A Conversation with Tina Brown and Tom Freston
Moderated by Ken Auletta
Presented by Guild Hall & The Common Good
Series programmed by Ellen Chesler and Patricia Duff
Over the course of just three decades, the media business has been reshaped: newspapers and magazines have shuttered; three broadcast networks gave way to cable television and then fragmented further into a world of digital platforms, streaming, and artificial intelligence. The Changing Media Landscape will feature two media icons who helped drive that transformation, reflecting on where we have been and where we may be headed next.
Tina Brown, the influential editor behind Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and founder of The Daily Beast, has long been at the center of major shifts in journalism. Tom Freston, co-founder of MTV, former CEO of Viacom, and author of the 2025 book Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu, helped build some of the most recognizable global media brands of the past half-century and continues to weigh in on the industry’s future.
Moderating is Ken Auletta, longtime New Yorker writer and one of the country’s most trusted media observers, known for his reporting on the intersection of journalism, business, and power. The discussion will address the rise of social platforms, the erosion of traditional gatekeepers, and the responsibility media leaders carry in an age of misinformation and polarization.
A book signing will follow the program in the lobby.
