BBC Radio 4 Today presenter John Humphrys will deliver the annual Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University on Monday 2 March.
During his BBC career, John Humphrys has worked as a foreign correspondent in America and Africa, as well as being a diplomatic correspondent and presenter of the Nine O’ Clock News. He has also presented Panorama and You Decide, and currently fronts On The Ropes on Radio 4 and is the Mastermind quizmaster on BBC Two.
In 2000, he was named Journalist of the Year in an awards ceremony organised by the House Magazine and Channel 4, then in 2003 received the Gold Sony Radio Award (the radio industry’s equivalent of the Oscars). He has also won a silver platter for Crystal Clear Broadcasting from the Plain English Campaign.
The Bob Friend Memorial Lecture will see him in conversation with Adam Boulton, Sky News presenter and editor at large, with questions also being taken from the audience.
The lecture is free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis. It will take place at the Pilkington Lecture Theatre, Medway campus, University of Kent at 7pm on Monday 2 March. Anyone wishing to reserve a place is asked to email: journalism@kent.ac.uk
The evening will also feature the presentation of the Sky News Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually to a student who has demonstrated outstanding academic and professional merit and shows great potential for a future career in journalism. The winning student receives a contribution of £3,500 towards their first year tuition fees paid and is guaranteed a four-week expenses-paid placement at Sky News later in the year.
Both the lecture and scholarship, which will be presented this year by Dave Betts, Managing Editor Sky News, were established in 2009 in memory of Bob Friend, who was the original face of Sky News as well as a long-serving BBC journalist.
The annual lecture and scholarship were established by a partnership of the Friend family, Sky News and the University. Previous Bob Friend Memorial Lectures were delivered by John Ryley, Head of Sky News; Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC and Channel 4 News Presenter Jon Snow.