Robyn Curnow

Robyn Curnow Speaking Topics

• Behind-the-Scenes of History

  What did Nelson Mandela tell Robyn Curnow about his greatest regrets? Why did George W. Bush paint himself naked in the bath? What was it like being the Vatican during the death of a Pope? Who isn’t a gentleman: Prince William or Prince Harry?

  Award-winning foreign correspondent and anchor Robyn Curnow peels back the curtain on some of the stories behind the interviews she’s never told publicly. In a light-hearted and optimistic chat, she talks about watching and talking to world leaders behind the scenes; and how that impacted her understanding of power and influence. She’s hung out backstage or off-camera with Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, Presidents George. W. Bush, Michelle Obama, Oprah and many CEOs. What makes them tick and what is crucial in times of change and crisis?

  With her naturally engaging way of speaking and building trust with audiences, Curnow explains what she’s learned from world leaders and during history-making times. Journalists are said to write the first draft of history - Curnow has done that from Europe, China, Vietnam, South Africa, Cuba and the USA. What are the lessons she’s learnt from being followed at Fidel Castro’s funeral in Havana or watching Presidents in the White House Rose Garden?

  An engaging, light-hearted but inspirational discussion about what unites us and how telling stories becomes a bridge to differences in divided times.

  This topic is particularly good as a fireside chat - for a light breakfast event or lunch event which brings people together and looks to create a sense of optimism and lessons of leadership - about the world - with a dash of humor and wry insider gossip.

• AI, the Truth and the Future of Journalism

  Is artificial intelligence good for the media? How AI can accelerate or limit divisions.

  As journalism and the media face generational change from AI, what needs to be done to protect the truth?

  • Analogue priorities can inform new digital shifts
  • Less is more in an age of too much information
  • Using innovation to break division

  Robyn Curnow's journalism career started with tapes and old-fashioned pen and paper. She's seen the broad shifts in newsrooms across the world, across thirty years - and is enthusiastic about the benefits of AI as well as wary of the challenges.

  Blending stories about her interactions with Nelson Mandela, President George W Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Oscar Pistorius, Prince William and many world leaders, Curnow shows that media has always needed to stay ahead of social change, or at the very least reflect the shifts taking place in the streets and homes of viewers and readers.

  She argues that media and AI should be a bridge to differences - not a weapon to further divide. Many viewers and readers are switching off - turned off my partisan reporting or gotcha journalism on both side of the spectrum - so how does the center hold, and old-fashioned reportage survive or reignite in an age of artificial intelligence?

• News Junkie, Recovering

  How a former correspondent and anchor detoxed from her lifelong daily news habit

  • We are bombarded with opinions and information that confuse us even more
  • Media highlights fear and anger - triggering us constantly
  • Journalism has fragmented into clickbait soundbites

  What's the solution? Turn it off. Go cold turkey. Become 'news sober.'

  Robyn Curnow spent thirty years reporting the news from across the world. Then she did something she never thought she'd do. She left CNN, turned off the TVs, deleted social media apps and refused to read daily headlines about global events - even while her husband was running CNN's coverage from Kyiv, Ukraine and Tel Aviv, Israel.

  The overload of information, bad news and growing unease with 'gotcha' reporting, opinion masked as fact and partisan hot-takes made her lose faith in her own profession.

  Now, three years later, she's slowly returning ... reflecting on what media matters, which information is worth having and how AI could improve the fractured, fragmented, angry media landscape with a new innovations and fresh start. Or will AI cater to the 'angertainment' industry that fuels division and makes people hate each other?

  During her 'cold turkey' time away from the news she's raised her teenage daughters to critically assess all the information we’re bombarded with and to chose what matters and what doesn’t. Less is more.

  Many Americans are desperate for moderation and clarity from the media, not overhype and hysteria. What should a recovering news junkie read and listen to as the age of AI takes us all on a new journey, through a new media landscape?

• The Power of Words and a Good Story in a Divided America

• Championing Dyslexia

  Advocating for the power of dyslexia, promoting creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and early reading programs to harness dyslexic thinking skills in children.