Upcoming Events

"Is the UK Press racist?"
The postponed TMS Special Event featuring Joseph Harker has been rescheduled to this new date - Tuesday May 25th

Interviewed by Joanna Abeyie MBE
Following the Sewell report (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities). Tuesday 25th May is also the anniversary of the death of George Floyd. 

This event was postponed on 21st April. Tickets for this date are still valid.

The man who turned the Guardian on to black voices, and diversity generally.

Interview with Joseph Harker, deputy Opinion editor of the Guardian.

Joseph has been pushing on this agenda at all levels of the organisation for two decades, and started the Guardian’s Positive Action Scheme.

Positive Action brought new voices into The Guardian (and, over time, other national newspapers).

 See Event recording

In this TMS Special Event, he talks to Joanna Abeyie about the recent ‘Sewell report’, and particularly about media coverage of race and how media recruits minority journalists.

Here's how former Editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, describes Joseph Harker:

"The Guardian, 200 years old this May 2021, is a radical paper, a non conforming paper, a paper that has always tried to understand reality rather than spin, truth rather than power, calmly taking up positions that it knows to be unpopular because that's the right thing to do.

That pretty well describes Joseph Harker - Guardian man to his core.

When I was editor Joseph was inspirational and uncomfortable in equal measure. He never gave up. He knew long before anyone else did that the Guardian wasn't diverse enough, wasn't open enough in its ranks (not in its views) to people from minorities. He dreamt up the transforming notion of hiring a big tranche of interns of all colours, sexual orientations, life experiences. and when they joined they changed the paper.  As Joseph has." 

 Joseph Harker

Joseph Harker, born to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, is a science graduate originally from Hull.

He worked on the Black Press in London for five years, starting at The Voice in 1987, and setting up and editing ‘Black Briton’ in 1991.

He joined the Guardian in 1992, where he found himself in a small minority in a white Oxbridge-dominated working environment.

Our interviewer for the evening:

Joanna Abeyie MBE, is an award-winning, agenda-setting  champion and campaigner for diversity within the publishing, TV, Radio, Digital and the Creative Industries.

Joanna has been a Media Society Councillor for over 3 years and interviewed a number of high profile people in UK broadcasting and literature, including Charlene White and Bernardine Evaristo.

TICKETS

Please note: 
Entry tickets are  £10 each which helps cover our costs.
We will be making a number of free tickets available for students and anyone currently un-waged.

The Media Society is a volunteer run Charity committed to open access for all our Media themed  events.
 
ZOOM waiting room open at 6.15pm.
Conversation starts at 6.30pm prompt.