Media innovation depends on moving beyond abstract discussion toward tested, replicable workflows. At Media Party Barcelona, our Lightning Talks are built to bridge that gap.
On Tuesday, September 8 at 4:45 PM in the Auditorium, our Day 2 block tackles platform discovery, newsroom culture, and AI transparency. What to expect? Five-minute, high-velocity presentations sharing raw, project-tested evidence: the specific operational friction speakers hit, the methods they deployed, and the real-world outcomes that followed.
Here is your practical guide to the Lightning Talks taking place on Day 2.
- 1. From Hype to Impact: The Stories Missing from the AI Conversation
- 2. The 'Kasparov Moment' in 226,000 Examples: When AI Stops Being an Experiment
- 3. Sick of the Status Quo? Here's How We Change It Together
- 4. One Story, Five Screens
- 5. Who's Really Writing the News in Greece? AI, Disclosure, and the iNews Response
1. From Hype to Impact: The Stories Missing from the AI Conversation
- Speaker: Nathalia Restrepo Hernandez (Independent Video Producer)
- Overview: Nathalia explores how the language surrounding AI shapes public coverage, drawing on her Telly Award–winning documentary work to highlight community-centered reporting and the social and environmental impacts of technology.
- What You’ll Take Away: How to move reporting beyond productivity claims to interrogate power dynamics and uncover the underreported, real-world consequences of technological development.
2. The 'Kasparov Moment' in 226,000 Examples: When AI Stops Being an Experiment
- Speaker: David Torres (Vice President, Xalok)
- Overview: David explores the “Kasparov moment” across a dataset of 226,000 examples, examining the precise threshold where artificial intelligence transitions from early testing to broader operational adoption.
3. Sick of the Status Quo? Here's How We Change It Together
- Speaker: Erica Owens
- Overview: Drawing from political philosophy and interviews with working journalists, Erica addresses dysfunctional newsroom dynamics and outlines strategies for driving collective institutional change across all roles and seniority levels.
- What You’ll Take Away: Practical organizing methods to connect with colleagues, build easier feedback pathways, and foster more inclusive newsroom environments.
4. One Story, Five Screens
- Speaker: Ignacio Zaccagnino (Head of Media Growth, Nomadic)
- Overview: Ignacio presents a real-world audit tracking a single news event across five distinct platforms, revealing how audience discovery and consumption patterns vary dramatically across screens.
- What You’ll Take Away: Real consumption data that can help your newsroom shape multi-platform strategies as major platforms integrate broader video and social metrics.
5. Who's Really Writing the News in Greece? AI, Disclosure, and the iNews Response
- Speaker: Catherine Sotirakou (Visiting Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
- Overview: Drawing on fresh research mapping undisclosed AI adoption in Greek online media, Catherine introduces iNews—an Erasmus+ initiative equipping journalists to use AI responsibly through bootcamps, podcasts, and support tools.
- What You’ll Take Away: The structural pressures driving undisclosed automated content in small-language markets and how to implement ethical frameworks to protect media trust.
Join Us in Barcelona
Ready to be part of the global media innovation community? Explore the full lineup of keynotes, workshops, and project fairs taking place across September 7 and 8 at CaixaForum Barcelona.
