CTV News President Robert Hurst will join the panel at the upcoming Canadian Journalism Foundation Forum “News Blackouts Save Lives” taking place on November 17 in Toronto. He joins Robert Fowler, a Canadian diplomat and special envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Niger, Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank and Globe and Mail foreign editor Stephen Northfield to discuss the significance of news blackouts in kidnapping cases.

Robert Fowler was kidnapped on December 14, 2008 by al-Qaeda and held hostage for 130 days before being released. The panel will review his case as well as others (Mellissa Fung, Amanda Lindhout, etc.) and how they were affected by the media.

The event takes place on November 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave. The discussion will be followed by a cocktail reception in the adjacent cafe. A limited number of tickets are still available.