News
Tuesday 4 November 2008
Former CNN president on modern day media
The roles and responsibilities of modern day media will be challenged by the global editor (Multimedia) for Reuters News, Chris Cramer, during a special lecture at Nottingham Trent University on 17 November. The former president and managing director of CNN International and former head of BBC newsgathering will talk on, 'Trust and Integrity in the Modern Media – Has the Media Lost the Message?', as part of the university’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Mr Cramer will ask what role the media can play in a changing world and what its responsibilities should be – whether it’s just a passive window to the world, or has a social responsibility beyond ratings and profit; and whether the media and journalists are making the world a better place, or are just lazy tools of a fickle society.
He will talk about the trend towards citizen journalism and the idea that we are all now active news-gatherers, using cheap and available technology to do the job once the preserve of trained journalists. And what responsibility, if any, this gives us to maintain balance and report a fair and accurate picture of events, and where opinion and spin fit with the notion of impartial journalism.
Mr Cramer led the world’s largest newsgathering organisation while at the BBC and developed the world’s most influential, profitable and widely distributed news channel, CNN International. He was instrumental in helping CNN to respond to the transition to digital broadcasting, making them the leading news operator in video and mobile phone newsgathering and broadcasting.
He has played a central role in many major news stories including the Falklands War, both Gulf Wars, the Lockerbie bombing, fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of the Princess of Wales, and, most recently, CNN’s coverage of the Asian Tsunami, for which he won a coveted DuPont Award. In 2007 he was honoured by the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) with a lifetime achievement award for his services to journalism.
Mr Cramer is president and a founding member of the International News Safety Institute, the global organisation devoted to the ethical treatment and safety of journalists. He has committed much of his time in recent years to bringing the industry together in order to ensure the protection and training of journalists who work in hostile environments.
As a BBC journalist in 1980 Mr Cramer was among a group taken hostage during the Iranian embassy siege. He was released after 24 hours due to illness, and went on to provide crucial information about the embassy layout, the number of gunmen and number of hostages. This intelligence was used by the SAS when they stormed the building a few days later.
“Chris Cramer has an unrivalled career in international broadcast news and brings with it tremendous insight into the challenges now facing the modern media,” said Robin Staniforth, the Director of Nottingham Trent University’s Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism.
ENDS
Notes for editors: The lecture will take place in the university’s Djanogly International Centre, Clarendon Street, Nottingham, on 17 November at 6pm.
It is free to attend, but will be ticketed – to book a place email events.team@ntu.ac.uk
A question and answer session will follow the lecture.
Further lectures in Nottingham Trent University Distinguished Lecture Series 2009 include:
- 18 February: Lord (David) Puttnam of Queensgate
- 4 March: Mark Jones, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- 24 March: The Lord Krebs, world-leader in zoology and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford.
Press enquiries please contact: Dave Rogers, Senior Press Officer, on Telephone: +44 (0)115 848 8782, or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk. Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Telephone: +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk
