UWC Club of New York Speaker's Series

Chrystia Freeland: Globalization and The Changing Media Landscape

On January 17^th, 2008, the UWC Club of New York held a talk as part of their ongoing Speaker's Series entitled “Globalization and The Changing Media Landscape,” featuring Chrystia Freeland (Adriatic College ‘86), US Managing Editor of the Financial Times. Chrystia spoke to an audience of over 70 UWC alumni, from all of the UWCs, at the home of Alison Akant (Atlantic College ‘73).

Reflecting on her experience as a journalist in Kiev and Moscow in the early 1990s, Chrystia began by discussing the impact of the media on politics and civil society in the transformation of the former Soviet Union. She detailed how, as politicians competed for airtime to discredit their rivals, access to the media became highly valued, motivating them to purchase numerous media properties. Continuing, she said, “Yet even corrupt and biased newspapers, if there were ten, each owned by different magnates, created a healthier civil society than when only one voice controlled all. The extent to which free information flowed, even in this setting, was really a first step towards a more developed civil society before there was a market economy “

Chrystia pointed out that Putin gained influence partly by buying several outlets of news dissemination, so that it was primarily his voice that the public heard. “The Kremlin remains fully conscious of the importance of the media, which explains its absolute intolerance for the voice of dissent even from the most weakened fragments of civil society,” she said.

Chrystia proceeded to discuss the current role of the media in functioning democracies. She observed that the news is largely determined by what editors think readers want and what readers actually will read. Editors often lean towards quality and objectivity, while readers often prefer utility and opinionated “viewspapers.” She explained how there has been a gradual realization of this tension, and how the media is shifting towards the demands of readers: “In this setting, readers pay for the most explosive rather than the most thoughtful news; it is, after all, easier to pay someone for their views than for well-researched, thoroughly edited, objective news.”

She then turned to the role of the internet in this discourse, explaining how, by democratizing the means of dissemination, the internet both mitigates and reinforces this trend: it mitigates it by easing the process of cross-checking facts, and reinforces it by granting authority (even if limited) to even the most biased viewpoints. Therefore, anyone can take advantage of the ease of publishing online to push constructive ideas without needing significant resources.

Turning back to the big picture, Chrystia explained that while “viewspapers” with vested interests may become increasingly popular in democratic countries, it is very unlikely that ownership will become concentrated in the hands of one single player and thereby enable the rise of a Putin-equivalent.

After answering the audience's questions about her work and personal drive, she concluded the talk by saying, “It is essential to remember how easily the media space can be destroyed, yet it is absolutely essential to the development and sustenance of civil society and the way we live.”

In addition to managing the US Edition of the Financial Times, Chrystia is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader Honoree and author. She is an expert on the history and politics of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and authored Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution (2000), which details Russia's journey from communism to capitalism. Prior to joining the Financial Times, Chrystia wrote for the Washington Post and The Economist. Upon graduating from Adriatic College, she attended Harvard University and then Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

The UWC Club of New York started the Speaker's Series in 2005 and strives to create a forum for discussion and networking among alumni of all the UWCs. If you are interested in supporting future Speaker's Series events, or other alumni gatherings in the New York area, please contact uwcers@yahoo.com.