How is Big Tech changing the way news is gathered, distributed and consumed? What happens to truth and accountability when algorithms increasingly determine what people see? And how should journalists navigate a digital ecosystem shaped by platforms, surveillance, artificial intelligence and rapidly changing technology?
These questions will be at the centre of Beyond the Screen: Storytelling and Digital Media – Disruptions and Consequences for Information & Democracy, a two-day programme being organised by Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad in collaboration with the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, on August 28 and 29, 2026.
Bringing together journalists, researchers, academics and digital media practitioners, the programme will look beyond the everyday conversation around new technology to examine its implications for journalism, public information, ethics and democracy.
The programme begins on Friday, August 28, at 3 pm at the Conference Hall, SN School Annexe Building, University of Hyderabad, with a public lecture by Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll.
Titled Content and Discontent: Some Questions for Journalism in the Age of the Cockroach Uprising, the lecture is expected to reflect on the challenges confronting journalism as the media environment continues to be reshaped by technology, platforms and changing patterns of news consumption.
The conversations move to Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad in Banjara Hills on Saturday, August 29, with two panel discussions addressing some of the most pressing questions surrounding digital media today.
The first panel, from 4 pm to 5.30 pm, is titled Newsgathering in the Age of Big Tech: Safeguarding Truth, Accountability, & Justice.
The discussion brings together Lena Bodewein, journalist with ARD TV & Radio (South Asia); Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll; and Priyanshi Sharma, co-founder of Peek TV. Anjali Lal Gupta, Assistant Professor at the University of Hyderabad, will moderate the session.
At a time when social media platforms, search engines and technology companies play an increasingly influential role in how news reaches audiences, the panel will examine what these shifts mean for newsgathering, credibility, accountability and the public interest.
The second panel, scheduled from 6 pm to 7.30 pm, turns its attention to the systems operating behind digital platforms.
Titled Tech Design and Policy: Navigating Algorithm, Surveillance, and Ethics, the discussion will feature Apar Gupta, Founder Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation; Aniket Alam, who teaches history and social sciences at IIT Hyderabad; and Rakesh Dubbudu, founder of Factly Media & Research.
Researcher and writer on digital cultures and media Usha Raman will moderate the panel.
The discussion is particularly relevant at a time when algorithms influence everything from news recommendations and online visibility to public discourse. Questions around data, privacy, surveillance, platform responsibility and the ethics of technology have consequently moved from specialist debates into everyday life.
Together, the public lecture and panel discussions position Beyond the Screen as a forum for examining not merely how digital media is changing storytelling, but what those changes mean for access to reliable information and democratic societies.
The events are free and open to all.
Beyond the Screen is presented by Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, with Vibrant Mobility Group as mobility partner.
Event Details
Public Lecture: Content and Discontent: Some Questions for Journalism in the Age of the Cockroach Uprising
Date: Friday, August 28, 2026
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Conference Hall, SN School Annexe Building, University of Hyderabad
Panel One: Newsgathering in the Age of Big Tech: Safeguarding Truth, Accountability, & Justice
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Time: 4 pm to 5.30 pm
Venue: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Road No. 3, Banjara Hills
Panel Two: Tech Design and Policy: Navigating Algorithm, Surveillance, and Ethics
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Time: 6 pm to 7.30 pm
Venue: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Road No. 3, Banjara Hills
Entry: Free and open to all
