This is an email for Media Society members.

First of all, thank you for being a member of the Society. Your support is really important, and allows us to carry on with our mission to provide an independent and impartial platform for the discussion of media issues.

Here's the latest Media Society news for our members:

AI and Creative Work

Our next discussion event is on AI and Writing at The Conduit on Monday 14th September.

The Conduit in Covent Garden is a fantastic venue for events, and there will be opportunities for networking with a pay bar before and after the discussion.

We expect this event to be popular, so we wanted to make sure that Media Society members can book first, before we start marketing it more widely. Remember that as a member, you get a 50% discount on ticket prices for you and your guests.

Event Details

The live panel debate on the 14th is on one of 2026's defining questions: when should you use AI in creative work?

From journalists and newsletter writers to authors and comms teams, creative professionals are drawing new lines around AI-assisted work – often with little consensus.

Our panel tackles the key questions: should AI write (or help write) your articles, newsletters, press releases or book chapters?

Doors open 6pm, discussion 6.30–7.30pm.

Event Panel

  • Babita Sharma (Chair) – a presenter and broadcaster with more than 20 years' experience at the BBC. She has hosted the World AI Summit for five years, and is the author of The Corner Shop and The Adventures of Priya Mistry, with a new book on India's partition due July 2027.
  • Keiran Goddard – a novelist, poet, screenwriter and social theorist. His debut novel Hourglass was listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize, and his second novel I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning has been adapted as a feature film. His third novel, Fill the World, will be published in late 2026.
  • Madhumita Murgia – the AI Editor of the Financial Times, reporting globally on AI, surveillance and data privacy. Her book Code Dependent was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction in 2024 and translated into eight languages.
  • Katie McPhee – the founder of Expanded Future, helping organisations adopt AI. She is also the AI for Good Expert in Residence at The Conduit. Katie previously held leadership roles at the BBC, Eventbrite, VEED, and in 2023 co-founded the first climate/AI hackathon series, 'Earth AI'.
BUY TICKETS NOW

Stephen Sackur and Carole Cadwalladr: Hard Truth

Media Society members have been offered an exclusive allocation of tickets for this event at The Conduit at 6.15pm on Monday 12th October. You need to be a Full Member of the Media Society to book a ticket.

It's a discussion between Stephen Sackur, the former lead presenter of the BBC's HARDtalk, and Carole Cadwalladr, the author and investigative journalist.

The Conduit are describing the event as "a passionate defence of investigative journalism in the face of authoritarian political power, organised crime and a monopolistic tech elite".

BUY TICKETS HERE (Media Society Members Only)

Autumn/Winter Schedule

We've been working hard on our Autumn/Winter Schedule. Events planned so far include:

AI and Creative Work. The Conduit. Monday 14th September

Tectonic changes in TV. Zoom. Wednesday 7th October

Interview with Stephen Sackur. The Conduit. Monday 12th October

Steve Hewlett Lecture. Lewis Goodall. Wednesday 21st October

The Rise of YouTube. The Conduit. Monday 2nd November

Media Society on Tour. Manchester. November tbc

Changes in News Consumption. Zoom. November tbc

Festive Drinks. October Gallery. Wednesday 9th December.

The Media Society Substack

As a member of the Media Society, you also get full access to the Media Society Substack. The newsletter is becoming an important part of our activities. We've uploaded nearly 40 posts since launching the newsletter late last year - and so far our articles have had more than 18,000 views.

Here are the posts we uploaded during August:

  • Beware of politicians' prescriptions for the press. Roger Mosey examines the media issues arising after the tragic death of Jason Arday. Issue #37
  • The Unfinished Business of Media Diversity. Jaldeep Katwala on the status of the UK media's 2020 diversity pledges. Issue #36
  • End of Term Report on Matt Brittin. John Mair on the new BBC DG's first 3 months. Issue #35
  • The Sky purchase of ITV 'needs proper caveats'. Steve Clarke on the Sky/Comcast acquisition of ITV. Issue #34

Read these and other articles from our archive here.

About the Media Society

The President of the Media Society is Nigel Dacre - feel free to email him with questions or suggestions: president@themediasociety.com

The Media Society is a British charity that organises events and activities about media issues.