New Horizons in Journalism 2026

Journalism today is rarely silenced by outright censorship. Instead, it’s worn down: through ownership structures, advertising markets, political proximity, platform incentives, and the slow normalisation of pressure. The result is a media environment where editorial independence is surrendered gradually, one seemingly pragmatic adjustment at a time.

The 2026 New Horizons in Journalism Conference confronts this directly. Grounded in the Bulgarian media experience and connected to wider European and global dynamics, Truth Under Pressure examines how information is shaped, constrained, and captured without formal bans – and what journalists can do about it.

WHERE

Hilton Sofia

WHEN

May 14, 2026

WHERE

Hilton Sofia

WHEN

May 14, 2026

Agenda

Thursday, 14 May 2026

09:00 – 09:30	ARRIVAL Registration Coffee on arrival
09:30 – 09:50	OPENING Welcome and framing Remarks from the America for Bulgaria Foundation, the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria, and the World Press Institute. Introduction of the 2026 Bulgarian WPI Fellow.
09:50 – 10:05	SHORT TALK Maria Tsantsarova Founder: Off Air Silenced and sidelined: A first-hand account of how pressure operates after formal censorship becomes unnecessary — through marginalisation, exclusion, and professional erasure.
10:05 – 10:45	MORNING KEYNOTE Stephen Capus President and CEO, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Keynote address followed by audience Q&A.
10:45 – 11:00	BREAK Coffee
11:00 – 11:20	SHORT TALK David Schultz Hamline University Power, information, and the global order: How shifts in U.S. politics and global power structures shape information pressure far beyond national borders.
11:20 – 11:40	SHORT TALK Jon Collins Minnesota Public Radio From bystander to stakeholder: What does it take to report with integrity when the personal, professional, and political stakes all run high at once?
11:40 – 12:00	SHORT TALK Pauliina Grym WPI alumna and PhD researcher When journalism takes sides: What “truth” means when journalism abandons neutrality, and what that means for democracy.
12:00 – 12:20	DISCUSSION Q&A with Schultz, Collins, and Grym Moderated open discussion connecting the three short talks.
12:20 – 13:15	LUNCH
13:15 – 14:00	AFTERNOON KEYNOTE Robert Guest Foreign Editor, The Economist Keynote address on press freedom and the global information environment, followed by Q&A.
14:00 – 14:20	SHORT TALK Arwa Damon Founder, INARA; formerly CNN Reporting under fire: what it costs, what it changes, what it demands.
14:20 – 14:30	BREAK Short break
14:30 – 14:40	SHORT TALK Kate West University of Texas at Austin — opening remarks framing the panel discussion.
14:40 – 16:10	PANEL What Journalism Gives Up to Survive Moderator: Kate West (University of Texas at Austin) Panellists: Catarina Carvalho (Mensagem de Lisboa), Arwa Damon (INARA), Bissera Zankova (Bulgarian media regulation expert) Every newsroom and every journalist is making trade-offs — visibility vs. safety, financial stability vs. editorial independence, reach vs. depth. This panel examines which trade-offs preserve the ability to keep reporting, which quietly erode standards, and how journalists can make these decisions consciously rather than by default.
16:10 – 16:20	CLOSING Closing remarks Camilla Bath, World Press Institute

Workshops

Friday, 15 May 2026

Video and Animation for Newsrooms

Matthias Sdun, WPI alumnus

9:00 – 11:00

Practical session on using AI tools for animation and video in editorial production.

The AI video landscape has changed enormously over the past year. This workshop covers the tools that matter now, and how journalists can actually use them in their reporting. Matthias will walk through motion control, animated infographics, and AI-generated maps — the techniques most likely to be useful for newsroom work, whether you’re explaining a complex story, visualising data, or producing video on a tight deadline. Hands-on, focused on practical application, no prior animation experience required.

The training will take place from 9:00 to 11:00 on May 15, 2026.

Participation is free of charge, but places are limited, so prior registration is required. The working language will be English, and no translation into Bulgarian will be provided.

Please register by 16:00 on May 14, 2026.

Approved participants will receive information about the event location.

Vibecoding for Journalists

Camilla Bath, WPI Program Director

11:30 – 14:30

A hands-on introduction to AI-assisted tool building for journalists with no coding background. Participants will build working tools in the room.

Vibecoding is using AI to build small, working tools by describing what you want in plain language. No coding background needed. In three hours, you’ll build something functional — a tool you could actually use in your reporting or in your newsroom — and leave with a clearer sense of when this approach helps, when it doesn’t, and how to think about the editorial choices that shape what you build. We’ll work through real examples, hit real problems, and treat debugging as a reporting skill: observe, diagnose, articulate, verify. Bring a laptop.

The training will take place from 11:30 to 14:30 on May 15, 2026.

Participation is free of charge, but places are limited, so prior registration is required. The working language will be English, and no translation into Bulgarian will be provided.

Please register by 16:00 on May 14, 2026.

Approved participants will receive information about the event location.

Speakers

Stephen Capus

President of RFE/RL

Stephen Capus has served as RFE/RL’s President since 2024. During a 20-year career with NBC that included a nearly 8-year tenure as President of NBC News, Capus directed overall editorial and management operations, had oversight of global news coverage, served on NBC’s corporate management committees. Capus has also been the executive producer of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, MSNBC’s The News with Brian Williams, and countless NBC News special reports. From 2014 to 2018, Capus was the executive editor of CBS News and the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. Capus and his production teams have been the recipients of many distinguished honors, such as the Edward R. Murrow Award, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, several Emmy Awards, a George Polk Award and a Peabody. Capus was also bestowed the prestigious Ida B. Wells Award in 2007 by the National Association of Black Journalists.

Robert Guest

Deputy Editor of The Economist

Robert Guest is Deputy Editor of The Economist. Previous roles have included Foreign Editor, United States Editor, Business Editor and “Lexington” columnist. He has reported from more than 100 countries, lived in six and won numerous journalism awards. He is the author of “Borderless Economics”, a book about how migration makes the world brainier, and “The Shackled Continent”, a book about how Africans can make Africa richer. He takes a particular interest in the global struggle between freedom and authoritarianism.

Kate West

Professor of Journalism & Mental Health

Dr. Kate West is an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas in Austin. She spent 20 years as a broadcast journalist at various stations in the United States before becoming an academic. Kate’s most popular course is Journalism and Mental Health, a topic she is passionate about and has written a book called, Journalists Break News, Don’t Let it Break You. It aims to prepare the next crop of journalists and working journalists for the mental health struggles associated with the profession.

Jon Collins

Senior Reporter at Minnesota Public Radio News

Jon Collins is a senior reporter covering the criminal justice system for Minnesota Public Radio News in Minneapolis. He’s the co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning podcast 74 Seconds about the police killing of Philando Castile. He’s also closely covered the country’s opioid epidemic, the murder of George Floyd and the federal government’s ICE surge into Minnesota.

David Schultz

Professor of Political Science and Law

David Schultz is Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Environmental Studies, and Legal Studies at Hamline University. He is also an adjunct professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and at the University of St. Thomas, and an affiliate faculty member at the Lithuanian Military Academy in Vilnius, Lithuania. A four-time Fulbright scholar who has taught extensively in Europe and Asia, and the winner of the Leslie A. Whittington national award for excellence in public affairs teaching, David is the author of more than 45 books and 200+ articles on various aspects of American politics, election law, and the media and politics. David is on the ACS Minnesota Advisory Board and is former executive director of Common Cause Minnesota and a former vice-president for the Minnesota and South Texas chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union. He is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and before the US Supreme Court.

Pauliina Grym

Journalist & Radio Host

Pauliina Grym is a seasoned media veteran with over two decades of experience, transitioning from her roots in print journalism to become a renowned journalist, podcaster, and radio host. Currently, she hosts a live talk show on the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, while her academic pursuits focus on advocacy and activist media through her PhD research. Grym’s expertise extends to the realm of American politics and culture, solidified by her selection as a 2022 World Press Institute (WPI) International Fellow, allowing her to delve deeper into this area of interest.

Matthias Sdun

Documentary Filmmaker

Matthias Sdun is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert in visual storytelling. He is currently working on international documentaries for ARD German television. Matthias also works as a trainer for mobile journalism and visual storytelling. He specializes in AI-powered image and video creation, guiding clients on how to integrate these tools into their video strategies. He is a 2015 World Press Institute alumnus from Hamburg, Germany.

Camilla Bath

Journalism Consultant

Camilla Bath is a journalism consultant, trainer and innovator with a career spanning two decades in the news media industry, bridging continents, cultures and industries. Camilla works with newsrooms across Africa and Europe, focusing on the future of journalism, AI’s role in newsrooms, and the ethical challenges of emerging technologies in media. Previously, she held leadership roles in two of South Africa’s major broadcast news organizations, overseeing editorial strategy, digital transformation, and newsroom innovation. Camilla is Program Director and a board member of the World Press Institute, having herself been a recipient of a WPI fellowship in 2014.

Maria Tsantsarova

TV Journalist & Co-founder of Off Air

Maria Tsantsarova is a Bulgarian journalist and co-founder of the independent media platform “Off Air”. She has over a decade of experience in television journalism, covering politics, corruption, and public interest stories. Following her being taken off air by a national TV channel, she and a few highly respected Bulgarian journalists launched “Off Air” as a fully audience-funded platform for independent journalism.

Arwa Damon

Journalist & Humanitarian

Arwa Damon is an award winning former CNN senior correspondent and an expert on the Middle East, best known for her ability to tell the human story in the midst of war and chaos. She is the founder and president of the charity INARA that provides medical and mental health care to children impacted by war. Arwa also recently directed and produced the award winning documentary “Seize the Summit” that tells the story of four young refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine that come together to take on Mt Kilimanjaro and make a stand against war.

Catarina Carvalho

Founder & Editor of Mensagem de Lisboa

After 20 years of leading national newsrooms, Catarina Carvalho co-founded Mensagem de Lisboa — which fullfilled a journalist’s dream of “telling the stories of our own street”. Mensagem is a local and community centered media, that aims to connect the people of the city through empaty and stories. She is the former Executive Director of the legendary Diário de Notícias, where she led the digital transformation and “the end of print.” She has more than 30 years of experience at the top of the Portuguese media food chain (Expresso, Visão, DN) and now she’s very happy at this new mission in local.

Ivan Georgiev

News Anchor & Reporter at bTV

Ivan Georgiev is news anchor and reporter with bTV Bulgarian television for the last twenty years. As a journalist on the ground Ivan Georgiev has covered some of the leading international and regional events. He was granted the World Press Institute Fellowship in 2012. Author of numerous TV documentaries.

Bissera Zankova

Media regulation expert

Bissera Zankova has studied law at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridsky”, and editing and publishing at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication of the same university. She holds a Master (1999) and a Doctor (2005) of Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University, Budapest and has specialized at the BBC and at Oxford University. For many years Bissera Zankova has been a Council of Europe expert in the field of freedom of expression and media, a member of CDMSI and its Bureau. She has taken part in the Council of Europe missions in various European countries and has taken part in several EURODIG conferences. Currently, she is an independent researcher and consultant as president of “Media 21” Foundation registered in Bulgaria which develops projects focused on freedom of expression, media, and journalism.

ORGANIZERS

Organized by

Supported by

Location

Hilton Sofia

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Contacts:

Ivan Radev, AEJ-Bulgaria

+359889388619

[email protected]