Times Newspapers chairman keynote speaker for News Associates journalism conference JournoFest

Times Newspapers chairman John Witherow sitting at a desk wearing a light blue shirt, smiling for the camera while holding a pen writing on paperwork. John Witherow is in a nice and bright glass office, behind him you can see a lamp and two pictures hung on the wall. We're using the image to illustrate he is the keynote speaker at our journalism conference JournoFest in 2023.

Times Newspapers chairman John Witherow is the keynote speaker for our seventh annual journalism conference JournoFest.

JournoFest brings together News Associates and The School of Journalism trainees for a day-long festival of high-profile speakers and special guests from the media industry – and 2023 is no different.

JournoFest 2023 will open with an address from our keynote speaker followed by two panel discussions with experts debating what makes great journalism and the future of our industry… keep an eye out for future speaker announcements.

The day will also include plenty of time for networking between trainees, speakers and our special guests.

John Witherow was editor of The Times between 2013 and 2022, before being appointed chairman of Times Newspapers Ltd. He joined News UK in 1980 and was appointed editor of The Sunday Times in 1994.

Talking about his recent move, he said: “Throughout my career as an editor, I have always been aware that I have had the heavy responsibility of preserving the reputation and success of these brands so they can continue to succeed for future generations.”

Previous JournoFest line ups have included Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, Good Morning Britain correspondent Nitya Rajan, The Times chief sports correspondent Matt Lawton, The Guardian political editor Pippa Crerar (then The Daily Mirror political editor), The Associated Press video journalist Renata Brito, The Athletic staff editor Richard Amofa, The Times chief reporter Sean O’Neill, Financial Times undercover reporter Madison Marriage and many, many more amazing journalists.

A graphic with a professional headshot of Renata Brito next to a quote from her saying: "Practise as much as you can, and that includes working for your local paper, local radio or university paper. Any work you can get done, even at the most local level, will be important to find a job as show your work." Brito spoke at JournoFest in 2021. The graphic is featured in an article about JournoFest 2023 where John Witherow is the keynote speaker.

JournoFest 2023 will take place in our Twickenham newsroom – and be livestreamed – on Saturday March 25 and is exclusively for News Associates and The School of Journalism trainees.

You can follow all the action on Twitter @NewsAssociates/@TheJournoSchool, Instagram @NewsAssociates and TikTok @NewsAssociates_.

You can read all the highlights and top tips from JournoFest 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 here.