Talking

I generally like to talk and in the past have had have extensive experience of working with the broadcast and print media on various aspects of asylum and migration policy. There was a time in the early 2000s – especially when I worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) – when I would sometimes hit the TV studios at 6am and move between studios finishing the day at around midnight. At that time there was an almost insatiable appetite for migration stories. It was new, exciting and simultaneously threatening and the media lapped up stories from all angles and with lots of different opinions and perspectives pitted against one another. As a result I’ve had multiple appearances on BBC Breakfast, The Politics Show, GMTV, ITN News and Newsnight, Radio 4’s Today programme, Women’s Hour, The Moral Maze and The World Tonight, Radio 5’s Breakfast and Drive Time Shows and the Radio Wales Breakfast Show. Being on the media circuit means you get seem and listened to, at least by some people. In 2003 was described by the Guardian as one of the UK’s ‘50 Women to Watch‘ and by the Observer as one of ‘80 prodigiously talented young people – sitting in a list of names which included Ed Balls, Charlie Brooker, David Cameron, Jimmy Carr and Dido Harding as people it was believed “will shape our lives in the early 21st century”. I’m not sure I made it in quite the way that the others did!

I’ve also had the opportunity to work with a number of TV/radio researchers and producers to provide bespoke research and background information which could inform programme development, appearing on more substantive radio and television programmes (both live and pre-recorded). These experiences were often much more rewarding because they gave me an opportunity to really the shape the direction and content of programming in a way that news outlets do not.

The situation today is very different. Occasionally I’m asked to speak on Radio 4’s today programme but since refusing to discuss migration with John Humphreys even that channel seems to have tried up! And in general terms there seems to be much less interest in really understanding the complexities of migration – and certainly beyond Europe where I am currently based.

So now I talk mainly to other academics, specialist audiences, international audiences and others who might be interested in hearing what I have to say. I’ve included some of the events here, especially where they are recorded and/or there are other speakers and contributors who also have something interesting or different to say…

https://www.odi.org/events/4526-understanding-refugee-and-migrant-journeys-europe