Charlie Beckett is the founding director of POLIS, the forum for research and debate in to international journalism and society in the Media and Communications Department. POLIS runs a series of public lectures and seminars for journalists and the public as well as a programme of Fellowships and Research. It has a Summer School and holds conferences and publishes reports in to New Media and Journalism, Media and Development, and Journalism and Community Cohesion and public security.
As well as being spokesperson for POLIS, Charlie Beckett is a regular commentator on journalism and politics for the UK and International media. He has also presented for BBC Radio 4's Analysis programme.
Before POLIS, Charlie Beckett was a programme editor at ITN's Channel 4 News editing coverage on 9/11, 7/7 and the RTS award-winning series of live News From Africa broadcasts before the G8 in 2005.
Charlie Beckett was a senior producer and programme editor at BBC News and Current affairs for ten years making documentaries and news programmes at On The Record, Public Eye, Panorama, Breakfast News and News 24 as well as producing the BBC's 1992 Election Documentary and the obituary film for Harold Wilson.
He started his career on local newspapers in his native South London before starting in TV at LWT.
He was Reuters Fellow at Oxford University where he wrote a field-work based paper on New Technology and Journalism in Uganda.
His blog is at: www.charliebeckett.org|
Research interests
Charlie Beckett and POLIS have four core interests:
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The Future of News - new media, Networked Journalism, e-democracy, online business models, the internet and political reporting.
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International Journalism - media and development, Africa, Eastern Europe, freedom of expression, international journalism and politics.
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Media and politics, democracy, civil society in the UK and internationally. Media and political campaigning and communication.
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Financial journalism, reporting markets and economic issues
POLIS is publishing reports on Free Speech/Hate Speech and Networked Journalism in 2007/8 and Charlie Beckett is writing a book on Networked Journalism (2008).
The POLIS website is:www.polismedia.org|.