Sky

One of the most senior figures in BBC News says Director-General Mark Thompson was wrong to oppose publicly News Corp’s attempt to take control of BSkyB.

Stephen Mitchell, Deputy Director of News and Head of News Programmes at the BBC, said that by signing a letter to Vince Cable last month opposing the move by News Corp, Mark Thompson had compromised the perception of his impartiality as editor-in-chief. He is believed to be the first senior BBC figure to criticize Thompson’s actions on the record.

SKY PLACEMENTS

SKY is able to offer a limited number of editorial placements at the SKY NEWS CENTRE in west London to talented students on courses aged 18 or over who wish to make a career in broadcast or online journalism.
The scheme is open to first degree students and post-graduates determined to work in the industry.
Placements can be arranged in various programme areas at the Sky News Centre at Osterley, and in related areas listed below on the Sky site. There are also rare opportunities in regional bureaux.

 I start my 4-week work placement at Sky on Monday as part of the Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship.

For those of you who want to follow my progress or just want be generally nosey, I'll try and update this new blog every evening, recounting the day's activities.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer break so far!

We are delighted to announce that the shortlisting panel has chosen the following three students to face the scholarship panel on Wednesday. Congratulations to Sara Malm, Daniel May and Melanie Wimmer.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to submit applications.

Entirely co-incidentally, I happened to mentioned this issue during our class on regulation yesterday.

As I said, the argument has always been that in terms of risk of death, taking this illegal drug is far safer than riding a horse.

I promised to tell you about the criteria that will be used to choose this year's Sky Bob Friend Memorial Scholar. Please note that the timetable is tight and the deadlines are rigid.

The 2009 scholar will be chosen on or before Friday 30 January. A formal presentation will take place at the first annual Sky Bob Friend Memorial Lecture which will take place in the Pilkington Lecture Theatre here on the Medway Campus on Monday 9 February. All staff and students in the Centre for Journalism will be invited to attend.

All current undergraduate students in the Centre are eligible to apply for the 2009 scholarship. The application process has three stages.