Current Affairs Television: Then and Now conference
21 January 2013
University of Liverpool

Full list of speakers and updated schedule now available

In 2012, television current affairs uncovered some of the year’s most talked-about stories, including the Jimmy Savile and Winterbourne View scandals, and was itself the subject of controversy. In January 2013, key figures in British television current affairs journalism will join with academics for an important conference at the University of Liverpool to share their understanding of television current affairs programming and discuss its present health. Among those speaking are:

• Mark Williams-Thomas, presenter/ researcher, ‘The Other Side of Jimmy Savile’ for ITV’s Exposure
• Tom Giles, editor of BBC’s Panorama
• Daniel Pearl, editor of Channel 4’s Dispatches
• Steve Boulton, former editor of World in Action (ITV) and independent current affairs producer
• Roger Graef, renowned television documentary-maker and CEO of Films of Record

As the first British academic conference for over five years to engage with current affairs television, the event promises to be lively and revealing. Besides evaluating recent programming, papers will examine how the journalism and presentation styles of current affairs have adapted to the rapidly-changing media landscape of the 21st century and how effectively this central element of public service television continues to command public attention. The conference is open to everybody and will appeal particularly to anybody eager to learn more about journalism, documentary or television’s contribution to social and political understanding in Britain.

Further information, including online registration and a full list of speakers, is available here: www.liv.ac.uk/communication-and-media/currentaffairs

Please note that discounted ‘early bird’ rates for conference registration are only available until 4 January 2013.