November 2012 For immediate release

Prominent journalist speaks at politics festival

London editor for The Sunday Telegraph, Andrew Gilligan, is set to deliver a free public lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University on Tuesday 20 November as part of the Universitys Festival of Politics and Applied Global Ethics.

At a time of increased scrutiny and criticism of the media, and on the eve of the publication of the report of the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the media, Andrews lecture will examine "The Threats to Journalism". The talk will take place at the Universitys city centre Rose Bowl building in Lecture Theatre B from 2-3pm.

Andrew has had a long career in journalism, including a post at BBC Radio 4 during which he was involved in the controversy over the Governments report on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the lead up to the Iraq war. He is now London editor for the Sunday Telegraph and he writes, among other things, about London, Westminster and politics.

Dr Steve Wright, Senior Lecturer in Applied Global Ethics at Leeds Met, commented: Andrew Gilligan was one of the few journalists to have the courage to challenge the Blair government's assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which could be used to attack within 45 minutes. Dr Paul Wetherly, BA (Hons) Politics Course Leader, added: This lecture will provide insights into the challenges facing journalism today and the always uneasy relationship between politics and the media. These are vital issues for all members of society.

The Festival of Politics and Applied Global Ethics, a programme of discussions and debates on issues of political controversy, is running between 19 and 30 November. Speakers and participants at the festival include MPs Hilary Benn, Gerry Sutcliffe and Phillip Davies, High Performance coach with UK Athletics and British Triathlon and coach to Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Malcolm Brown, and a range of academic experts. Issues include sport and politics, multiculturalism, socialist ethics, working for peace, and why politics matters. To attend Andrews talk, please contact FRSU@leedsmet.ac.uk or phone 0113 812 4334.

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For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors: Leeds Metropolitan University has over 27,000 students and around 2,800 staff. The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds. Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie. The Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE) showed that the proportion of Leeds Metropolitan 2010/11 graduates in work, further study or both six months after leaving university was 91.87%.

Libraries and Learning Innovation at Leeds Metropolitan was awarded the CSE standard for the tenth year running in 2012. In 2012, Leeds Metropolitan was awarded a First in the People & Planet Green League, a league table of environmentally friendly universities, for the sixth consecutive year.