Date: 13/01/2010
Ref: nr/mt/cov
For any media student, meeting four contemporary heroes over three years is a dream. But at Coventry University, trainee journalists have been given the chance to hear from Jeremy Paxman, Evan Davis, Jon Snow and Jon Gaunt in just one term as part of the popular lecture series, the Coventry Conversations.
This month, the series reaches its fourth birthday with the 200th Conversationalist - legendary BBC Comedy Producer Jon Plowman.
Over the last four years the Conversations have garnered their fair share of kudos, being described by Professor Richard Keeble, the guru of journalism educators in the UK, as ‘Probably the best speaker programme in any British University’.
Numbers of visitors to the thirty Conversationalists last term ranged from 20 to 300 plus. The visitors themselves ranged too: from journalism undergraduates to students from all over the university, staff members, students from local schools and colleges and most encouragingly, members of the public.
Also, since Coventry joined iTunes U 9 months ago, the download figures for the Coventry Conversations podcast series have shot up. Worldwide, the University podcasts have been downloaded a million times; half of those are Coventry Conversations.
John Mair, inventor of the series, explains what he thinks the secret to this success is:
“Firstly, you get the guests that others envy and would die for. Thirty years as a TV and Events producer has given me a contact or two. Mark Thompson, the BBC Director General, and I were researchers together thirty years ago on ‘Nationwide’. We’ve remained friends and he came to the University last year as a result. So too did Armando Iannucci, Paul Abbott, Andy Harries, Clarence Mitchell, Roger Cook, Donal Macintyre, Paul Gambaccini, John Humphrys, Debbie Issit, Anne Wood, Nick Owen, plus scores of others too numerous to mention.
This term, starting on 14 January with Mike Valente, each and every Thursday and Friday at 1pm, you will find a media mover and shaker live in ETG34, the Ellen Terry Building. To find out more, visit www.coventry.ac.uk/cuevents
An exhibition, the Art of the Coventry Conversations, opens in the Ellen Terry Foyer on January 21 at 6pm and you are invited to join John Mair, senior lecturer in broadcasting at Coventry University, his team and the Lord Mayor, to celebrate the fourth birthday of the Coventry Conversations.
If you would like to attend, please send a confirmation email to johnmair100@hotmail.com or catherinecuello@gmail.com
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For further information please contact Meghan Tiplady, Communications Assistant at Coventry University, on 024 7688 7076