The 2026 Global News Forum in Sydney, Australia, has introduced a dynamic new format featuring simultaneous breakout sessions to tackle pressing industry challenges. Grounded in this year’s core themes, the event has fundamentally reshaped how media professionals collaborate, moving away from traditional single-track panels to foster deeper, peer-to-peer dialogue.

Reflecting on Day One of the forum, delegates were divided between two concurrent sessions that prioritized safety, wellbeing, and robust support systems within modern newsrooms. The first of these was the Leadership Roundtable, expertly facilitated by Deena Amorelli and Caitlyn McLoughlin, which highlighted the crucial role that effective leadership plays in protecting and mentoring staff and colleagues. Discussions during this roundtable emphasized that fostering sustainable wellbeing and peer support structures must remain an organizational priority for media enterprises facing modern pressures.

Meanwhile, the journalist workshop ran concurrently and was divided into two comprehensive parts. The first part explored how journalists can successfully navigate issues related to safety, wellbeing, peer support, accessibility, and inclusion, while simultaneously upholding ethical journalism standards amidst mounting newsroom demands. The second part of the workshop shifted focus to the increasingly urgent challenges of managing online harassment and maintaining mental health. This session detailed the varied and evolving forms of digital abuse, contrasting targeted attacks by individual bad actors with coordinated harassment campaigns involving multiple users.

Emphasis during the online safety discussions was placed on the growing danger of doxxing, a malicious practice where an individual’s personal information is deliberately exposed online. This sensitive data frequently includes home addresses, private email accounts, and phone numbers, and the sessions underscored how easily such leaks can escalate into dangerous real-world threats or coordinated actions against media workers.

As the forum transitions into Day Two in Sydney, the conversation expands outward to address broader systemic issues impacting the international media landscape. Day Two sessions focus heavily on regional crisis reporting, the integrity of news in an era of rapid technological transformation, and the establishment of cross-border collaborative safety networks. Delegates continue to engage in rigorous discussions designed to equip global newsrooms with actionable strategies for safeguarding both the truth and the journalists who uncover it.