The FatChilli team’s top 13 session picks from the International Journalism Festival (#IJF26).

Our team at FatChilli put together a list of 13 sessions we are excited to attend in Perugia, Italy, during the twentieth edition of the International Journalism Festival (congrats to the organisers, btw).

This year’s festival is packed with emerging topics, such as practical use cases of AI in the newsroom. It also covers subjects close to our hearts, including business models, how to run successful subscriber acquisition campaigns, and the essential tech stack publishers should use.

The sessions below are numbered based on how early in the festival they appear in the programme. The descriptions have been edited to be shorter than they originally appeared in the schedule.

If you are looking for a singular recommendation, it is the “Campaign-Led Approach to Reader Revenue Growth With Subscription” session with Tomas Bella, Co-founder and Chief Digital Officer at Dennik N.

If you happen to be in Perugia, reach out via our LinkedIn page or directly to our colleague Ali Mahmood, who will be present at the festival.

1) How to Edit a Liquid: A Survival Guide for the AI Age

Session description

As newsrooms increasingly experiment with generative AI (from chatbots and summaries to semantic search and voice), editors face a new and unsettling challenge: they can no longer fully control what the public sees. Unlike traditional publishing, where a final edit is sacred and unchanged, AI-generated content is “liquid” — personalised and probabilistic. This panel brings together senior editors from leading journalism brands to explore how the editor’s role must be redefined in an AI-driven era, balancing hyper-personalisation with editorial oversight, trust, and factual accuracy.

Speakers

• Phoebe Connelly — Ex Senior Editor, AI Strategy & Innovation, The Washington Post
• Mukul Devichand — Editor, AI Initiatives, The New York Times
• Erja Ylä-järvi — Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat
• Olle Zachrison [Moderator] — Head of News AI, BBC News

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 09:30 – 10:20 
• 📍 Sala Brugnoli, Palazzo Cesaroni

Link to future live-stream and recording.

2) News Creators: Competitors, Collaborators or Disruptors?

Session description

In the post-Trump 2.0 world, a new category of news voices has emerged: the news creator. With significant cultural clout, particularly among young audiences, these personalities are reshaping public debate. This panel examines what their rise means for traditional news media and whether there is an opportunity to learn from and partner with them, or whether the differences between the two worlds are too fundamental to bridge.

Speakers

• Nicolas Copano — Founder and Director, Turno
• Emilio Domenech — Founder and Editor, WATIF
• Salla-Rosa Grohn — Producer and Writer, Yle Kioski
• Mitali Mukherjee [Moderator] — Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 10:30 – 11:20
• 📍 Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori

Link to future live-stream and recording.

3) Human-Made, Mission-Driven: Reinventing Membership Media in the Age of AI-Slop

Session description

As AI-generated content floods the internet, this panel explores how high-trust, mission-driven journalism is emerging as the antidote to digital noise. Three media startups share how they moved away from the “reach-at-all-costs” model to build deep, sustainable relationships with their audiences through membership-driven business models, human voice, and editorial integrity. The session serves as a roadmap for the next generation of publishers who believe the future of media lies in reclaiming the value of the human voice and the role of independent media in democracy.

Speakers

• Anette Dowideit — Editor-in-Chief, CORRECTIV
• Jillian Green — Editor-in-Chief, Daily Maverick
• Katharina Hemmer — Managing Director, Republik
• Rozina Breen [Moderator] — Director of Editorial, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 10:30 – 11:20
• 📍 Sala Brugnoli, Palazzo Cesaroni

Link to future live-stream and recording.

4) The Rebooting: Perugia Edition

Session description

The news industry is undergoing a structural power shift from institutions to individuals. While creator-led media has rapidly reshaped audience behaviour and business models in the United States, Europe’s transition appears slower and more contested. Presented as a live edition of The Rebooting Show, this conversation between Peter Erdelyi and Brian Morrissey explores whether the US and European information ecosystems are diverging, and if so, why — examining the roles of culture, market structure, funding, and institutional inertia. The goal is to surface the structural, financial, and cultural factors shaping different trajectories and what each ecosystem might learn from the other.

Speakers

• Peter Erdelyi — Founding Director, Center for Sustainable Media
• Brian Morrissey — Founder and Host, The Rebooting

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 12:30 – 13:00
• 📍 Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori

Link to future live-stream and recording.

5) Campaign-Led Approach to Reader Revenue Growth

Session description

With subscription fatigue setting in across the board, this panel explores how time-bound, value-driven campaigns can drive growth in paying readership. Drawing on four successful campaigns run in 2025 by publishers from the UK, Finland, Slovakia, and Ukraine, the session highlights how goal-setting campaigns can attract tens of thousands of new subscribers, build loyal communities, and be applied both at the launch stage and at scale. Panellists will share lessons learned, the tools and ideas that worked, and the broader impact on reader retention and engagement.

Speakers

• Tomas Bella — Co-founder and Chief Digital Officer, Dennik N
• Antti Pikkanen — Co-founder and CEO, Uusi Juttu
• Liz Wynn — Chief Supporter Revenue Officer, The Guardian
• Zakhar Protsiuk [Moderator] — Chief Operating Officer, The Kyiv Independent

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 14:00 – 14:50
• 📍 Teatro del Pavone

Link to future live-stream and recording.

6) A 101 Guide to Doing Serious Journalism That Brings a Smile

Session description

Humour, personality, and internet-native formats are often dismissed as incompatible with serious journalism. This workshop challenges that assumption. Using research on audience engagement alongside hands-on production and community-building examples, participants will learn how humour and narrative can improve comprehension, trust, and reach, without sacrificing accuracy or civic value. The session is aimed at journalists and editors who believe serious journalism must sound solemn, newsroom leaders sceptical of humour-led formats, and educators and students.

Speakers

• Aled John — Group Strategy Director, Financial Times
• Dave Jorgenson — Co-founder, Local News International (ex-Washington Post)

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 14:00 – 14:50
• 📍 Auditorium San Francesco al Prato

Link to future live-stream and recording.

7) Managing the Open Social Web for Media Companies

Session description

As traditional social media becomes increasingly dominated by opaque algorithms and closed systems, media organisations are turning to open, federated networks as an alternative. This panel brings together leaders managing the evolution of open social infrastructure to discuss the requirements, business models, and governance frameworks that address the unique needs of newsrooms, broadcasters, and independent publishers. The conversation will cover strategies, practical experiences, and the remaining challenges in building open platforms that empower both users and media organisations.

Speakers

• Felix Hlatky — Executive Director, Mastodon
• Paul Nemitz — College of Europe
• Rose Wang — COO, Bluesky
• Bjorn Staschen [Moderator] — Founding Director, Save Social – Networks For Democracy

When & Where

• 📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 15:00 – 15:50
• 📍 Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori

Link to future live-stream and recording.

8) Up and Coming: Next Generation News Product Builders

Session description

A new wave of product talent is reshaping journalism, often before they even graduate. From J-schools teaching experimentation and audience thinking to early-career professionals building products that respond to real community needs, the next generation of news product builders works differently: user-first, cross-functional, and unafraid of AI. This session dives into who they are, how they think, and why they are poised to influence everything from audience strategy to organisational change.

Speakers

• Delfina Arambillet — Head of AI and Sustainability Initiatives, Sustainable Business Studio Globant
• Sydney Lewis — Associate Product Manager, The Minnesota Star Tribune
• Teresa Mondria Terol — Product Engineer, AI Initiatives, The New York Times
• Aldana Vales [Moderator] — Coordinator, AI Journalism Labs, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY

When & Where

• 📅 Friday, April 17, 2026 | 10:30 – 11:20
• 📍 Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani

Link to future live-stream and recording.

9) Shared Services as Critical Infrastructure: What Publishers, Partners and Funders Need to Know

Session description

Independent news organisations around the world are rebuilding the same core capabilities from scratch — a process that is costly, slow, and rarely sustainable. Shared services offer a different path by pooling expertise, technology, and operational support to create capacity that individual outlets struggle to build alone. This session takes a global look at shared services as emerging infrastructure for independent media, focusing on what publishers gain in practice, how funders can enable this work at scale, and the kinds of partnerships that make shared services effective and trustworthy. Drawing on early lessons from initiatives in the US, Europe, and the Global South, the session aims to guide the next wave of ecosystem support.

Speakers

• Jim Brady — Principal, Spirited Media Consulting
• Martin Kotynek — Founding Director, Media Forward Fund
• Sharon Moshavi — President, International Center for Journalists
• Vera Peneda — Director Programmes and Impact, European Journalism Centre
• Kim Bode [Moderator] — Head of Growth Initiatives, Newspack

When & Where

• 📅 Friday, April 17, 2026 | 11:30 – 12:20
• 📍 Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori

Link to future live-stream and recording.

10) How to Turn Investigative Articles into a Blockbuster Documentary?

Session description

In February 2025, Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36 published “The Dynasty,” a documentary about the business empire built by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s family. The film became an unexpected viral hit, surpassing 4 million views on YouTube and sparking significant political discourse in Hungary. In this session, the two journalists behind the film share how a small non-profit outlet primarily focused on written journalism expanded into documentary production, how they turned complex investigative articles into a compelling film, and how they produced it on a low budget without external financing.

Speakers

• Kamilla Marton — Investigative Journalist, Direkt36
• Andras Petho — Co-founder and Executive Director, Direkt36

When & Where

📅 Friday, April 17, 2026 | 10:30 – 11:20

📍 Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani

Link to future live-stream and recording.

11) Turning Ideas into Real Progress: Practical Ways to Get Sh*t Done

Session description

Most news organisations do not lack good ideas — what they lack is the ability to turn those ideas into tangible results. This practical session focuses on what helps initiatives actually move forward, regardless of where you sit inside a news organisation. It covers how to align the right people, choose what is worth doing, test ideas with purpose, and maintain momentum when competing demands get in the way. Participants will leave with simple, honest tools for setting priorities, communicating clearly, and creating the conditions for ideas to become outcomes that support sustainability.

Speakers

• Kim Bode — Head of Growth Initiatives, Newspack
• Sanne Breimer — Founder, Inclusive Journalism
• Amruta Byatnal — Independent Journalist
• Mayuri Mei Lin — Program Director, Southeast Asia Media Development Investment Fund
• Michael Jarjour [Moderator] — Founder and CEO, Trustfund

When & Where

• 📅 Friday, April 17, 2026 | 15:00 – 15:50
• 📍 Sala delle Colonne, Palazzo Graziani

Link to future live-stream and recording.

12) Can Open Protocols Give Journalism a Fighting Chance in the Age of AI Agents?

Session description

Since Anthropic introduced the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in late 2024, it has rapidly become a foundational standard for AI agents — yet newsrooms have been slow to engage. This workshop argues that hesitation matters. MCP, combined with an emerging ecosystem of open protocols for licensing, identity, access control, payments, and auditability, offers media organisations a concrete path toward permissioned, paid, and measurable AI use of their content. The session walks participants through a practical, newsroom-relevant technology stack and examines both the opportunities and the structural risks of an agent-mediated future, where content is increasingly accessed through personal AI assistants rather than websites.

Speakers

• Florent Daudens — Co-founder, Mizal AI
• Lucky Gunasekara — Co-founder and CEO, Miso.ai

When & Where

• 📅 Friday, April 17, 2026 | 17:00 – 17:50
• 📍 Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani

Link to future live-stream and recording.

13) Steal This: AI Projects Newsrooms Actually Shipped and How They Got It Over the Line

Session description

2026 is the year of operationalising AI experiments. This session moves beyond the prototype stage to spotlight real AI projects that metro newsrooms actually launched, the support and discipline required to get there, and the obstacles teams faced turning experiments into working workflow tools. Attendees will hear concrete examples, learn what it takes to go from prototype to production, and gain access to reusable templates and playbooks they can adapt for their own newsrooms. The session is aimed at anyone evaluating or piloting AI tools, navigating newsroom culture and governance around AI, or responsible for turning experimentation into day-to-day practice.

Speakers

• Kati Erwert — Senior VP Product, Marketing and Public Service, The Seattle Times
• Kevin Hoffman — AI Engineer, The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Tristan Loper — Head of National Programs, The Lenfest Institute
• Emily Brown [Moderator] — Journalism Director, Microsoft

When & Where

• 📅 Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 09:30 – 10:20
• 📍 Sala Raffaello, Hotel Brufani

Link to future live-stream and recording.