Event Description

Media Society Members have been offered an exclusive allocation of tickets for this event at The Conduit.

It's a discussion between Stephen Sackur, the former lead presenter of the BBC’s HARDtalk, and Carole Cadwalladr, the author and investigative journalist. The Conduit are describing it as “a passionate defence of investigative journalism in the face of authoritarian political power, organised crime and a monopolistic tech elite”.

From Daniel Ellsberg’s exposé of the US government’s Pentagon papers to Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption fight in Russia, Stephen will highlight cases when journalists told truth to power. And we’ll hear from Carole about her investigation into Cambridge Analytica: a watershed moment in the way we understand the influence of the tech elite on our politics.

Speakers

Stephen Sackur joined the BBC as a graduate trainee and spent many years as a foreign correspondent, covering the 1989 revolutions and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the first Gulf War. He was based in Cairo from 1992 to 1995, and in Jerusalem from 1995 to 1997. He then moved to Washington where he covered the 2000 election. He presented HARDtalk from 2005 to the final episode in March 2025. In June 2025 Stephen joined Times Radio as a regular presenter of The Times at One.

Carole Cadwalladr is an investigative journalist who worked for two decades as a feature writer at the Guardian and the Observer. Her journalism probes the nexus of politics and Silicon Valley power; she is the author of the Substack newsletter How to Survive the Broligarchy. She is a co-founder of the Nerve, which launched in September 2025.

Event Schedule

6:15pm: Pre-event socialising and networking

A cash bar will be available for refreshments.

6:30pm: Event begins

7:45pm: Event ends

Networking drinks before and after the discussion event with pay bar.