Hundreds of global leaders in journalism gathered for a fourth annual summit in honour of the late, great newspaper editor and Durham University graduate Sir Harry Evans.
Truth Tellers: the Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit, was held in Vision Hall, King’s Cross, London, on Wednesday 6 May, with more than 500 guests in-person and many more watching online.
The annual summit is part of a partnership between Sir Harry’s widow Tina Brown CBE and her family, the news agency Reuters, and ourselves.
Sir Harry was best known for his fearless campaigning journalism, including as editor of The Times and Sunday Times. In 2002, he was voted by his peers as the greatest British newspaper editor of all time. He died in 2020, aged 92.
Shortly before the Summit, the BBC announced a new six-part drama series, Dragon Slayers, which will tell the story of Sir Harry’s tenure as editor of The Sunday Times, where the Insight team broke some of the biggest stories of the era. Sir Harry will be played by Emmy Award winner Matthew Rhys.
The 2026 Truth Tellers Summit featured Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, content creator Don Lemon, bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, and many more.
Opening the event, Tina Brown said it was about what Sir Harry cared about most: defending truth. She then announced a message of solidarity from Pope Leo XIV, in which he imparted his Apostolic Blessing to all participating.
Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Karen O’Brien, said she universities exist to provide guidance and hope to new generations, and urged particularly European universities not to underplay their value in open, civil societies.
Calling universities the “enemies of the enemies of open society”, she recalled how, having taught about the history of the Enlightenment at the Central European University, Budapest, she later was part of an unsuccessful campaign to prevent its closure.
The Summit was attended by aspiring journalists including Nandhini Srinivasan, the fourth Sir Harry Evans Global Fellow in Investigative Journalism, and Kiana Hayeri, who was announced as the inaugural Sir Harry Evans Global Fellow in Photojournalism.
More than 50 ‘Bootstrappers’, next generation journalists, benefitted from mentoring from Reuters leaders.
New for this year was the Truth Tellers Doc Fest, a documentary festival curated by Isabel Evans, documentary producer and daughter of Sir Harry Evans and Tina Brown.
Tina Brown opens the Truth Tellers Summit 2026. Copyright: Reuters / Chris J Ratcliffe.
Our Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen O'Brien addresses the 2026 Truth Tellers Summit. Copyright: Reuters / Chris J Ratcliffe.
From left: Katharine Viner, Editor-in-Chief, The Guardian; Patrick Radden Keefe, Investigative Journalist and Author; Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Anchor, CNN; Emma Tucker, Editor-in-Chief, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires; and moderator Emily Maitlis, Journalist and Broadcaster, at the Truth Tellers Summit. Copyright: Reuters / Chris J Ratcliffe.
Leopoldo López, Venezuelan Opposition Leader and World Liberty Congress Co-founder, being interviewed by Tina Brown at the Truth Tellers Summit. Copyright: Reuters / Chris J Ratcliffe.
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