Past speakers at the event, held in memory of the late Lord (Hugh) Cudlipp, include Jon Snow, Lord Grade, Paul Dacre, Andrew Marr and Alastair Campbell.
Almost everyone on the 16-strong SMG trust is based in London or the south-east, including the former BBC chairman Lord Grade, Guardian columnist Matthew d'Ancona and Dame Fiona Woolf, former lord mayor of London.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme Lord Grade said there was "no divine right" to have election debates, which he called "a voluntary exercise".
And Lord Grade himself, perhaps.
Two ended up in the House of Lords, as Lord Grade and Lord Delfont.
The cigar-chomping entertainment veteran, who was elevated in 2011 to the title Lord Grade of Yarmouth, offers an anecdote to illustrate.
Lord Grade, the former chairman of both the BBC and ITVV, has been suggested as a potential "mediator" who could help broker the current impasse over future press regulation.
Lord Grade (known in film circles as Sir Low Grade) must exact a pledge from his directors that they will do their level best to forget whatever they know of technique.
Lord Grade, former executive chairman of ITV, said a once-nervous Black soon gained a natural confidence in front of the cameras and went on to become an "enduring family favourite… One of the all-time greats in showbiz".
Lord Grade also confirmed he invested in the scheme, saying: "The Labour government at the time promoted a policy to stimulate investment in the British film industry through tax incentives.
As well as Mr Mitchell, Newsnight identified other senior establishment figures who invested in the scheme, including Lord Waldegrave, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, and Lord Grade, the former chairman of the BBC.
