Dia Orwell 2024

"Fragile Truths" is the cycle  of debates curated by Patrick Radden Keefe to analyse the state of journalism and freedom of expression today. Radden Keefe begins the cycle with an opening lecture and will then talk with journalists Tom Burgis and Patricia Evangelista in two independent sessions. The debates are complemented by a series of literary routes to follow Orwell’s steps around Barcelona and Aragon, and the Artists at Risk meeting, which celebrates the arts as a means to fight for human rights.

About "Fragile Truths: Confronting the Powerful when Journalism is under Assault". By Patrick Radden Keefe.

One of indispensable function of journalism is to hold the powerful to account, yet a confluence of factors has jeopardized the ability of the press to do just that. The business model of print journalism has been eroded, hollowing out newsrooms and closing down publications. At the same time, social media has fractured audiences, allowing people to segment themselves into virtual communities of tribe or ideology, and to curate the news that they consume. This, in turn, can give rise to a sentiment that there is no such thing as objective, agreed-upon reality, but instead only a contest of different narratives and “alternative facts.” These developments have coincided, over the past two decades, with an extraordinary concentration of power in the hands of a new class of plutocrats who enjoy an astonishing level of financial and political power, and of impunity. The combination of these factors—an embattled, under-funded press; a public that will believe an internet-borne conspiracy theory rather than the traditional media; and an empowered and emboldened super elite—has made it difficult and often dangerous to report on the powerful. How should investigative journalists navigate this confounding, precarious era? And how can citizens remain informed and navigate an information environment of deepfakes, bots, greenwashing and propaganda, in which reality itself can be manipulated and often seems up for sale?  

"Fragile Truths" is a series of debates curated by Patrick Radden Keefe in the framework of Resident CCCB, an international residency program of the CCCB in collaboration with the UOC.

Since its very beginnings, Orwell Day is an initiative that has been jointly promoted with the Col·lectiu Dia Orwell (Orwell Day Collective), with support from the Catalan PEN Centre.