FINN TO HEAD NORTH IN NOVEMBER
By J. Brock (FINN)
In November FINN will head north to attend the Annual Society of Editors’ Conference in the UK. As part of the trip, FINN is calling forward additional questions from readers to ask the Editors on the floor as well as in the margins. Please forward questions through the SARTMA website so they can be included. The conference begins on the 13th so questions can be submitted up to and including the dates of the conference.
FINN is making the journey because after a summer when the media was at the centre of a political storm the programme for the Society of Editors’ annual conference has been revised to debate the key issues.
The conference at Runnymede on the edge of London in November will see some of the biggest names in the industry, including national and regional editors, politicians and lawyers debate the future of media relationships and regulation.
After the conference opens on Sunday evening with the Society of Editors’ annual lecture delivered by the Chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, the main working sessions on Monday will take the form of a rolling debate focusing on the future of self- regulation and the relationship between the press, politicians, the police and the public.
Confirmed speakers including Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian, Chris Blackhurst of the Independent, James Harding of The Times, former editor of the News of The World, Colin Myler, and Stephen Abell of the PCC will discuss where the industry should be heading. John Whittingdale, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham and ACPO Communications chairman Andy Trotter and John Kampfner of Index will also join the discussion.
The Tuesday morning traditional 20:20 Vision session will have a new dimension in the form of a report on a special survey commissioned by the SoE exploring editors’ attitudes to the future of the industry. The conference will wrap up on Tuesday with the incoming president’s address by Fran Unsworth, head of newsgathering at the BBC. The conference is always a hub of media discussion and vision and has become one of the major events in the media calendar. It will take place on 13, 14, 15th November.
President Robin Esser, executive managing editor of the Daily Mail said: “This could prove to be our most important conference to date.” The venue, the Runnymede-on-Thames hotel at Egham, alongside the Thames near Windsor Castle – and the M25 and Heathrow – is near to where King John began to sign away his regal powers in the Magna Carta in 1215.
Book online at www.societyofeditors.org, by email ( office@societyofeditors.org ) or by telephone (01223 304080).
Society of Editors www.societyofeditors.org Mobile: 07860 562 815Phone: 01223 304080Fax: 01223 304090Email: info@societyofeditors.org University Centre Mill Lane Cambridge CB2 1RUDirector: Bob Satchwell
