THE future of the Scottish media is to be the subject of a day-long conference, taking place in Edinburgh.
The event – being hosted by the conferences arm of The Scotsman – sees among its key speakers allmediascotland.com blogger, Courtnay McLeod, and former blogger, Stewart Kirkpatrick.
On the agenda, say the organisers, include the following questions:
* What kind of media does Scotland want and need in the 21st century?
* Does Scotland need its own national broadcaster?
* Does it need its own solution to Leveson?
* Does the print media have a future in Scotland?
* How do we regulate online media – and is there a successful model available to fund high-quality online journalism?
The speakers list is:
* Kevin Bakhurst, managing director, News and Current Affairs, RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) and former controller, BBC News Channel and deputy head, BBC Newsroom.
* Ashley Highfield, chief executive, Johnston Press and ex-UK managing director of Microsoft and director of New Media and Technology, BBC.
* Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of Channels, STV.
* Pat Kane, writer, musician, activist and consultant, author of The Play Ethic, one half of Hue & Cry and one of the founders of the Sunday Herald.
* Magnus Linklater, writer and former editor of The Scotsman and The Times, Scotland.
* Ruth Wishart, journalist and broadcaster and member of the Scottish Government’s expert panel on Leveson.
* Stewart Kirkpatrick, head of Digital, Yes Scotland, and former editor of scotsman.com and founder/editor of online newspaper, Caledonian Mercury.
* Moray Macdonald, managing director of Weber Shandwick, Scotland.
* Courtnay McLeod, director of The Scottish Media Academy and a media education consultant.
Tickets for the event on April 9 are priced £99.
For more details, visit www.scotsmanconferences.com
