Grammy award-winner Lucinda Williams and a host of top Canadian and U.S. journalists will mark the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) second World News Day on May 2 in Toronto. Brian Stelter, chief media correspondent for CNN Worldwide and host of Reliable Sources, will emcee.
World News Day celebrates the stories, the people, the reporting and the professional news organizations that are dedicated to changing lives, challenging the status quo, holding those in power to account and supporting freedom and democracy. This annual event takes place this year on the anniversary eve of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“We’re delighted to feature so many journalists, along with sources, who can speak to the impact and value of journalism,” said Natalie Turvey, president and executive director of the CJF. “It is more important than ever to highlight journalism’s contribution to our society and democracy. With the media facing so many existential challenges, World News Day serves as a reminder that as goes journalism goes, so goes democracy.”
The show will kick off at 7 p.m. on May 2 with a number from the musical Newsies by Toronto’sMainstage Theatre Company. Williams, and other musicians, will perform at the event at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the CNE grounds. Tickets are available for purchase for $30, with a portion of the event proceeds supporting the CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships, which encourages Indigenous issues and voices in the media.
World News Day featured speakers include:
- Susanne Craig, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter with The New York Times, on the challenge of getting to the truth of Trump and his finances;
- Sam Feist, Washington bureau chief and senior vice-president for CNN, and Lisa LaFlamme,chief news anchor and senior editor with CTV National News, on covering elections in the U.S. and Canada;
- Robert Fife, Ottawa bureau chief with The Globe and Mail who helped break the SNC-Lavalin story, in conversation with Jayme Poisson, host of CBC’s Front Burner podcast;
- Connie Walker, host of CBC News podcast Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo, and Julian Brave NoiseCat, policy analyst and freelance journalist, on telling Indigenous stories;
- Craig Silverman, media editor with BuzzFeed News, on the spread of misinformation;
- Scott and Laurie Thomas, parents of Evan Thomas, who died in the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy, in conversation with Susan Ormiston, senior correspondent for CBC News;
- Enrique Acevedo, anchor and correspondent for Univision Network News, on providing news to the Hispanic community in today’s charged political atmosphere, in conversation with Stephanie Nolen, Latin America bureau chief for The Globe and Mail;
- Terri McGregor, a North Bay, Ont., woman who developed a little-known breast implant-associated cancer due to a broken reporting system for medical device issues, in conversation with Robert Cribb, investigative reporter with the Toronto Star;
- Richard Gingras, vice-president of news for Google, on the role of platforms in the media ecosystem;
- Manisha Krishnan, senior writer and host with VICE; and
- Hannah Alper, teenage social activist, blogger and author.
