Journalists, very much including me, love leadership contests for their political drama. But the public are less keen, and the damage to the country is increasingly obvious. spectator.com/article/does...

I thought the Richmond local election hustings - which I chaired - were interesting, entertaining and revealing. If you live locally and you’re planning to vote on May 7: they’re worth your time. youtu.be/8dL51qCh5Xg?...

My article for the Times on how difficult it is to be director-general of the BBC - especially now. www.thetimes.com/article/dad3...

Is it all over for public service broadcasting? There was a big attendance at a public event on February 18th with industry leaders who tackled the future of the #BBC and the streaming revolution. youtu.be/7gbFAa4xbxU?...

While we’re seeking to fix what’s wrong with Britain, look hard at our policy-lite, sensation-seeking media | Roger Mosey

My thoughts for @theguardian.com on the way politics and media obsess about the short term when we have much bigger problems to face. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You’re invited to join the @richmondsociety.org.uk debate about the future of media and society. February 18 with an expert panel: Peter Salmon, Pat Younge, Shelagh Fogarty & Ben Fenton. Ticket details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-it-all-...

@rogermosey.bsky.social In case it’s of interest - our new @demos-uk.bsky.social report on how to increase the independence (and accountability) of the BBC (btw the paper is focused on institutional reforms - not editorial) demos.co.uk/research/our...

Definitive research on #BBC Question Time from Matt Walsh at Cardiff University. Caroline Lucas has appeared more than Nigel Farage, and best-represented smaller party is the SNP. But right-wing publications appear more often than left-wing. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

"So of course you would want public broadcasters to be honest and accurate and fair... The question is whether it is possible in the digital world we’re now in, and how it works in practice." ✍️ @rogermosey.bsky.social on why the debate on impartiality matters 🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/impartial_ap...

“There is a split in the road ahead in which we can end up with falsehoods and global commercialisation and nothing we can truly trust, or we retain an anchor of UK-based organisations which want to tell the truth and have no ideological or financial pressures which subvert them.”1/

"Impartiality isn’t about letting everyone in the UK say anything that comes into their head live on the BBC without any challenge..." ✍️ Former head of BBC TV News @rogermosey.bsky.social on why the debate about impartiality matters ukandeu.ac.uk/impartial_ap...

Why impartiality still matters - for the #BBC and for the country. My blog for @ukandeu.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/impartial_ap...

Great thoughtful piece by @rogermosey.bsky.social about the BBC. And this section especially.. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

. @rogermosey.bsky.social is always my go to person for the most insightful analysis of a BBC crisis. This is his take on the current one.

'BBC must explain how it plans to correct liberal bias' | ✍️ Roger Mosey

“We should be able to disagree, for crying out loud!” - and not have to sign up to “a monolithic culture”. Here’s a flavour of Mary Beard speaking to me at Selwyn College Cambridge last night. Watch the full video here: www.youtube.com/live/xMBIzr5...

We’re thrilled to see 7 heifers now grazing in Petersham Meadows. After no grazing in 2023, and a very small amount last year, this is a welcome move back to tradition. The Richmond Society is represented on the Petersham Meadows Advisory Group. Photos by Lizzie Danckwerts.

I really enjoyed accompanying @selwyn1882.bsky.social students Oketa and Cian to London today and lunch at the Tallow Chandlers’ Hall. They’re winners of this year’s Tallow Chandlers awards, and joined other amazing young people from schools and colleges at the celebration.

If you want to join the campaign against pointless vox pops in news - or share some of the stories from inside the BBC - these two books are now at a bargain half price! www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/gettin... www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/20-thi...

The colours of @selwyn1882.bsky.social this Easter weekend.

All universities in America and worldwide should support #Harvard in their stand on academic freedom. www.bbc.com/news/article...

We’re green, and quite a lot of other colours too. The gardens of @selwyn1882.bsky.social this week. Photos by my colleague Thisath Ranawaka.

Very proud of the @selwyn1882.bsky.social students who received their MAs today. This was the generation whose studies were disrupted by the pandemic, and they’re fine young people who deserve this moment of celebration.

The @selwyn1882.bsky.social Spring collection.

A pleasure to welcome to Selwyn a great bunch of graduate students from our sister college @kebleoxford.bsky.social in Oxford.

A disappointing day of football - for both Fulham and Arsenal - but at least there was a lovely sunset at Hammersmith on the way home.

Congratulations to @suzanneraine.bsky.social on her election as master of Selwyn. It’s the most wonderful job, and I think the fellowship have made a wise choice. www.sel.cam.ac.uk/news/next-ma...

Dinner with some of Selwyn’s postgraduate students. A terrific bunch of people.

Is the answer to populism a strengthening of the power of the courts and judges? Shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson answered a question from a Selwyn student. Full session here: www.youtube.com/live/vZ65Kys...

A session with BBC director-general Tim Davie. Questions range from BBC coverage of Donald Trump and Elon Musk was to the corporation’s future funding: might subscription work? www.youtube.com/live/LAow3LD...

Our event with the director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, is fully booked for in-person attendance. But you can join us live online, or on demand after the session. www.youtube.com/live/LAow3LD...

I really enjoyed Channel 4’s Brian and Maggie. Some of the political history is a bit wobbly. But it’s fair, and its heart is in the right place about interviewing and journalism in the public interest. Coogan and Walter are terrific, too. www.channel4.com/programmes/b...

Offers from @selwyn1882.bsky.social have gone out today for undergraduate admissions this autumn. 85.5% of our home offers are to state school students, with the biggest group at comprehensives. In 2024 this kind of mix helped us be the highest-rated Cambridge college for good honours.

Well, that’s going to be an enormous audience for BBC1 on Friday night. Traitors is a fabulous format, and so skilfully produced. Yet another argument for appointment-to-view television. #TheTraitorsUK

The view from the front door. @selwyn1882.bsky.social this morning.

Journalists really don’t have to go along with the agenda of social media - and definitely not with the interventions of billionaires. This talk from the end of 2024 feels particularly relevant today. www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/general/medi...

If, like me, you’re enjoying #Traitors: here’s a panel discussion from last year about what the show means for the future of TV entertainment. Featuring top BBC executives and ace Traitor Paul Gorton. youtu.be/dEWkhQE8b00?...

Gavin & Stacey has been a triumph for the BBC. And it shows that public broadcasting can still bring millions of people together for shared moments.

The tree in the @selwyn1882.bsky.social Master’s Lodge. Happy Christmas to all.

Our student callers are doing a great job in the college’s 2024 Telephone Campaign. Thanks to them for their hard work, and to all @selwyn1882.bsky.social alumni and friends who’ve taken part so far.

“…the BBC and public service media generally should sometimes be different from the market. They should do things others don’t. They should sometimes reject what everyone is talking about on X, and they should opt for what is important for society instead.” (thanks to @armslengthal.bsky.social)

I’m slightly surprised to find that my favourite radio station at the moment is #BBC Radio 1. Christmas Anthems is delightful, albeit with a playlist that’s skewing way older than go-ahead Radio 2.

Spot on. When was the last time main stream political journalist responded to a policy announcement with “How exactly do you plan to do that?”. No clearer evidence that journalism obsessing about personality than tosh about Badenoch/Starmer lunch choices?

Journalism isn’t always about what’s trending on social media. Here’s a lecture in which I argue for the need to stand firm against Musk & Co and their agendas. www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/general/medi...

I’m pleased we’re doing mostly in-person interviews at Selwyn. They’re popular with applicants - they like the human interaction and the chance to look around - and candidates are warmly welcomed by our student volunteers. Good luck to everyone taking part.

The #BBC’s coverage of #Syria has shown all its traditional strengths. Excellent logistics and on-the-ground reporting, knowledgeable correspondents, thorough analysis and well-judged editing in London. It’s a model for what BBC News should be like - all the time.

The view from the master’s stall during the first @selwyn1882.bsky.social Carol service of this year. Three more to come in Cambridge and one in London with almost 500 people booked in.

‘Twas the night of the Christmas formal hall - three nights, actually - and Sylwia Nagiel’s photographs capture the setting and the occasion.

A lunchtime with songs from the shows. Selwyn Voices - our community singing group featuring students, fellows and staff - performed in the college hall. A million dreams, indeed. Well done to them on a great choice of music, beautifully sung.