Industry leaders and graduate students tackle trust and transformation at Medill Media Summit

Media leaders, top academics and graduate students will congregate in Chicago in March next year as the Medill Media Summit returns, with the 2027 agenda focusing on trust, transformation and talent at the crossroads of accelerating change.

Organised by the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, in partnership with FIPP/WAN-IFRA, the annual event will take place from 11-12 March at the Northwestern University’s downtown campus.

The summit will see veteran researchers and practitioners analyse how trust in media can be restored; explore how today’s leaders are forging a path forward through collaboration with their colleagues, audiences and customers; and reveal content and revenue innovations across journalism and corporate media.

The list of speakers includes the CEO of The Onion, Ben Collins; Supervisory Board Member, WAN-IFRA and Founder of YPB Global, Yulia Petrossian Boyle; Mariah Craddick, Executive Director of Product for Monetisation & Growth at The Atlantic; and Jeremy Gilbert, Associate Dean of Journalism at Medill.

The event will also look at how tomorrow’s leaders can best integrate into media organisations to support transformation, with Associate Professor at Medill, Carolyn Tang Kmet, sitting down with Nathan Graber-Lipperman, creator at Powder Blue, Chris Ferrell, CEO of Ferrell Associates, and Eleni Tecos, a recent graduate of the Medill MSJ programme.

“The Medill/Northwestern University Media Summit will bring together cross-media leaders, innovative faculty and, uniquely, students who will chart the future,” said co-organiser Abe Peck, the school’s director of B2B communications. “It will be enriched by working in association with FIPP/ WAN-IFRA.”

Alastair Lewis, Chief Commercial Officer, WAN-IFRA, added: “At WAN-IFRA we are passionate about finding the next generation of media leaders. 

“This event, bringing together today’s C-suite executives alongside some of the sharpest minds and the leaders of tomorrow promises to be an incredible opportunity to explore how we build a sustainable, trusted, media for today and the future.”