We live in a dangerous time for journalists. Killings of reporters are on the rise, while countless journalists have been forced to work in exile. Why are journalists such targets? How does this affect how they report? What can readers do to support the free press? Faced with danger, what can journalism do? We are delighted to welcome Madeleine Schwartz, editor-in-chief of global magazine of culture and politics the Dial, in conversation with Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud of Forbidden Stories, an organization whose mission is to protect, pursue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder. They will discuss their work bringing the work of endangered journalists to readers, share recent projects, and consider why journalism matters.

This event is organized in partnership with the Dial. 

Learn more:

Forbidden Stories enables journalists under threat to share dangerous information through secure channels, and carry on the work of reporters imprisoned or murdered for their work. 

In their words: “We send a powerful signal to enemies of the free press: even if you succeed in stopping a single messenger, you will not stop the message. What is the point of killing a journalist if 10, 20 or 30 others are waiting in the wings to carry on their work? Collaboration is the best form of protection.” Learn more about the history of Forbidden Stories and discover the reporting they have brought to light. 

“The world’s little magazine,” The Dial is a new online magazine of culture, politics, and ideas with a focus on locally sourced writing from around the world. A space where daring writers stage global conversations unconstrained by geography, the publication spotlights writers who write the world as they see it—from wherever they might be. Check out their recent issue, with contributors from Sudan, Ukraine, Sweden, Chile, South Korea, and more. 

About the speakers:

Laurent Richard is a journalist, executive producer of investigative documentaries, founder and executive director of Forbidden Stories. A French award-winning investigative reporter for Premieres Lignes Television and 2017 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, he was named “European Journalist of the Year” at the Prix Europa in Berlin in 2018. 

Sandrine Rigaud is a French investigative journalist. As editor of Forbidden Stories since 2019, she coordinated the “Pegasus Project” published in July 2021 and the “Cartel Project,” a massive cross-border collaboration to finish the investigations of a murdered Mexican journalist that won a George Polk Award and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize.

Madeleine Schwartz lives in Paris, where she writes about the rise of the far right, urban politics and art fraud. Her work appears in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, where she previously worked as an editor. In 2019, her article “The End of Atlanticism: Has Trump killed the ideology that won the cold war?” won the European Press Prize. She teaches journalism at Sciences Po.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Schwartz, Richard, and Rigaud will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.