launched in 2013  by Lord Patten, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford. OMN examines the media questions shaping our times, looks behind the headlines and challenges conventional thinking.  The Network provides a forum for alumni and others to meet, debate and exchange ideas with leading experts in their fields and media professionals.  OMN works in partnership with other organisations to build links and expand reach.

Speakers have included Christiane Amanpour CBE, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Max Hill QC Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and Mathew D’Ancona columnist.

“Surviving The 21st Century – A World In Flux”

National Liberal Club in London on Tuesday 23rd May 2023

You can watch the event here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eOArlrwlmc

Tom Fletcher CMG shared his unique insights gained from his distinguished career in diplomacy and foreign policy to give us his current assessment of global trends and challenges. He examined the challenges facing liberal democracy in the 21st Century in new media and the information age.

Speaker

• Tom Fletcher CMG, Principal of Hertford College, Oxford University. Former Ambassador to Lebanon & Foreign Policy adviser to Prime Ministers Blair, Brown, Cameron https://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/staff/tom-fletcher . Author of Ten Survival Skills For A World In Flux (Harper Collins 2022) & The Ambassador (Canelo 2022). BBC Radio 4 Series The Battle For Liberal Democracy (2023)

Chair – Rt Hon Lord Lothian KC – Chairman of Global Strategy Forum & Former Northern Ireland Minister.

Broadcast Battleground – How The Mainstream Media and Social Media Shape Military Decision Making” Wednesday 22nd March, London 

You can watch the debate here https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=grjYc3Oa7Mc

Today’s conflicts aren’t just conducted on the battlefield but increasingly in the media and online. Much time and scrutiny is given to how journalists cover conflicts across the globe. Less focus is given to how armies conduct warfare in the age of of 24hour news, social media, citizen journalists and the ability to report war in real time.

Speakers

• General Sir Nick Carter –  Former Chief of the Defence Staff 2018-2021 will give us an insight from a military perspective of the challenges and opportunities faced by armies in the age of the “goldfish bowl” of 24 hour news and social media.
• Manveen Rana – is an Award winning investigative journalist and host of The Times Radio podcast “Stories of our times”.

Chair Peter Apps – Global Affairs Columnist at Thomson Reuters.