In the next in its series of exclusive dinners with journalists, reporters, and editors from across the UK media landscape, Atalanta recently hosted its second gathering, welcoming Nicky Woolf, host of the BBC’s The Interface podcast, as its keynote speaker.
The dinner was hosted by Atalanta’s COO, Claire Fyfe, and Senior Account Director, Austyn Close, with a high-level group of senior leaders spanning the skills, impact investing, development, tech, sustainability, and gender justice sectors in attendance.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Nicky posed several questions to the table set against the backdrop of a political crisis facing the governing Labour Party in the UK. The guests and Nicky had a lively debate across several themes that threaten the integrity and reliability of information in today’s world, including:
· Mis- and dis-information campaigns: threats to trusting institutions and experts.
· Controlling the narrative: strategies to combat untrue and harmful narratives.
· The role of social media: social media giants’ role in perpetuating, and profiteering from, information wars.
· Geopolitical threats: the threat posed by malign states to the UK’s national security and welfare.
· Communication “slop”: and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in communications strategies.
Technology’s rapidly evolving influence on traditional and social media has forced organisations across the public, private, and third sectors to respond in novel and unconventional ways. Guests shared their individual concerns and insights on these wide-ranging issue areas and how they impact their respective fields—learning from one another and sharing best practices. Many acknowledged how they have experienced increased difficulty with achieving cut-through on what their organisations are trying to communicate, citing how untrue and deliverable information campaigns have made this more challenging.
The political crisis facing the current British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was the backdrop for the evening, with guests discussing how a potential leadership contest may affect the UK’s standing in the world and the ways in which mis- and dis-information campaigns threaten to distort political processes.
At Atalanta we believe that bridging the worlds of policy, media, business, and civil society is the only way to positively shift narratives and accelerate impact on issues that matter to countries, societies, and communities around the world. Problems such as mis- and dis-information know no boundaries or borders—making purpose-driven communications and advocacy strategies even more critical for organisations seeking to drive positive change.
We thank Nicky Woolf for moderating such a thoughtful and lively discussion and all our guests for their contributions and insights.
See examples of our work to shift narratives and accelerate impact here.
Listen to The Interface here.
