Peter Greste: Kyneton

What are the threats to press freedom in the West and around the world? How do real and anticipated acts of terrorism curtail freedom of speech? And how can we hold powerful people to account when journalists, and media institutions, are compromised? These are questions that matter to Peter Greste.

After 20 years as a distinguished foreign correspondent, covering conflicts in some of the most dangerous places on the planet, Greste became a household name in Australia in 2013. He and two Al Jazeera colleagues were charged with spreading ‘false news’ and accused of helping the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Greste spent 400 days in jail.

In his riveting and heavily researched new book, The First Casualty, Greste examines the issue of global press freedom in the volatile 21st Century. Drawing on his own experience of reporting, including his incarceration and trial in Egypt, Greste also looks at the nightmare of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Australia’s own metadata laws and Trump’s campaign against journalists in the US.

At Kyneton Town Hall, Greste joins Rafael Epstein for a discussion of the changing nature, and challenges, of investigative journalism in the age of terrorism.

Presented in partnership with Macedon Ranges Shire Council.