If you’re anti-establishment but pro-TEDTalk, you may have already heard of the Disruption Network Lab, a group that since 2015 has devoted its conferences to casting a critical eye on “the intersections of politics, technology, and society”. If that description sounds purposefully vague, it is, as the organization – founded by Tatianna Bazzichelli, an Italian-born Ph.D. holder and media studies author – primarily focuses on topics so ubiquitous they exist almost invisibly, like the mechanisms and effects of social media, drone warfare, and the Internet. This latest conference, Citizens of Evidence, starts Sep 20 through Sep 21 with a workshop on Sep 22, and covers the journalistic practice of gathering evidence as a civic responsibility, taken on by investigative journalists and concerned citizens alike. The line-up of six talks and panels takes place at Kunstquartier Bethanien, and includes a key note speech by Matthew Caruana Galizia, the son of Maltese freelance journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was killed by a car bomb two years ago. With no one brought to trial in that case, Galizia will talk about what protections should be in place for freelance journalists who are in danger of similar fates (Sep 21, 15:30, Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien). The conference closes with a workshop that will turn the sky above Tempelhofer Feld into the scene of a real-time investigation. Run by investigative journalist and conference speaker Emmanuel Freudenthal, participants will set up their own sky-scanning antennae to detect all things flying above (Sep 22, 12:00, Tempelhofer Feld, booking essential).
Disruption Network Lab: Citizens of Evidence | Sep 20-21, Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien