Writing the war

The difficulty of knowing what is happening on a battlefield, the near impossibility of getting hard, cold facts in real-time and bearing witness to countless shattered lives. The role of war reporters is key to bringing war and conflict to the public eye. During this evening, European journalists and editors will tackle the challenges that they are facing: how to retain the public’s interest in prolonged conflicts? How to decide what stories to cover?

Conflicts on Europe’s doorstep, such as in Ukraine and Gaza, are reshaping journalistic practices. As tensions rise and the geopolitical balance shifts, we discuss how media translates such upheavals to the public. We question how to provide reliable news coverage amid propaganda and censorship, and how to debunk disinformation.

In the Face of War – European Dialogue
“In the Face of War – European Dialogue” is initiated by Institut Français and organised in partnership with De Balie, Institut français NL, Arte, Ouest France, Le Grand Continent, and the European Cultural Foundation. The project aims to foster dialogue and debate surrounding the upheavals in Europe instigated by the war in Ukraine. Following a project launch in Prague, and a second edition in autumn 2023, five events will be held during the course of 2024, in Warsaw, Sofia, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Rennes, with others to follow in 2025.

About the speakers

Anastasia Taylor-Lind is a Brittish/Swedish photojournalist and poet. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer, TED Fellow, and 2016 Nieman Fellow at Harvard university. Over the past 20 years, Taylor-Lind has reported on war, women and violence. This year, she has been appointed as the World Press Photo Europe jury chair.

Sander van Hoorn is a Dutch political scientist and journalist for NOS. In the past he was a correspondent for NOS in the EU, the Middle East and Northern Africa, Israel and the occupied territories. Van Hoorn reported on the 9/11 attacks, the Arab Spring and the rise of IS. After the 7th of October 2023, he traveled back to Israel, where he is currently reporting regularly on the war.

Boyko Vassilev is a journalist, producer and presenter of Panorama weekly programme at Bulgarian National TV (BNT). He was active in reporting major events on the peninsula – the Bosnian and Kosovo war, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and events in Macedonia. He covered the Syrian war in 2012 and Iraq in 2015. Throughout his career, Vassilev has interviewed many international leaders such as George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Veronika Dorman is a journalist and former Russia correspondent. In 2023, she published the book Un peuple qui marche: Les Russes sous Putin Au Pas. She currently works for the daily French newspaper Libération.

Emmanuelle Chaze is a French independent journalist living in Kyiv. She works as a Ukraine correspondent for French International broadcaster France24, RFI, and the newspaper Ouest-France. With a background in history, literature, and international law, she focuses her reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine, war crimes, and EU policy.