Alan Rusbridger is the former editor of the Guardian and one of the most respected voices in British journalism. In January 2021 he came to Intelligence Squared to answer one of the most pressing questions of our times: Who can we believe any more? More of our politicians are embracing outright lies. Scientists argue over basic facts. Social media was meant to help democracy in the face of oppression; now it is often the populist’s friend. And even Rusbridger’s own milieu – mainstream journalism – can, he says, be “ignorant, corrupt, lazy and malign.” 

Amid all this information chaos, how can the average citizen know where to find the facts? In this event, Rusbridger drew from his latest book News And How To Use It: What to Believe in a Fake News World and showed us how to tell truth from fiction and hold those in power accountable in the modern age.