The Conservative frontbencher shadows the government department that is at the centre of SoE campaigning on openness and media freedom issues. His responsibilities include the Freedom of Information Act and access to courts including Family Courts from which the media can now report.
Other names to be added to the top line-up of confirmed conference speakers include the BBC’s Director of BBC News, Helen Boaden, Editor of The Times, James Harding, Google UK Director, Matt Brittin, News International’s Managing Director of Customer Direct, Katie Vanneck and Andy Trotter, chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Media Advisory Group.
Olympic gold medal winner Jonathan Edwards will speak at a session looking at the relationship between the press and the 2012 Olympic Games.
They will join Press Complaints Commission chairman Baroness Buscombe who will deliver the 2009 Society of Editors Lecture that will open the conference. It will be her first major public speech since taking over from Sir Christopher Meyer at the PCC.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, will deliver a keynote speech during the conference and other senior figures from the media, politics and the law including Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer and Information Commissioner Christopher Graham will also take part in what has become firmly established as the key event for senior newsroom figures from all branches of the media.
New sessions to be added to the programme this year will explore the new tools and platforms delivering breaking news, the initiatives being established by editorial departments to create revenue and the debate over publicly funded local news.
The event will take place at the Radisson SAS hotel at London Stansted airport from Sunday November 15 to Tuesday November 17.
SoE president Nigel Pickover (pictured), editor of Evening Star, Ipswich said: “While our main focus will be on fighting back to recovery from the combined effects of recession and structural change that are having dramatic impact on the media, we shall also be debating the vital issues of media freedom that are so vital to our efforts to inform and serve readers, listeners and viewers on paper, through broadcast, mobile technology and the internet.
“Previous conferences have spotlighted the amazing innovation demonstrated by traditional media companies and the ingenuity and adaptability of editors and journalists.
“This year we will show that despite tremendous battering the media at all levels is more than ready to take on new challenges.
“We have chosen Stansted because it is in the region where I work but it is also close to London. It has top of the range conferencing and hotel facilities and of course superb travel connections with the whole of the UK and beyond.”
The conference is attended by editors and senior executives from across the UK and beyond. The Radisson is minutes away from main road, rail and air links.
It will open on Sunday 15 November with the Society of Editors Lecture. Monday 16 November will be given over to working sessions on numerous topics with time in between to meet faces old and new. The annual black tie gala dinner will follow in the evening and will include the presentation of the Rat up a Drainpipe award that celebrates the life and work of political journalist Anthony Bevins.
Closing with the now traditional 20:20 Vision breakfast seminar on the morning of Tuesday 17 November, to be chaired by ITN News broadcaster Alastair Stewart, the conference sets the agenda for media debate throughout the year.
The conference is supported by Camelot, the East of England Regional Development Agency, newspaper publishers, the Press Association, the BBC and ITV.
Delegate fees are being held at or below previous levels and discounts will be available recognising the special difficulties faced particularly by the regional media.
Delegates can book now online at www.societyofeditors.org, by email (conference@societyofeditors.org) or by telephone (01223 304080).
