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UK SECTION |
The AEJ is active across the continent
of Europe. Please visit its website, www.aej.org,
and check AEJ Newsletters
for information about what it is doing for its members |
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AEJ in the UK |
UK Section's 40th birthday party |
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The AEJ links
major European newsmakers and journalists in Britain in a professional and
social network. Our membership includes journalists from national
newspapers and broadcasting organisations, and freelances, writers and
researchers. The UK section provides useful support as well as access to
newsmakers who are not always easily available. Membership is open to both UK
and non-UK nationals and activities are funded by an annual fee and
entry charges to our professional lunches. The membership
fee is £30 a year. Please click on
our links to see our activities, including the lunchtime meetings under News/Events, our participation in World Press Freedom Day, Past Events and the Section's annual meetings. Membership
of the Irish Section of the AEJ is open to
journalists in Northern Ireland ___________________________________ Don Hatwell Our congratulations
and thanks to Don for his highly enjoyable autobiography, Reporting
a Life – "from urchin to critic," as he puts it. The
book was published by Matador on 1 May 2012. Don is a
long-standing friend in the AEJ. Kevin d'Arcy, our secretary for many years,
has written this: This was the AEJ British section members who would
like an idea of the part we have played in Britain and Europe for much of the
past 30 years could do little better than grab a copy of the recently
published Reporting a life by
former secretary Don Hatwell. He actually stood down as
secretary, treasurer and, finally, chairman in the 1980s, but stayed close to
the action for many years. His acerbic autobiography,
inevitably covering both his personal and professional life, includes a
number of penetrating insights into a range of actions and motivations, with
AEJ annual congresses playing a prominent part. It is fair to say that Don has seldom been anything but honest in his dealings with others, which has inevitably found him in a number of difficult situations. This book may well continue
that tradition. [Ed: This
is not Don's first book. In 1970 he published Sophie, or the Virtues of Misfortune, a novel, under the
pseudonym Dilys Peterson] |
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Most of our members
were there, as were many of our past guests and UK Section Chairman William Horsley called the attention of the assembled public figures and media people to the decline of media freedom and free expression in much of Europe, as shown by many recent OSCE and Council of Europe reports.
Reflections on the establishment
of the AEJ UK Section by a founder member, Roger Broad ______________________________________________ Paul C Hodgson 1923-2009 Paul was one of the founding
fathers of the UK Section and, for many years, its chairman. He later chaired
the international AEJ. A veteran of the BBC in many roles, he died on 10 March
2009 – obituary ___________________________________ Gerard Mansell 1921-2010 We have to record the sad
news of Gerry's death on 18 December. After retiring from the BBC External
Service in 1981, he chaired the UK Section until 1991. He brought us an
irrepressible enthusiasm and sense of fun – obituary ___________________________________ Brian Hanrahan Brian was
a member of the UK section for many years. To mark the sad news of his death
on 20 December 2010, William Horsley has written a tribute to his friend and
colleague. ___________________________________ John Coleman We record
with great sorrow that John Coleman died on 5 January 2010. He was a
frequent participant in AEJ meetings, livening our discussions with an
enthusiasm and originality that was wholly unique. He is sorely missed. An
obituary was published in The
Daily Telegraph on 29 January. |
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AEJ
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The
UK Section celebrated its 40th birthday with a party on 30 October 2008,
organised jointly with the Foreign Press Association, whose 120th birthday
also fell this year. It took place in the FPA's splendid 
mansion
in Carlton House Terrace, the London residence of the 19th century prime
minister, William Gladstone.
the Foreign
Secretary, David Miliband. It was a highly memorable and enjoyable evening.