Lecture: Archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association

Senate House Library Friends: Archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association

06 February 2013, 18:00 - 20:00

Venue: Dr Seng T Lee Centre for Manuscript and Book Studies
Senate House Library
4th Floor, Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1

David Clover (Institute of Commonwealth Studies Librarian and Head of Research Librarians - Senate House Library): 'Preserving and Protecting Press Freedom – Insights from the archive of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association'

The 1980s and early 1990s were a time of civil and political upheaval in the post-colonial developing world. The recently catalogued archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association provide insights into some of the challenges of reporting within those countries, as well as progress made in supporting and encouraging the expression of an independent and free press. This talk will discuss the collection within the context of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies collections and highlight how institutional records of a pan-Commonwealth non-governmental organisation can add to our understanding of this period of a movement towards increased democracy in the post-independence period.

If you would like to attend, please contact Senate House Library office: shl.officeadmin@london.ac.uk

tel. 020 7862 8411.

The Monarchy, the Commonwealth and the Media

The Monarchy, the Commonwealth and the Media

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the first ever to be televised, a decision the new Queen actively encouraged. 19 million viewers watched the ceremony in the UK, over half of the adult population. Within five years, television ownership had risen six-fold. The shedding of media light on the mystery of monarchy was sometimes engineered and sometimes accidental – but always remorseless. Alongside the triumphs, there have been the dark days of the death of Princess Diana, ‘Annus Horribilis’, and the hacking of royal phones. Can the monarchy survive its dealings with the media – or is that relationship the secret of its survival?

In conversation ...
CHARLES ANSON CVO (former Press Secretary to the Queen)
TOM CORBY MVO (former Court Correspondent of the Press Association)
KESHINI NAVARATNAM (former BBC World TV presenter)

Tuesday 20 March at 5.30pm

The Senate Room, 1st Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E 7HU

ALL WELCOME (booking strongly advised - please email chloe.pieters@sas.ac.uk)

Part of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies’ Diamond Jubilee series, reflecting on the role of Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth and Sovereign of the Commonwealth Realms

New archives list - Graham Mytton papers - the media in Africa

Another new archives list recently added to the ULRLS Archives Catalogue is the papers of Graham Mytton (ICS115).

As part of his postgraduate studies in the mass media, Graham Mytton undertook practical research into the media in Tanzania, spending a year as a research associate at University College, Dar es Salaam in 1967-1968. After completing his studies in Manchester in 1970, Mytton became the Zambia Broadcasting Services Research Fellow at the Institute for African Studies, University of Zambia, a post he held until 1973. Much of the material in this collection was accumulated during these research projects. 

Mytton later worked for the BBC, eventually becoming Controller of Marketing for the BBC World Service. He is now an independent market and audience research consultant and trainer.

The archive collection is comprised of papers accumulated by Graham Mytton in the course of research into the press and broadcasting in Tanzania and Zambia. The material comprises files on the press in Tanzania, including notes of interviews with staff, readership statistics and other literature about newspapers; files concerning broadcasting in Tanzania, including copies of relevant speeches in Parliament, material on the Ministry of Information, Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Tanzania, and papers on educational and adult education broadcasting; files concerning broadcasting in Zambia, including documents on Zambia Broadcasting Services, educational and rural broadcasting; papers for the Ninth Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference in Kenya; and some miscellaneous items.

The Library also holds Mytton's book published in 1983, entitled Mass communication in Africa , copies of reports on the mass media audience survey he carried out in Zambia, and interviews by Mytton with members of the TANU Publicity Section.