Dossier 14 - Hugo Davenport

1 minidisc, 1 cd, 1 file, 1 AIFF file (381.8 MB)

Interview with Hugo Davenport, reporter for the Observer. Conducted by Rebecca Catt on 05 November 2001. Also includes a data sheet containing biographical details about the subject and information about the recording.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

Disc 1:
Track 1
00.17 Started working for the Observer as a general reporter aged 27
01.12 Previously worked for Liverpool Daily Post & Echo and other newspapers
01.46 The Observer was one of many papers he read
02.40 First reporting assignment on 'speilers' (market traders)
03.19 Worked on big stories when they arose, e.g. the Miners' Strike, spent a year in Northern Ireland
05.45 Reporting on the Miners' Strike - tried to be neutral but felt strong sympathy for the miners
06.58 The Observer was a 'writer's paper' so he was expected to report his opinion
08.29 Discussion on whether the Observer is still a liberal newspaper

10.45 The Observer's relationship with the Guardian, whether it still stands on its own as a publication
11.32 People he worked with; Tom Davis, Peter Deilly, Robin Lustick and Neil Asherston
13.28 Mark Frankland wrote about Russia and would often disappear. Theory that Observer was 'resting place for secret agents'
14.05 Refers to economics editor Bill Keegan
14.26 How much the Observer depends on the editor
15.42 Difficult to choose his best work for the Observer, but proud of his miners strike piece
16.34 Didn't worry about making a big 'piece of history' when writing a story
17.15 Discussion of how journalists get stories, always in awe of the Observer's investigative team

20.30 Why it isn't as easy for newspapers to change the world with stories as it was in the past
21.45 Discussion about change in ideals during and after the end of the Thatcher era
24.45 Why he chose to leave the Observer to go to the Mail on Sunday and then on to freelance
26.28 Believes the Sunday papers shouldn't be just a collation of the weeks news
28.10 Does he believe that people need 'tempting' (i.e. extra supplements) to buy Sunday papers?

30.13 Observer circulation; is branding the reason for this increase?
32.20 Felt he worked at the Observer at an exciting time

Creator: Catt, Rebecca

Access to recording via GNM Digital Repository

Copyright: Guardian News & Media Ltd and Hugo Davenport