UK’s frst journalism archive set for City

David Bawden from the information science department. Working with them is Emma Markiewicz, director of the LMA, and Laurence Ward, head of digital services.

The Journalist Archive Project (JAP) will work closely with the LMA to establish the best practices for creating and maintaining an archive of journalists’ materials, and making them readily available to the public.

Dr Glenda Cooper, the deputy head of City’s journalism department, has spent signifcant time researching and accessing archives in the US. She said: “Archiving journalists personal papers is taken seriously in the US – we would like City to take the lead doing something similar in this country.” Dr Cooper added that she would like any alumni who have a potential archive to get in touch for this project.

Anew project between City and the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) attempts to create a repository of archives collected by journalists during their careers and make them publicly available.

City’s Higher Education and Innovation Fund (HEIF) is funding a pilot study looking at the archiving practices of investigative journalists. In the UK, some journalists’ personal archives are contained in various libraries and archives, but there is no central repository. The few personal archives that do exist are spread across libraries and archives, making the information diffcult to fnd.

The archive of Dr Paul Lashmar, a City lecturer and investigative journalist who has worked for The Observer, World in Action, The Independent, and Channel 4’s Dispatches, will participate in the pilot. He said: “Archives of investigative journalists often have rich material – they contain documents of historical value not available elsewhere in the public domain.

“Such a repository would be of great value to historians, political scientists, media academics, lawyers, and those looking into miscarriages of justice.”

The City team consists of Dr Lashmar and Dr Glenda Cooper from the journalism department and Professor

The JAP is an important step towards preserving the history of journalism and making it accessible for generations to come. As the project moves forward, the team will continue to encourage more journalists to contribute to this resource.

Ruby Borg

BAFTA nominee plays City alum

Newspaper pathway graduate, Esme Wren, is under Hollywood’s spotlight for a Netfix flm following her crucial role in uncovering the scandalous friendship between Prince Andrew and convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein.

Wren will be played by Romola Garai (Becoming Elizabeth). Fran Unsworth, who was the Director of News and Current Affairs at the BBC at the time, will be played by fellow BAFTA nominee Lia Williams.

SCOOP will delve into the events leading up to the 2019 exposé which also centred around Prince Andrew’s alleged assault of a minor. An adaptation of Sam McAlister’s book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, this flm features a star cast with Sex Education fan favourites Gillian Anderson and Connor Swindells, as well as Billie Piper as McAlister and Rufus Sewell as the prince.

Wren moved from the BBC to Channel 4 News shortly after the shocking interview aired and has been with them ever since.

The flm currently has no offcial release date. Tudum!