The 9/11 attacks compelled news organizations and journalists to rethink their coverage, from creating a security beat, to ethical questions of sending or using freelancers in danger zones, to how to cover those who were accused—just a few issues among many. Twenty years on, as the West makes its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, what lessons shape today’s coverage and what challenges still persist?

The featured speakers are Omar El Akkad, novelist and journalist whose career coincided with the war on terror; Michelle Shephard, journalist, author, podcaster and filmmaker who has covered issues of terrorism and civil rights since the 9/11 attacks; Nazim Baksh, a producer with CBC’s The Fifth Estate who has worked extensively on issues of national security and violent religious extremism; and Shenaz Kermalli, a freelance writer who teaches journalism at Ryerson University and University of Toronto, in conversation with Anna Maria Tremonti, host of the CBC podcast More.