J-Lab

In this episode, Guardian reporter Amelia Gentleman describes how she uncovered the so-called Windrush scandal – the wrongful detention and deportation of scores of British citizens whose families came to the UK from the Caribbean in the late 1940s and 50s to help rebuild post-war Britain.

Amelia’s reporting led ultimately to the resignation of the Home Secretary, but more importantly, forced the government to loosen its hostile environment for migrants.

Amelia was speaking at an Investigative Journalism conference at Newcastle University hosted by the Civic Journalism Lab in association with the Centre for Investigative Journalism.

In this episode you’ll hear highlights from a May 2018 panel discussion which we titled Comedy + Journalism = ??

We’re all familiar with satirical magazines, websites and TV shows like Private Eye, The Daily Mash and Have I Got News For You that deal with national and global news, but what are the opportunities for mixing comedy with local journalism – particularly in these times when many people are as likely to “consume” news from satirical websites as a newspaper?

Our panellists:

• Paul Stokes, co-founder and publisher of The Daily Mash website, and executive producer of TV's The Mash Report

• John Scott, professional stand-up comedian with a monthly political satire show at The Stand

• Damon Green, ITN's north of England correspondent

• Steve Drayton, BBC Newcastle radio producer and vinylophile who brought his comedy variety show Mr Steve Drayton's Record Player to The Great Exhibition of the North

In this episode you’ll hear highlights from an April 2018 panel discussion which we titled Tuning In, or Turning Off: What Next For Local TV News?

Where does local TV news fit in the digital age?

How can local TV news be reinvented for the Millennial generation?

What are the opportunities for collaboration and innovation?

Our panellists:

MICHAELA BYRNE, head of news, ITV Tyne Tees

ANDREW ROBSON, editor of BBC Look North

JORDAN MANN, news editor, Made in Tyne and Wear

TONY HAZELL, former station manager, Made in Tyne and Wear

Podcasting is having a major impact on the way we “do” journalism, whether we work in radio or other types of media. In this episode we hear from Lina Prestwood, a former commissioning editor of documentaries at Channel 4 and producer of Fathers and Sons, winner of "Podcast of The Year 2017; Peter Jukes, investigative journalist and co-creator of podcast Untold, about the unsolved murder of London private investigator Daniel Morgan; David MacMillan, a BBC Tees reporter and producer of its monthly politics podcast; and BBC Radio 4 PM reporter Andrew Bomford, whose five-episode podcast, The High Street Abduction, about the disappearance of a little girl from a Newcastle shop, won Silver at this year's Audio and Radio Awards.

How do we bring new voices and new experiences into journalism? In this episode we talk to Joshi Hermann, editor-in-chief at The Tab, Jamie Clifton, editor of Vice UK, Helen Amess, who is outreach manager at BBC North and Michael Segalov, news editor at Huck, about how they each seek to satisfy audiences that other media organisations struggle to reach

What are the challenges and opportunities for local journalism in the north east...and elsewhere?

In this episode we hear the views of Helen Dalby, editor of ChronicleLive, and regional head of digital for Trinity Mirror; Gavin Foster, managing editor of the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette and Hartlepool Mail; Megan Lucero, head of Google-funded The Bureau Local; Ted Ditchburn, managing director of North News; Matthew Barraclough, BBC’s head of Local News Partnerships; and Andrew McKegney, policy and communication business partner at Newcastle City Council