Roger Graef, the renowned documentary film-maker, journalist and criminologist, will give the second in the series of Media & Public Policy talks at King’s College London on the evening of Monday 10 November 2014.
His talk, on ‘The UK Media & the Police‘ will examine the history and status of this increasingly fraught relationship. Claims that the relationship between press and police had become too close helped spark the Leveson Inquiry. Since that inquiry a number of journalists have claimed there has been a chill in relations. Police have tightened guidelines on speaking to the press and discouraged off the record briefings. It has also been revealed that police have secretly accessed journalists phone records using RIPA.
Yet, in 2012 The Sun worked closely with police over ‘Plebgate’, and in 2014 the BBC collaborated with South Yorkshire police for its exclusive coverage of their raid on Cliff Richard’s apartment.
What is the state of the relationship between the UK media and the police? Too close or too distant? Healthy or harmful? And how is it changing in the digital age?
Roger Graef has made more than fifty films on police and criminal justice issues, including Police, Operation Carter, In Search of Law and Order UK and In Search of Law and Order USA. He has also spoken and written extensively on the police, including Talking Blues: Police in their Own Words which remains widely read by both police and media as well as criminologists.
Graef received a BAFTA tribute in 2013, and two lifetime achievement awards in 2014. He is a trustee of the Media Standards Trust.
The event will be take place at 6.30pm on 10 November 2014 at at King’s College London’s Nash Lecture Theatre, located in the main Strand building, next to Somerset House. The event is free and open to all. Tickets are required for entry, and can be obtained here on a first come first served basis. Arrive early to ensure a seat.
Leave a Reply