The Future of Iraq: the media and public response to the Iraq Commission

Tuesday 24 July 2007, 6.30 - 8.00pm

Old Theatre, Houghton Street, London School of Economics

Speakers: Baroness Margaret Jay (Iraq Commission), Professor Mary Kaldor (LSE), Patrick Cockburn (The Independent), Ghaith Abdul-Ahad (Guardian), Tim Finch (Refugee Council)

Chair: Krishnan Guru-Murthy (Channel 4)

Following a series of hearings, Channel 4 aired the findings of the Channel 4Foreign Policy Centre Iraq Commission in a special programme presented by Jon Snow on Saturday 14 July 2007. The Commission, the equivalent of the US Iraq Study Group, is an independent, cross-party Commission which has produced recommendations on the future of Britain's role in Iraq.

The POLIS event will be the first public debate on the findings of the Iraq Commission. Through incorporative panel debate, it will gauge the response of the press and the public, many of whom will have already viewed the Channel 4 programme or read the report.

It will ask what role the public and press have in carrying out the Commission’s findings, and what impact implementing the Commission's findings will have on community cohesion, the terror threat and Muslim/ media relations in the UK.

This will be the backdrop for a wider debate about how the conflict in Iraq has been reported and will continue to be reported, whether the media has facilitated sufficient and healthy public debate, whether the government has listened, and, ultimately, what the story of Iraq will be in the long run.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception in the Senior Common Room.

The event is free to attend and open to all.

For more details please .

For maps and directions please refer to Coming to an event at the LSE