Canterbury Christ Church University Media Head Appointed

A former journalist who covered the Iran-Iraq war, the first Gulf War, the Kurdish uprising in Iraq and the PanAm plane hijack, has been appointed Head of the Department of Media at Canterbury Christ Church University.
David Bradshaw, who spent 15 years as a full-time professional journalist working for the BBC and The Economist, succeeds Nick Burton, the former Head of Media, who died in 2006.
Speaking of his new role within the University, Bradshaw said: "I am pleased and privileged to lead such a talented and creative team within a Department that has a long and distinguished history and a strong future. The University's Department of Media was one of the first in the UK to offer media programmes and has developed an international reputation. My aim is to build upon its strong foundation and expand its portfolio of programmes by launching new degrees in journalism and photography. I also aim to develop links with schools, establish a clear research identity and forge links with local and national media."
David spent 15 years as a full-time professional journalist with the BBC and The Economist. He is a Middle East specialist and, as a reporter, covered the Iran-Iraq war, the first Gulf War and the Kurdish uprising in Iraq. In the mid-1980s he was based in Algiers as BBC North Africa correspondent covering stories about the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara to the PanAm plane hijack. David continues to write in a freelance capacity, principally for the Economist Intelligence Unit.
David re-entered academic life in 1992 to launch the ground-breaking BA (Hons) Multi-Media Journalism at Bournemouth University.
During his time as programme leader it became the only journalism programme in the UK to win accreditation from all three journalism industry-training bodies, the National Council for Training Journalists (NCTJ), Periodicals Training Council (PTC) and Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC).
The Department's links with the film, radio, television, journalism, digital and other media industries are strong. Visiting professionals and academics are regularly invited to contribute to the Department's courses.
Graduates from the Department are consistently in demand, and as a consequence Sky television has set up a scholarship scheme with the university, while BBC operates from a radio studio on campus.
The skills the Department's students acquire help graduates find work in a range of jobs: directors, editors, journalists, animators, web designers, producers, academics, cinematographers, and other posts within the media industry.
(SP)