April 23-24, 2021

We are happy to announce the programme for our forthcoming conference reflecting on 200 years of the Guardian. This will take place online on 23/24 April and you can now register for free at https://hopin.com/events/liberalism-inc-200-years-of-the-guardian . We have keynotes from Alan Rusbridger (former editor of the Guardian), Mark Curtis (founder of Declassified UK), Gary Younge (former editor-at-large, the Guardian) and Ghada Karmi (Exeter University) together with eight panels on a range of topics.

Friday 23 April

3-4pm Keynote: Mark Curtis (founder, Declassified), ‘The Guardian, the establishment and the security state’ (chaired by Hilary Wainwright)

4.10-5.30pm First set of panels

Foreign news (chaired by Omega Douglas)

• Giora Goodman and Tony Shaw: Guardian and Israel from both sides – Suez
• Victoria Brittain: ‘Third World Review’
• Christian Christensen: 'The Guardian Covers Social Democracy: Swedish Utopia or Dystopia?'

The open, liberal newsroom (chaired by James Curran)

• Colleen Murrell: Australia and the “dance with philanthropy”
• Dan Jackson, Todd Graham & Scott Wright: Open journalism
• John Holmwood: Liberal orthodoxy and religious rights

6-8pm Keynote: Gary Younge, ‘Race and Class at the Guardian’ (respondent: Richard Seymour) (chaired by Des Freedman)

Saturday 24 April

10-11am Keynote: Alan Rusbridger, ‘More than a business: the 200 year history of a newspaper which put purpose before profit’ (chaired by Natalie Fenton)

11.10-12.30 Second set of panels

Liberalism (chaired by Clea Bourne)

Alexander Zevin: Liberalism and empire
Aaron Ackerley: The Interwar years
Carole O’Reilly: The sturdy strength of traditional liberalism

Des Freedman: The Founding of the Guardian

Regulation and the state (chair TBC)

• Julian Petley: press campaign against the Guardian
• Natalie Fenton: Guardian and press regulation
• Simon Dawes: Media freedom, power and the public
• Brian Cathcart: The Guardian and Press Reform: A Wheel Come Full Circle

1.30-2.50pm Third set of panels

The Guardian and feminism (chaired by Becky Gardiner)

• Hannah Hamad: Madeline Linford, Mary Stott and the early years of the women’s page
• Lynne Segal: Reflections on feminism
• Jilly Kay and Mareile Pfanebecker: The Guardian and neoliberal femininism

Empire (chaired by Mirca Madianou)

• Richard Smith: Pan Africanism and anti-colonial struggle
• Kathy Davies: Irish war of independence
• Priya Gopal: On empire

3-4.20pm Fourth set of panels

Liberalism's others (chaired by Anamik Saha)

• Mike Wayne: The Guardian and Brexit
• Katy Brown, Aurelien Mondon & Aaron Winter: Guardian and populist hype
• Cinzia Padovani: Guardian’s coverage of the ultra-right

Bias and balance (chaired by Kate Morris)

• Tom Mills: A liberal echo chamber
• Justin Schlosberg and Mike Berry: The curse of Corbynism
• Laura Basu: The Guardian and austerity

4.30-5.30pm Keynote: Ghada Karmi, ‘Reporting the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Guardian’s fatal ambivalence’ (chaired by Gholam Khiabany)

Please do circulate to your networks and students and remember that you can register now for free at https://hopin.com/events/liberalism-inc-200-years-of-the-guardian