of Western democracies and its impact on journalism pressed on the festival gathering despite the warm spring sunshine. Speaking at the session "Democracy defenders: a conversation with funders investing in independent journalism," Venema argued that surviving our current information crisis demands more than gradual change—it requires a fundamental reimagining of what media and journalism mean in a democratic society.
"We need to create resilience and defend what needs to be defended, but now is also a time where a new world is taking shape. We need imagination, we need ideation, and we need to work together to know very strongly which values matter to us and how we get into this new world based on those values," Venema emphasized.
She is not the only one with this worry. Throughout the festival, numerous speakers echoed similar concerns about journalism's precarious position in our rapidly evolving information ecosystem and the need for imagination as a way of reshaping journalism.
Eliza Anyangwe, editor-in-chief of The Fuller Project, crystallised this existential dilemma with the clear conclusion of the session "From funding crisis to opportunity: ideas and solutions in a post-USAID landscape" where she stated that journalists, "just as in every other field, have no natural right to exist; we have to fight for our right to exist as independent media." Her words serve as both warning and call to action—journalism must earn its place in our shared future through purpose, humility, and principle, not merely tradition or sentiment.
Despite the gloomy and uncertain reality of today's world, the yearly pilgrims to Perugia were filled with energy to fight for their world, their legacy, and above all, the freedoms that democracy upholds. Maritza L. Félix, the founder and director of Conecta Arizona, a Spanish-language news service that connects people in Arizona, is an optimist who thinks that "More than ever we need local journalists who amplify the local narratives and not just land the national narratives in the communities. You can build from the ground up and set the agenda, and that is an act of courage."
Creator journalism
From the number of sessions about creator journalism, we can conclude that content creators on social platforms are here to stay. This new generation of media makers is increasingly important in the information landscape. However, legacy media handbooks don't really address the ethical questions raised when journalists increasingly act like influencers or when influencers engage in journalism.
This blurring of traditional boundaries was a repeated theme across multiple festival discussions, with speakers sharing their experience in how they maintain journalistic principes while embracing new formats and engagement models.
Speaking at the "Journalism ethics in the creator economy era" session, Sruthi Gottipati, a journalist launching a Gen Z-focused news startup, pointed out that what we traditionally identify as editorialising is what audiences find authentic. Being directly engaged with your audience means you have to be clear about your values. While you can evaluate various sources, that doesn't mean it's “both sides-ism”. She emphasized that it is okay to do intensive reporting and call something out for what it is—be upfront and honest about it. In this process, it's essential to be transparent with your audience; they want to know where you started and where you ended up. This approach helps journalists stay rooted in journalistic ethics.
Kayce Ataiyero, Chief External Affairs Officer at the Joyce Foundation, speaking at the "Philanthropic support for journalism that aligns with foundation program and priority areas" session, highlighted that it is critically important to distinguish between journalism and storytelling; ‘they are complementary, but not the same thing. We need to find the new, now, next thing in terms of how to make journalism more connective, more responsive, and more sustainable. However, the unsexy bread-and-butter of journalism still matters—it is important and a core tenet of democracy. It's essential to consider ways to ensure that journalism remains strong, as we're not going to TikTok our way to the future that we want to be in’.
And, of course, AI
As in previous years, there were various sessions about AI, its future, and its impact on journalism. But the tech talks were carrying the heavy shadow of world politics and the impact of tech giants. Sessions ranged from practical implementations ("Building AI for newsrooms," "How the Financial Times is using AI") to critical examinations of broader implications ("The human farm: how digital platforms and AI are reshaping our lives"). And a serious warning from German media scholar Martin Andree, who showed in detail how far the hostile takeover of our society by the tech giants has already progressed—and how we could reclaim the Internet
These discussions reflected a profession grappling not just with how to use new tools, but with fundamental questions about who benefits from technological progress and who gets left behind—echoing the festival's broader themes of reimagining journalism's purpose in a rapidly shifting landscape.
Last but not least
The festival was as always (and maybe more than ever) a community gathering of colleagues and extended media families coming together. The magic of Perugia converts the jetlag of those who traveled long distances and the anxiety of work deadlines into a sense of collective purpose and inspiration.
Italian hospitality, the kindness of the Perugians and the hard-working festival volunteers created an atmosphere in which conversations flew and laughter was shared. Between sessions, journalists shared ideas, forged partnerships, and debated the future of their profession against the backdrop of Umbria's ancient architecture. The IJF 2025 offered all of us a well-deserved break and a boost of energy.