Birgitta Jónsdóttir to speak at the first Samara/Massey journalism seminar of 2011

Tuesday January 11 is the first of the Samara/Massey journalism seminars of 2011. Building on the success of last year's series, this program seek to provide examples of innovations in public affairs journalism, and to create a gathering space for journalists and others interested in public affairs storytelling to exchange ideas and learn from one another.

Below are the details on our first event, featuring Icelandic MP and transparency advocate Birgitta Jónsdóttir.

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As you know, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have dominated the world’s news in recent months.  What you may not know is that one WikiLeaks’ early spokespeople was Birgitta Jónsdóttir. 

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, now a member of Iceland’s Parliament, has led a movement in her country to take the most far-reaching steps towards advancing free speech, freedom of the press and transparency in government of any country in the world.  This initiative, the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) aims to bring together transparency laws from multiple jurisdictions to create the strongest media freedom laws in the world, with the goal of improving democracy and Iceland's standing in the international community.

In her talk, Birgitta Jónsdóttir will describe how and why she decided to help transform Iceland into the world’s safe haven for transparency, and what the impact has been to date, including her reflections on WikiLeaks’ ongoing revelations. 

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This event is at capacity, however, CPAC will broadcast it and post it on their site, and we'll share the links on this blog.  If you are interested in information on further seminars, please contact us.