An Audience with the Editor of The Times, James Harding

Wednesday 6th week (30th May), Shulman Auditorium, The Queen's College, High Street


As Editor of the Times, a paper which Abraham Lincoln once called “more powerful than the Mississippi”, James Harding is at the forefront of the newspaper industry today. The Oxford Media Society is honoured to be welcoming him on 30th May.

James became the youngest ever editor of The Times in 2007, aged 38. Fresh out of Cambridge, he worked in Japan before joining the the Financial Times. Over the next twelve years he worked as chief of the Shanghai (where he learnt Mandarin, to go along with his Japanese, French and German) and Washington bureaux.

He has overseen the introduction of a paywall in July 2010, the cancellation of the Times2 supplement in March 2010, and its re-introduction in October of that year.Harding has managed to weather the storm of falling circulation remarkably well; whilst still losing readership, The Times has maintained readers far better than other nationals.

However, it's not just the readership and advertising numbers that have been a cause for concern for the press. The last eighteen months have seen no end to the trail of allegations and revelations circulating around The Times' parent company News International.

This is one of the most exciting events this year and it will be a great opportunity to hear from one of the most authoritative people in the newspaper industry today. His insight into the media will be second to none and we hope to see as many of you as possible there!


Entry is £2 for non-members and free for members. Annual membership is only £10 and can be bought online or on the door. 


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Hope to see you there!

Lord Carter of Barnes, Profit, Policy and Politics in the Media

WHAT: Lord Carter of Barnes, former Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting: “Profit, Policy and Politics: Balancing the Public and Private Interest in the Media and Communications Industries”
WHERE: Stapledon Room, Exeter College, Turl Street
WHEN: Thursday 4th week (17th May), 8pm

In recent months, the relationship between the media and politics has come under unprecedented scrutiny. As the complex web of media-political relations is laid bare, the Oxford Media Society is honoured to welcome Lord Carter of Barnes, who will be talking to us about “Profit, Policy and Politics: Balancing the Public and Private Interest in the Media and Communications Industries”.

His public career included the Founding Chief Executive of Ofcom, Chief of Strategy for the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and Minister for Communications, Technology & Broadcasting, where he was tasked with defining and launching Digital Britain, the UK’s strategy for the Digital Economy. While in government, he penned the Digital Britain report, intended to provide a framework for the digital economy in the decades to come.

Lord Carter’s career began in advertising, eventually rising to CEO of JWT, the world’s fourth largest ad agency. He was MD of NTL (now Virgin Media) and is now MD at Alcatel-Lucent, one of the world’s foremost technology companies. Awarded a CBE in 2007, he was welcomed into the House of Lords the following year.

With his wide range of expertise in the media and the constantly developing digital media world, we are greatly looking forward to hearing Lord Carter’s thoughts about the current state of the industry and the way in which problems of politics and media together might be rectified and avoided in the future.

Entry is only £2 but FREE for members. Year-long membership can be bought on the door or online (oxfordmediasociety.com) for only £10. Take a break from textbooks this Thursday and a dip into the real and dynamic world of press and politics in Britain today.

If you’d like to take the opportunity to have dinner with Lord Carter beforehand, please email oxfordmediasoc@gmail.com. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis!


Look forward to seeing you there!