Showing 12 results

Interview with Andrew Sparrow, Guardian political correspondent. Conducted by Guardian Foundation assistant archivist Charlotte Im on 6 May 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:20 Introduction to his role writing the Guardian's daily politics live blog and political articles
01:30 The process of writing the politics live blog including covering UK political news as it happens
04:15 The separate teams covering international politics and occasions when he covers international political news
05:20 Discusses Covid-19 as the biggest issue over the past year including the development of the UK Covid live blog
07:26 Other issues he has covered over the past year including local elections, Scottish independence and Brexit
08:50 Discusses working as part of the House of Commons lobby
10:20 Working alone on the blog but posting contributions from colleagues on the live blog under their names
11:10 How he found it relatively easy to adjust to working from home during the coronavirus pandemic
15:00 Using pagers for communication earlier in his career and more recently WhatsApp
20:40 Discusses covering Brexit
25:25 Interacting with readers through blog comments and Twitter
28:50 Thoughts on what may change in his role in the next few years
32:00 Discusses covering the announcements of the national lockdowns as highlights of the past year

Duration: 34 minutes and 39 seconds.

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Daniel Boffey, Guardian Brussels bureau chief. Conducted by Eleanor King, Guardian Foundation assistant archivist on 21 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:20 Introduction to the role of Brussels bureau chief and the Brussels bureau, which covers EU institutions and European news and investigations
01:10 Lists his previous positions at national newspapers
01:40 Living and working in Brussels for the last four years
02:25 Starting his current role just after the 2016 UK European Union membership referendum
03:53 A typical working day and how the diversity of his work reduced due to the coronavirus lockdown in Belgium
06:30 The level of freedom given to him by the Guardian
08:28 Covering Brexit negotiations in Brussels including the leak of Theresa May's agreement for Northern Ireland in 2017
11:50 Thoughts on Theresa May's other negotiations in Europe
14:30 How the Brussels bureau chief role may change in the future with the UK no longer part of the EU
16:50 Twitter and responses to critiques of EU institutions by the UK media since Brexit

Duration: 19 minutes and 59 seconds.

Creator: King, Eleanor; assistant archivist

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Danielle Stephens, Guardian acting lead audio producer. Conducted by Charlotte Im, Guardian Foundation assistant archivist on 30 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:15 Introduction to the role of acting lead audio producer including producing the weekly US politics podcast and executive producing the UK politics podcast and football weekly
01:00 Discusses the Reverberate podcast which explores stories from around the world about when music shook history
04:35 How the UK politics podcast is produced both before and during the pandemic
08:30 Communicating and working with Guardian journalists on podcasts
12:05 Discusses her favourite podcast episodes
14:20 How Covid-19 has impacted her work including discussion of audio quality, technical issues and working from home
19:20 The years highlights including interviewing former Republican party politician Michael Steele and interviewing people for general election coverage across the UK
22:00 Getting more personality out of guests and hosts during the pandemic
25:00 The major topics and issues of the past year including reporting the US election from London, covering the UK government's Covid response and lack of opposition and calls for Scottish and Welsh independence
28:50 Thoughts on what she hopes may change in her role in the coming years
31:05 The platforms used to engage with listeners
32:55 The Guardian's podcasts going from strength to strength

Duration: 34 minutes and 23 seconds.

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interviews with Guardian staff conducted by The Guardian Foundation as part of a project to mark the newspaper's 200th anniversary in May 2021.

This series currently only contains interviews from strand one of the project.

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interviews with Guardian staff conducted by The Guardian Foundation as part of the Guardian's 200th birthday celebrations.

The aim of the bicentenary oral history project was to capture a snapshot of the current moment at the Guardian, in its bicentenary year. This series contains interviews from strand one of the project which were recorded by Google Meet and Zencastr in April and May 2021. Interviews are generally between 20 to 30 minutes in length.

In strand one interviews staff from across the business discuss their current roles and responsibilities, challenges and opportunities and hopes for the future. Staff interviewed include editors, reporters, data journalists, producers, the head of editorial legal and head of workplace and security. Topics covered include the impact of coronavirus, investigations, the relationship between print and digital, funding journalism and the different mediums through which stories can be told.

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Larry Elliot Guardian economics editor. Conducted by Charlotte Im, Guardian Foundation assistant archivist on 29 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:15 Introduction to the economics editor role which is responsible for all economics coverage on the Guardian including the Treasury, Bank of England and how the economy is performing across the world
01:00 How economics and politics are linked
01:38 The coronavirus pandemic as the biggest story he's ever covered and the consequences on the economy
02:17 Sources of information on the economy and coronavirus pandemic
05:50 Covering Brexit as a supporter of Britain leaving the EU
08:50 The impact of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic
12:50 Contributing to the Guardian's Politics Weekly podcast
14:55 Collaborating with the Guardian's development, environment and foreign teams
17:35 Changes to the culture of working during the pandemic but also since the launch of the Guardian website
20:38 A typical working day including writing up stories, offering ideas for stories, research and covering breaking news
24:40 The Guardian's economics team
25:29 Thoughts on how his role may change over the coming years
27:30 2021 as a historic year

Duration: 28 minutes and 33 seconds

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Mark Rice-Oxley, Guardian executive editor, reader revenues. Conducted by Emily Turner, Guardian Foundation education officer on 23 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:20 Introduction to the role of executive editor for reader revenues, reaching audiences and encouraging them to join the Guardian as supporters and subscribers
01:00 Communicating and engaging with people about the work of the Guardian
01:55 How the role developed in response to changes to the funding model of the business
02:30 Getting responses from readers and working with colleagues on replies
04:45 Sharing the Guardian's experiences of working through the pandemic with readers
05:40 Discusses former positions in his 30 years as a journalist and why he moved into this role
07:45 The future of journalism, digital and print
10:53 The rise of data and insights within the business
12:40 Approaches to understanding readers and gaining supporters and subscribers
15:50 Running the Guardian's bicentenary project and hopes for its legacy
19:10 Editing The Upside and how it was established in February 2018

Duration: 23 minutes and 27 seconds.

Creator: Turner, Emily; education officer

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Matthew Weaver, Guardian reporter. Conducted by Emily Turner, Guardian Foundation education officer on 27 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:20 Description of his role as a general reporter on the national news desk mainly writing news reports but also covering Guardian live blogs on big national and international stories, Q&As, analysis and features
01:55 Reporting on the scandal over Dominic Cummings’ trips to and around Durham during lockdown
03:25 Collaborating with The Mirror on the Dominic Cummings' story
04:50 How the internet has made reporting and researching much easier
06:55 The appetite for trusted news in an era of fake news and being more open in setting out evidence for readers
09:45 His fears for the future of the newspaper in the digital era
11:11 The best parts of his role including the process of finding out and sharing new information, holding power to account and exposing hypocrisy
13:25 The impact of coronavirus on his work including the pros and cons of working from home
15:30 Working with Guardian live blogs from their beginnings in 2007 and the types of news stories covered (including the Dominic Cummings' lockdown story)
17:15 Reporting breaking news

Duration: 19 minutes and 17 seconds.

Creator: Turner, Emily; education officer

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Max Sanderson Guardian interim deputy editor for audio. Conducted by Sorcha Hughes, Guardian Foundation NewsWise project coordinator on 30 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:28 Introduction to the interim deputy editor for audio role including looking after the day to day running of all podcasts except Today in Focus
01:15 A typical work day including reviewing and editing content, providing technical and editorial support to producers and meetings
04:50 The processes involved in producing the Guardian's different podcasts
07:18 Listening to podcasts covering a range of topics
11:45 Important issues for audio including resources and diversity and inclusivity in podcasting
14:15 Discusses the biggest challenge over the last year being the move to recording from home and how proud he is of how the audio team has managed this
16:30 Changes to podcasting due to the pandemic including creating podcasts while working from home
19:45 Thoughts on how podcasting may develop over the coming years including investment in multimedia platforms, improving existing shows and creating new shows
22:25 Discussion around the long-term outlook for audio and podcasting
24:35 Pride at working for the Guardian

Duration: 26 minutes and 1 second.

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)

Interview with Mylene Sylvestre, Guardian Publishing Director. Conducted by Guardian Foundation Project and admin officer Emma Jones on 30 April 2021. Recorded remotely using Zencastr and Google Meet software.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

00:24 Introduction to the role of Publishing Director which is responsible for production, distribution and sales across all print products
01:10 A typical working day during the coronavirus pandemic including the daily management team meeting, reviewing production and distribution, team and project update meetings and virtual calls
04:20 Discusses the biggest issues in her work at the moment including team wellbeing and the new Saturday magazine launching in September
05:45 The challenges of remote working for the new Saturday magazine project
06:52 Her recent highlights, including sign-off for new quality newsprint for the papers and spending more time with her family while working from home
09:35 The different experiences of her team members while working from home, including career development challenges and the benefits of finding and proving that they are a team that can work well remotely
12:08 Her view of the future, including the structural decline of print and the value she and others continue to place on it
14:50 The expertise and dedication of her team members
16:00 The importance of the Guardian’s mission in terms of the freedom of the press holding the powerful to account, and her hopes that that will outlive print
17:50 Her 22 years at the Guardian including the digital ‘revolution’, huge growth in readership and the underlying values pulling together her different roles
19:55 How she would like to encourage young readers in 2021 to take up the paper now – ‘The Guardian is a good friend to have beside you when trying to understand a complex world.’

Duration: 20 minutes and 29 seconds.

Creator: Jones; Emma; project officer

Creator: Guardian News & Media Ltd (2006-)