Both sides now: what I learned funding in authoritarian Hungary and how it changed how I run a U.S. newsroom

A unique first-person reflection from a journalism leader who has sat on both sides of the funding table, and survived both sides of the democratic divide. After watching Orban systematically dismantle Hungary's independent press, then funding human rights and journalism organizations fighting to survive, Fuller's CEO brought hard-won lessons to leading a U.S.-based global newsroom.
This presentation explores:
> What Hungarian outlets got right (and wrong) about sustainability under threat
> How funding decisions look different when you've been the grantee
> Why American journalism organizations are dangerously unprepared for authoritarian pressure
> Concrete practices borrowed from countries operating under authoritarian leadership now embedded at Fuller, from financial diversification to secure communications to rapid response protocols
An honest reckoning with what transfers across contexts and what doesn't.
Organised in association with Fuller.