01-21-2006, 09:30 AM
Oxford journalism institute aims to bridge trust gap
Owen Gibson
Friday January 20, 2006
The Guardian
The creation of a new journalism institute, designed to bridge the gap between the gritty newspaper newsroom and the ivory towers of academia by providing research into topical media issues, was announced yesterday by Oxford University.
The new Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, made possible by £1.75m funding over five years from the news agency's charitable trust, will aim to break down the mutual distrust between journalists and academics who analyse the media.
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In contrast to the many universities offering media studies courses designed to equip students with practical skills and others conducting long-term research into media trends and influences, the institute will not teach undergraduate courses.
Unveiling the new department at the Oxford Media Convention yesterday, the university's vice chancellor, Dr John Hood, said that instead the institute would have a focus on analysing the practice of journalism worldwide. The director will be an established academic but will be accompanied by a respected journalist as director of journalism.
Tim Gardam, the former Channel 4 director of programmes who is now principal of St Anne's College, chaired the steering committee charged with establishing the institute.
One area of focus is likely to be the breakdown in trust between politicians and the media. A member of the team tasked with creating the institute, Financial Times contributing editor John Lloyd, kickstarted a debate on the topic when his book What the Media are Doing to Our Politics was published in October 2004.
Other members of the committee included Timothy Garton Ash, director of the European Studies Centre at St Antony's College and a Guardian columnist, and Reuters editor-in-chief Geert Linnebank.
Owen Gibson
Friday January 20, 2006
The Guardian
The creation of a new journalism institute, designed to bridge the gap between the gritty newspaper newsroom and the ivory towers of academia by providing research into topical media issues, was announced yesterday by Oxford University.
The new Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, made possible by £1.75m funding over five years from the news agency's charitable trust, will aim to break down the mutual distrust between journalists and academics who analyse the media.
Article continues
In contrast to the many universities offering media studies courses designed to equip students with practical skills and others conducting long-term research into media trends and influences, the institute will not teach undergraduate courses.
Unveiling the new department at the Oxford Media Convention yesterday, the university's vice chancellor, Dr John Hood, said that instead the institute would have a focus on analysing the practice of journalism worldwide. The director will be an established academic but will be accompanied by a respected journalist as director of journalism.
Tim Gardam, the former Channel 4 director of programmes who is now principal of St Anne's College, chaired the steering committee charged with establishing the institute.
One area of focus is likely to be the breakdown in trust between politicians and the media. A member of the team tasked with creating the institute, Financial Times contributing editor John Lloyd, kickstarted a debate on the topic when his book What the Media are Doing to Our Politics was published in October 2004.
Other members of the committee included Timothy Garton Ash, director of the European Studies Centre at St Antony's College and a Guardian columnist, and Reuters editor-in-chief Geert Linnebank.