Journalists and academics to discuss the health of current affairs television

The Jimmy Savile story put the health of current affairs television in the spotlight

Key figures in current affairs journalism will join academics to discuss the role and health of current affairs television programming.

The`Current Affairs Television: Then and Now’ conference will evaluate recent programming, examine how journalism and current affairs programmes have adapted to the rapidly changing media landscape of the 21st century and consider how effectively this central element of public service television serves the  public.

Among those presenting at the conference are Mark Williams-Thomas, investigator and presenter of `The Other Side of Jimmy Savile’ for ITV’s Exposure, Tom Giles and Daniel Pearl, editors of BBC’s Panorama and Channel 4’s Dispatches respectively, and Roger Graef OBE, the renowned documentary filmmaker.

Peter Goddard, from the Department of Communications and Media and organiser of the conference, said: “This year, television current affairs uncovered one of the year’s most talked stories, the Jimmy Savile scandal, and then itself became the subject of controversy.

“This conference will bring together those involved in television current affairs and academics to test the present health of television current affairs and to strengthen links between current affairs practitioners and academics and stimulate further research into this important strand of public service.”

`Current Affairs Television: Then and Now’ will take place on Monday, 21 January 2013, from 9am – 5.30pm, at the University of Liverpool. 

The conference fee is £25 but an early bird discount rate of £20 is available until Friday, 4 January 2013.

To register, please follow this link

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