forgotten journalists, 5-7 June, Ghent

A three-day colloquium in Ghent

Liberas, UGent, the ‘Laboratoire des pratiques et des identités journalistiques’ (ReSIC-ULB) and CAMille (ULB/KBR) are organizing a three-day international scientific colloquium in June 2025 on the life stories and careers of "forgotten journalists". The history of journalism has often focused on a limited number of famous individuals. Behind these big names are many journalists whose names and work have not made it into the canon. But to capture the full diversity of the journalistic field, these careers and lives need to be recovered. Three particular groups of forgotten media professionals stand out: women journalists, journalists who made an important mark on the media landscape of their colonial and post-colonial societies during periods of (de)colonization, and those who worked in sectors and areas of journalism that are often considered less prestigious. The third category includes forgotten war photographers, for example, as well as invisible news workers such as telegraph and linotype operators.

Both young researchers and established scholars, including several authors with extensive experience in professional journalism, will present new research on the experiences of forgotten journalists in very different geographical and historical contexts from biographical or prosopographical perspectives.  The speakers will take us from a French political exile from the Second French Empire (1852-1870) who took up his pen again in Brussels, to a Belgian nobleman who covered historical events around the world a hundred years later during the early Cold War.

The program features three keynotes by Marie-Eve Thérenty (Université de Montpellier III), Will Mary (Louisiana State University) and Noah Amir Arjomand (University of California).

The colloquium can take place thanks to the support of the Research Foundation Flanders-FWO and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS.

The colloquium will be held in the conference room of Liberas in the center of Ghent – (Kramersplein 23). 

Please check this webpage for updates, as the program (listed on this website on a separate page) can be subject to changes.

You can download a PDF with the current version of the full program below