In a statement Tuesday defending The Economist’s decision to have former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon speak at the publication’s Open Future festival later this month, editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes warned of a future where only “like-minded people” speak to each other in an “echo chamber.”
Beddoes’ statement hours after The New Yorker yanked Bannon’s invitation to speak at their own festival this year amid intense backlash and other speakers dropping out of the event.
“Mr Bannon stands for a world view that is antithetical to the liberal values The Economist has always espoused,” Beddoes wrote in a statement. “We asked him to take part because his populist nationalism is of grave consequence in today’s politics.”
Beddoes argued that “progress is best achieved when ideas are tested in open debate” and that contributors with a variety of views have been included in the festival.
“The future of open societies will not be secured by like-minded people speaking to each other in an echo chamber, but by subjecting ideas and individuals from all sides to rigorous questioning and debate,” Beddoes continued. “This will expose bigotry and prejudice, just as it will reaffirm and refresh liberalism. That is the premise The Economist was founded on.”
[Opinion: Stand up for Steve Bannon or don’t book him]
The announcement comes after The New Yorker editor David Remnick announced Monday evening that the publication was revoking their invitation for Bannon to speak as a headliner at the 2018 New Yorker Festival, where Remnick was planning to interview Bannon on stage.
“The reaction on social media was critical and a lot of the dismay and anger was directed at me and my decision to engage him,” Remnick wrote to staff. “Some members of the staff, too, reached out to say that they objected to the invitation, particularly the forum of the festival.”
“I don’t want well-meaning readers and staff members to think that I’ve ignored their concerns,” he continued.
Bannon responded by claiming Remnick was “gutless” after announcing the invitation had been rescinded.
