3 April 2013

'Reporting the Referendum' - panel debate on 12th April

How the media, in all its forms, can respond to the challenges posed by next year's referendum on Scottish independence will be debated by a panel of high-profile industry figures at the University of Dundee next week.

'Reporting the Referendum' takes place at the Dalhousie Building on Friday, 12th April. It is being organised by the University's '5 Million Questions' initiative that seeks to apply academic rigour to the referendum debate.

Panellists include BBC Scotland Political Editor Brian Taylor, Professor David Finkelstein, Dean of the University's School of the Humanities, Simon Pia, a former Labour media adviser who now teaches journalism at Napier University, and SNP-aligned blogger Kate Higgins.

The debate will be chaired by David Torrance, Associate Director of the 5 Million Questions project and a well-known political journalist himself. He says that journalists working in both conventional and new media have a duty to report the issues surrounding the referendum responsibly in order to inform the electorate ahead of the vote.

"The news story that will dominate the airwaves, front pages and websites of Scotland until late 2014 is the historic independence referendum," he said.

"The debate is highly partisan, at times complex, and frequently ill tempered. The duty and challenge for our journalists - print, broadcast and, increasingly importantly, online - could scarcely be greater.

"Complicating the task is that this has happened at a time of unprecedented turmoil in the media industry. In spite of this, they must rise to the challenge of generating and sustaining interest because the Scottish public needs to fully understand what they are voting for and how this momentous event might impact on their lives.

"Frequent accusations of bias are heard but journalists need to overcome them in order to fulfil the vital task of reporting the referendum. How can they do this? That is the question that our panel, drawn from a range of print, digital, TV and PR backgrounds, will be addressing at this exciting debate."

'Reporting the Referendum' takes place at the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, from 6pm on Friday, 12th April.

Free tickets can be obtained from www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets, or by calling 01382 385564/385108. A drinks reception will follow the event, for which overflow theatres may be in operation.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277