Former hostage and BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston will be the guest speaker at a major conference next month.

‘New Threats to Media Freedom – How We Fight Back’ will look at political and commercial pressures on journalists.

Other subjects on the radar include the crisis at the BBC, secrecy and censorship and bias in war reporting.

Alan will join a host of other speakers including New Statesman political editor Martin Bright, Newsnight’s Paul Mason and Media Guardian columnist Peter Wilby.

The conference will also hear how media unions around the world are resisting controls and defending standards.

The event runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm on January 26 at the National Union of Journalists’ offices in Gray’s Inn Road, London.

Visit the ‘Diary Dates’ section of the NUJ’s website for more information and to download a registration form.