Polis

POLIS is a journalism and society think-tank attached to two communications/journalism departments: the London College of Communications (part of the University of the Arts) and the Department of Media and Communciation at the London School of Economics. It is billed as "a series of news journalism and news media focused teaching and research programmes and events to start in 2006."

The proposal, called POLIS, is based around three core activities:

• Public lectures, "Chatham House" style seminars, and open debates on the changing role of news media and the challenges that they face, leading to a series of publications reporting on the debates and making specific policy interventions
• Postgraduate teaching and short term courses based at LCC, including a jointly taught Master's programme geared towards mid-career UK and international journalists
• Media research, with POLIS researchers based at LSE, and working with LCC faculty and practicing journalists in London and worldwide.^[1]

People

Advisory board

• Will Wyatt (ex BBC, President of the Royal Television Society) – Chair;
• Philip Gould (Baron Gould of Brookwood)
• Clive Jones – ITV News
• Bronwyn Curtis (Bloomberg)
• Anne Lapping (Brook Lapping)
• Sir Peter Stothard (ex Times and now editor of The TLS) and
• Michael Oreskes (International Herald Tribune).
• Charlie Beckett – founding director. Position since 1 June 2006.

guest speakers

• Charles Clarke – gave inaugural lecture at the LSE on 24 April 2006.

Reports

• Development, Governance and the Media^[2] (This report was launched at a conference titled "Development, Governance and the Media: The Role of the Media in Building African Society" which was held on 27 June 2007. "The report follows a high-level POLIS conference on the subject, held in partnership with the BBC World Service Trust, Open University, Concern, Panos, Communication for Social Change Consortium, UNESCO UK and DFID." [3])

Website

Website: www.lse.ac.uk/collections/polis

POLIS Blog (run by Charlie Beckett): www.charliebeckett.org

Notes

• ^ POLIS - Teaching, Research, Policy and Debate in the News Media Marketplace, 12 May 2006.
• ^ Development, Governance and the Media: The Role of the Media in Building African Society (launch of report)