Truth and scrutiny

EACD Forum keynote speaker Matthew Karnitschnig on Trump, Europe and fact checking 

Matthew Karnitschnig, POLITICO chief Europe correspondent, delivered the keynote speech at December's EACD Forum.

After the discussion, Matthew spoke with Communication Director about the rise of populist politics and how best to provide journalistic coverage of political events.

He identifies the failure of politicians from established parties to properly engage with those communities most critical of the status quo as opening the door for the use of populist tactics in national and international political arenas.

Despite an increasing level of sensationalism being employed by politicians, he maintains that journalistic fact-checking remains important to scrutinise the statements of traditional and populist politicians alike, arguing that all politicians must be held accountable to their promises once they come to power.

To see the full interview watch the video below:


A version of this article was originally published on the EACD website as "“Over time, it will be the facts that matter

For more insights from the 2016 EACD Forum read a review of the event here

Matthew Karnitschnig

Matthew Karnitschnig is POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent, based in Berlin. He joined the publication in 2015 from the Wall Street Journal, where he spent 15 years in a variety of positions as a reporter and editor in the U.S. and Europe. In a career spanning two decades, Karnitschnig has been on the front lines of some of the defining political and economic stories of our time. He spearheaded the WSJ's coverage of the eurozone debt crisis as the paper’s Germany bureau chief and European economics editor. He led the team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting in 2011 and won an Overseas Press Club award in 2012.