This week, a journalism conference is taking place in the Tours convention center, Les Assises du Journalisme. On Tuesday morning, one of the roundtables was about whistleblowers. At the exact same time in London, the High Court was deciding whether the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the US.
11am. Conference room 3 is filled with people interested in today’s topic: how can journalists and whistleblowers work together? French whistleblower Agnès Audin opens the debate explaining what she went through, exposing misconduct she witnessed as a police captain in law enforcement. As soon as the discussion began, Daniel Ibanez, an expert on the subject, reminded the audience that the timing of this conference coincides with a very important court decision that’s going to be made: is Julian Assange going to be extradited to the US?
Léa Liagre, our journalist on the ground, did a recap of the important topics discussed in the meeting.
In order to better understand the crucial role played by whistleblowers in our modern societies, Lina Saheli delivers her brief explanation of the concept by discussing the cases of two very well-known public personalities who, according to critics, challenged the efficiency of freedom of expression in the US.
Les Assises du journalisme continues until Saturday and will conclude with the annual journalism book fair.