Anthony Smith (producer)
Encyclopedia
Professor Anthony Smith, CBE
, is a British
broadcaster
, author
and academic
, who was President of Magdalen College, Oxford
University between 1988 and 2005.
), from 1949 to 1956. He read English at Brasenose College, Oxford
University.
Anthony Smith had a long career in broadcasting starting as a producer of BBC
current affairs programmes in the 1960s. He became responsible for running the nightly news programme Twenty-Four Hours
.
In the early 1970s, he became a Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford
. He worked for the Annan Committee
on The Future of Broadcasting, and became deeply engaged in the national debate which led to the foundation of the UK's Channel Four. He was subsequently appointed a Board Director of Channel Four (1981-1985).
He also carried out research for the McGregor Commission on the Press, which presented its report in 1976.
Between 1979 and 1988 he was Director of the British Film Institute
and was involved in the conception and establishment of the Museum of the Moving Image on London's South Bank.
In 1988 he was appointed President of Magdalen College, Oxford University, and he retired from this position in 2005.
He was made CBE
in 1987, and was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Arts) by Oxford Brookes University
in 1997.
He served for four years as a Member of the Arts Council of Great Britain
and he has had a long association with the Writers & Scholars Educational Trust, (which produces Index on Censorship
), acting for several years as its Chairman. He served for ten years as a member of the Cambodia Trust for the rehabilitation of landmine victims, and served also for a decade as Chairman of the Jan Hus Educational Foundation
which was active in helping intellectuals and academics in the Czech and Slovak Republics in the years before and after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Smith currently serves as Patron of the London Film School
, Trustee of the Prince of Wales's School of Traditional Arts, and as a Board Member of the British Institute of Florence
, of the Choir of the Sixteen and of the Medical Research Foundation.
He is also currently chair of the Hill Foundation, which provides scholarships for very able Russian students to study at Oxford University, and is also chair of the Oxford-Russia Fund, which provides scholarships for students attending universities within Russia, provides English-language books to Russian universities and also sponsors public discussion of topics affecting higher education in Russia.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
, is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and academic
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, who was President of Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
University between 1988 and 2005.
Life
He was born in 1938 and attended Harrow County School for Boys (now Harrow High SchoolHarrow High School
Harrow High School is a state secondary school in the London Borough of Harrow in the north-west of London. The headteacher is Paul Gamble. The school is a specialist Sports College. It is not to be confused with the independent school Harrow School, situated nearby at Harrow on the...
), from 1949 to 1956. He read English at Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
University.
Anthony Smith had a long career in broadcasting starting as a producer of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
current affairs programmes in the 1960s. He became responsible for running the nightly news programme Twenty-Four Hours
24 Hours (TV series)
Twenty-Four Hours is a long-running, late evening, daily news magazine programme that aired on BBC 1. It focused on analysis and criticism of current affairs and featured in-depth short documentary films that set the style for current affairs magazine programmes. Twenty-Four Hours launched in 1965...
.
In the early 1970s, he became a Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
. He worked for the Annan Committee
Annan Committee
The Annan Committee on the future of broadcasting was established in April 1974 to discuss the United Kingdom broadcasting industry, including new technologies and their funding, the role and funding of the BBC, Independent Broadcasting Authority and programme standards.In February 1977 the...
on The Future of Broadcasting, and became deeply engaged in the national debate which led to the foundation of the UK's Channel Four. He was subsequently appointed a Board Director of Channel Four (1981-1985).
He also carried out research for the McGregor Commission on the Press, which presented its report in 1976.
Between 1979 and 1988 he was Director of the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
and was involved in the conception and establishment of the Museum of the Moving Image on London's South Bank.
In 1988 he was appointed President of Magdalen College, Oxford University, and he retired from this position in 2005.
He was made CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
in 1987, and was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Arts) by Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
in 1997.
He served for four years as a Member of the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
and he has had a long association with the Writers & Scholars Educational Trust, (which produces Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
), acting for several years as its Chairman. He served for ten years as a member of the Cambodia Trust for the rehabilitation of landmine victims, and served also for a decade as Chairman of the Jan Hus Educational Foundation
Jan Hus Educational Foundation
The Jan Hus Educational Foundation was founded in May 1980 by a group of British philosophers at the University of Oxford. The Foundation operated an underground education network in the former Czechoslovakia, at the time under Communist Party rule, running seminars on philosophy, smuggling in...
which was active in helping intellectuals and academics in the Czech and Slovak Republics in the years before and after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Smith currently serves as Patron of the London Film School
London Film School
The London Film School is a private film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, close to a hub of the UK film industry based in Soho. The LFS was founded in 1956 by Bob Dunbar as The London School of Film Technique...
, Trustee of the Prince of Wales's School of Traditional Arts, and as a Board Member of the British Institute of Florence
British Institute of Florence
The British Institute of Florence is a cultural institute founded in 1917 in Florence, Italy, with the aim of promoting Anglo-Italian cultural relations, teaching English and Italian languages, and running a Library of English books to illustrate British and Italian literature, art, history and music...
, of the Choir of the Sixteen and of the Medical Research Foundation.
He is also currently chair of the Hill Foundation, which provides scholarships for very able Russian students to study at Oxford University, and is also chair of the Oxford-Russia Fund, which provides scholarships for students attending universities within Russia, provides English-language books to Russian universities and also sponsors public discussion of topics affecting higher education in Russia.
Writing
Smith has written extensively on broadcasting and the Press, and on the modern information industries in general. His books include:- British Broadcasting (ed) (David & Charles, 1974), ISBN 978-0715363263
- The British Press Since the War (ed) (David & Charles, 1974) ISBN 978-0715365731
- The Shadow in the Cave : a Study of the Relationship Between the Broadcaster, his Audience and the State (Quartet Books, 1976) ISBN 978-0047910296
- Subsidies and the Press in Europe (ed) (PEP, 1977) ISBN 978-0853741565
- The Politics of Information : Problems of Policy in Modern Media (Macmillan, 1978) ISBN 978-0333236109
- The Newspaper : an International History (Thames and Hudson, 1979) ISBN 978-0500272862
- Television and Political Life : Studies in Six European Countries (ed) (Macmillan, 1979) ISBN 978-0333243282
- Goodbye Gutenberg : the Newspaper Revolution of the 1980s (Oxford University Press, 1980) ISBN 978-0195027099
- The Geopolitics of Information : How Western Culture Dominates the World (Faber & Faber, 1980) ISBN 978-0195202083
- Licences and Liberty : the Future of Public Service Broadcasting (Acton Society, 1985) ISBN 978-0850000214
- Impacts and Influences : Essays on Media Power in the Twentieth Century (ed with James Curran and Pauline Wingate) (Methuen, 1987) ISBN 978-0416006025
- Broadcasting and society in 1990s Britain (W.H. Smith, 1990)
- The Age of Behemoths : the Globalization of Mass Media Firms (New York : Priority Press, 1991)
- Books to Bytes : Knowledge and Information in the Postmodern Era (British Film Institute, 1993) ISBN 978-0851704029
- Disinterested Bystanders : Reconciling Media Freedom and Responsibility (John Stuart Mill Institute, 1996) ISBN 978-1871952117
- Software for the Self : Technology and Culture (Oxford University Press, 1996) ISBN 978-0195039009
- Television : an International History (ed with Richard Paterson). (Oxford University Press, 1998) ISBN 978-0198159285