
I am Managing Director and Head of Communications and Media at the World Economic Forum. The Forum is an independent, international organization incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. This is my personal blog and website so the usual caveats apply.
My career was mainly in television journalism, but I’ve also been an author and academic. From June 2005, I was head of — Britain’s only Graduate School of Journalism at City University London, and I’m still a professor there.
TV journalism
My broadcast news adventure started with a summer internship at CBS News back in 1987. A year later and they started paying me. I spent four of the most exciting years in international news with CBS: the conclusion of the Lebanese hostage crisis and the Iran-Iraq War; freedom for Nelson Mandela; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall; the first Gulf War.
In 1993, I joined ITN’s News At Ten which took me from Belfast to Bosnia, and to many places besides. Three years later, I joined the launch team for Five News. Adrian Monck
Five went on air in 1997, with the British general election that ended the post-Thatcher era and brought Tony Blair to power. We reported the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and every story from Kosovo to 9/11 and subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Reporters travelled light, but they filed with distinction from every continent. Adrian Monck
I also turned analogue newsrooms digital, pioneered low-cost news production, and did an MBA at London Business School. Adrian Monck
At Five, I was lucky enough to spend a few years sitting alongside one of the world’s finest broadcasters - Kirsty Young - and a bunch of very creative, youthful (well they were then) and talented people which — as all journalists know — “beats working for a living.” Adrian Monck
Along the way, things I did at Five, at Dunblane, and in Bosnia picked up Royal Television Society awards. A report on aid to Rwanda won gold at the New York Festivals and overall Festival prize. Adrian Monck
Before joining City University London, I had a brief, but enjoyable, spell at Sky News. The British general election of May 2005 — Tony Blair’s last — also happened to be my farewell to television news. Adrian Monck
Writing and commentary
My most recent book — written with Mike Hanley — is Can You Trust The Media? (Icon, 2008). The Financial Times called it “jaunty.” BBC Radio 5 Live called it “fantastic.” Andrew Gilligan called it “nihilistic.” The Observer said it was “startlingly cynical.” Adrian Monck
The Guardian called it “amusingly blunt” and its prescriptions “excellent”, and reviewer Peter Preston said Gordon Brown “ought to sit up and take notice.” (He didn’t — the rest is history.) Adrian Monck
Mike and I also co-authored Crunch Time: How Everyday Life Is Killing The Future (Icon, 2007) which the Sydney Morning Herald (Mike’s an Aussie) called “warm, witty and inspiring.” Adrian Monck
As an academic I have blogged about the media here at adrianmonck.com. I’ve written for the Guardian, New Statesman, Evening Standard, Scotsman and Press Gazette, and been quoted everywhere from the New York Times to Asharq al-Awsat. Adrian Monck
Consultancy
I have undertaken consultancy on communications in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I’ve worked with CEOs at FTSE top 20 companies, with government ministers and civil servants, and leading international news organizations. Adrian Monck
I’ve addressed audiences in Sydney, New York, London, Oxford and Cambridge — and many other places, including Britain’s Defence Academy. In 2005–6, I was President of the Media Society, and presented David Dimbleby with the society’s annual award. Adrian Monck
In 2008, the World Economic Forum invited me to join their Global Agenda Council on the Future of Media, and I attended the inaugural summit in the United Arab Emirates. Adrian Monck
The new School of Communications at Madrid’s IE asked me to be a visiting scholar, and I’m the external assessor at the University of Hong Kong’s J-School. Adrian Monck
I have chaired prize juries and judged — amongst others, the British Press Awards, the International Emmy Awards, the BAFTAs, Royal Television Society, Broadcast and many more. Adrian Monck
I’m a member of BAFTA, the RTS, the Media Society and the Royal Society of Arts. Adrian Monck
I read Modern History at Exeter College, Oxford (2:1, if you must know). I edited the university’s newspaper, Cherwell, and was JCR President.
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