John Mair is a former associate senior lecturer in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

at the

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

Department of Media and Communication. He is a former

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly American magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format), a genre of broadcast journalism * ''Current Affairs'', former name for ''Behind the News' ...

producer who has also worked for

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commer ...

and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

, and helped devise '' Question Time'' and ''

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'' at the BBC.

Academic background

He has taught at Coventry University since 2005 where he devised the university's best known brand, The Coventry Conversations. He has published five books on journalism and frequently appears in print and broadcast talking about the media. Mair's books include ''Mirage in the Desert: Reporting the Arab Revolutions'', which focuses on coverage of the 2010

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

, and ''Investigative Journalism: Dead or Alive''.

Coventry Conversations

Mair has invited household names such as Jon Snow,

Kirsty Wark Kirsteen Anne "Kirsty" Wark (born 3 February 1955) is a Scottish television presenter and journalist with a long career at the BBC. Starting on BBC Radio Scotland, where she became a producer, Wark switched to television, presenting ''The Late ...

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio presenter and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guests, consumer issues and popu ...

, BBC Director General Mark Thompson, Trevor Philips and Baroness Amos to take part in Coventry Conversations and address students at the university. The "Conversations" were lauded as "the best speaker programme in any British University" by Mair's regular co-author, Professor Richard Keeble of the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

. Mair, who has more than two hundred broadcast credits to his name, as well as covering several world leader summits.

Media advisor

Having been born in the Caribbean, Mair introduced a professional regime at the region's state broadcaster. He has also had the distinction of being a

media advisor A media consultant is a marketing agent or public relations executive that is hired by businesses or political candidates to obtain positive press coverage. Media consultants usually draft press releases to highlight positive achievements of a ...

to three presidents of

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan ( ; 22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 19 ...

Janet Jagan Janet Rosenberg Jagan (née Rosenberg; 20 October 1920 – 28 March 2009) was an American-born Guyanese politician who served as the President of Guyana, serving from December 19, 1997, to August 11, 1999. She was the first female president of Gu ...

and

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyana, Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 19 ...

. On 4 October 2011, Mair was scheduled to give expert evidence to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

' Communications Committee on the state of

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

Achievements

* Associate Fellow, Warwick University * Associate Fellow, Yesu Persaud Centre for Caribbean Studies * Visiting Professor, Zheijiang University of Media and Communications, China * Senior Lecturer Media and Communications, Coventry University * Events Director, The Media Society * Council Member, The

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

* National Judge, RTS TV Journalist of the Year 2010 * RTS Journalism Award Winner * Society of Editors Journalist Award judge * Muslim Young Writers Award Judge

Works

Editor (with Richard Keeble) in the production of:- * ''Mirage in the Desert; Reporting the Arab Spring'' (Arima October 2011) * ''Investigative Journalism: Dead Or Alive'' (Arima September 2011) * ''Face the Future; Guyana and the New Media Revolution'' (July 2011) * ''Face the Future; Tools for the Modern Media Age'' (Arima April 2011) * ''Afghanistan, War and Terror; Deadlines and Frontlines'' (Arima September 2010) * ''Playing Footsie with the FTSE: The Great Crash/Financial Journalism'' (Arima 2009) * ''Do We Trust TV'' (Arima 2008) * "Tough Hutt", ''SecEd'', 2005 (12).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mair, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British mass media scholars British television journalists Academics of Coventry University BBC television producers British non-fiction writers British male writers British male non-fiction writers