I’m writing to you from Perugia, Italy, where the biggest annual media event in Europe has just kicked off.

ICFJ staffers and dozens of ICFJ network members are here for the International Journalism Festival, to learn, connect and collaborate with other journalists and those who support them from across the world.

ICFJ will be involved in sessions on AI, democracy, disinformation, elections and online violence, featuring our own Dr. Julie Posetti, deputy vice president of global research, and Maggie Farley, senior director of innovation. You can watch these (and other sessions) live online or find the recordings here:

• Safety of Journalists Toolbox and Guidelines for monitoring online violence against female journalists - April 18

• Disarming disinformation: how leading international editors are responding to information pollution in a pivotal year for democracy - April 19
• In conversation with journalism’s Nobel Laureate: Maria Ressa on democracy, disinformation and demagoguery - April 20
• The AI elections - April 20
  
   

  

For those of you who will be in Perugia in person, there are additional opportunities to connect with ICFJ: 

• Explore how newsrooms are integrating generative AI and planning for a future shaped by it, in a workshop hosted by ICFJ Knight Fellows Nikita Roy and Mattia Peretti.
• Drop in to test the online violence monitoring dashboard built by the University of Sheffield in partnership with ICFJ. ICFJ’s Nabeelah Shabbir and Dr. Diana Maynard of Sheffield will be there to get your feedback.
• Farley and former ICFJ Knight Fellow Nasr ul Hadi will be guiding participants through a systems design process mapping the gaps in the journalism landscape that prevent digital news startups from thriving. This workshop builds on others held in Asia, Africa and Latin America to start framing solutions. 
   

I also hope you’ll reach out to me and others on the ICFJ team while we are here. Gatherings like this are powerful opportunities for sparking much-needed innovation and collective action, at a time when journalism and our world at large need it.