Dr Richard Danbury

Job: Associate Professor, Journalism

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: Leicester Media School

Research group(s): Media Discourse Group (MDG)

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: + 44 (0)116 257 7195

E: richard.danbury@dmu.ac.uk

W: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/richard-danbury-48392b24

 

Personal profile

Legal and journalism academic (media law and copyright), former practicing barrister (crime), award winning television news and current affairs producer, coordinator of Channel 4’s Investigative Journalism Training Scheme.

Publications and outputs

R Danbury, ‘Freedom of Expression and Protecting Journalists’ Sources’, in L Bollinger and A Callamard (eds), Regardless of Frontiers? Freedom of Expression and Information in the 21st Century, (Columbia University Press, forthcoming)

 

R Danbury, ‘Investigative Journalism and Terrorism: the Proactive Legal Duty to Report’, in S Price (ed), Investigative Journalism: Global Perspectives, (Routledge, forthcoming)

 

R Danbury and J Townend, ‘Can You Keep a Secret? Legal and Technological Obstacles to Protecting Journalistic Sources’, in S Price (ed), Investigative Journalism: Global Perspectives, (Routledge, forthcoming)

 

R Danbury, ‘Where Should Speech be Free? Conceiving Liberal Theories of Free Speech’, in M Price and N Stremlau Speech and Society in the Digital Age, (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

 

J Townend and R Danbury, Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in a Digital Age, Information Law and Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, supported by Guardian News and Media, 2017

 

R Danbury, Is an EU publishers’ right a good idea? (Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law University of Cambridge, working paper, 2016)

 

R Danbury, News, copyright and free speech(Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law University of Cambridge, working paper, 2015)

 

R Danbury, Appraising potential legal responses to threats to news in the digital era, draft second report: evaluating the proposal that copyright should be used to assist the commercial news industry’(Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law University of Cambridge, working paper, 2015)

 

R Danbury, Appraising potential legal responses to threats to the production of news in the digital era: a comparative analysis of recent national copyright interventions (Centre for Intellectual Property and Information law University of Cambridge, working paper, 2014)

 

R MacKinnon, E Hickok, A Bar, H Lim, Fostering Freedom Online: The Role of Internet Intermediaries, UNESCO Series on Internet Freedom UNESCO, 2014. (I was a UK researcher on this comparative law project.)

 

R Danbury, The Inca Trail, (Trailblazer Publications, 1st to 4th editions 1999- 2005)

 

M Graham and R Danbury, The Rough Guide to Chile, (Rough Guides, 1st edition 1999)

 

Research interests/expertise

International, domestic and comparative information law; international, domestic and comparative media law; comparative freedom of expression law; copyright and news.

Practical investigative journalism, broadcast journalism, political journalism, interviews.

Areas of teaching

MA Investigative Journalism

Freedom of Information Law, (LLM, Cambridge University)

Qualifications

MA (Hons, Cantab), Dip Law, M Stud (Oxon), D Phil (Oxon), Barrister (Lincoln’s Inn)

Courses taught

All modules on the MA in Investigative Journalism

Honours and awards

Royal Television Society 2008, innovative news award

Production team member - interview producer: "10 days to War", Newsnight 

Royal Television Society 2005, home current affairs award

Production team member - associate producer: "A Fight to the Death", Panorama 

New York Festivals 2004, bronze medal

Production team member - producer: "Medicating to Execute", Newsnight 

Nominated: Mind Media Awards 2012, factual entertainment award, and speech radio award

Production team member – executive producer and producer: Men’s Hour, Tonic Productions for BBC Radio 5live

Membership of external committees

Membership of professional associations and societies

Associate Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

2015- Present

Member, then Associate, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, Cambridge University

2014 - Present

Professional licences and certificates

Vocational Course for the Bar (Barrister), 1994

Conference attendance

2016

Arranged the international conference ‘Copyright, related rights and the news in the EU: Assessing potential new laws’ for the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, University of Cambridge at IViR, University of Amsterdam, 23 April 2016. Delivered an introductory paper. Details, including a transcript and a recording, are available here:

http://www.cipil.law.cam.ac.uk/projectsappraising-potential-legal-responses-threats-production-news-digital-environment-ahrc 

 

Copyright and the news in the EU: are we, could we, should we?

Paper delivered at the European University Institute, Florence, Conference ‘2016 Annual Scientific Seminar on Economics, Law and Policy of Communications and Media: Competition and Regulation in Infrastructure and Digital Markets 

2015

Copyright and the flow of news

Paper delivered at Sheffield University, December 2015 

 

Chair of session entitled ‘New Trends in Digital Rights’

Peking-Oxford-Stanford Internet Law and Policy Conference, Oxford University, November 2015 

 

Arranged a workshop in London at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies to discuss copyright interventions and the news industry, November 2015. (Details available here.)

 

A shilling or a pint of wine

Paper delivered at the 10th anniversary conference of CIPIL, University of Cambridge, October 2015 

 

Chair of session entitled ‘The Changing Landscape for Search Engines after Google Spain’

Cambridge University Centre for European Legal Studies, Conference “EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain” 27th March 2015 

 

A shilling or a pint of wine? Copyright and the flow of news

Paper presented at the launch seminar for the Information Law and Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London University, February 2015

2014

Saving news? Comparative legal responses to threats to the business of news in the digital environment

Paper presented at Peking University – Stanford University – Oxford University Internet Law and Public Policy Conference, 22 – 23rd November 2014

 

Evaluating legal responses to threats to news in the digital environment

Paper delivered at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barceonla, Workshop- Expert Panel ‘Copyright and News Reporting’ Towards new business models and legal regulations? , 14th November 2014

 

Poster ‘Appraising potential legal responses to threats to the production of news in a digital era’

CREATe ‘All Hands’ Conference, Glasgow, September 2014

 

Evaluating legal responses to threats to news in a digital environment

Paper delivered at British Academy / The Queen’s College, Oxford University. Pedagogy and the Academy Today: the Challenge of Research and Teaching in Early Career. 30th September 2014

 

Freedom of expression, privacy and the role of internet companies

Paper delivered at Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Centre for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy, Oxford University 10th July 2014

2013

The Leveson Inquiry: A transition in media freedom

Paper delivered at Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Centre for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy, Oxford University 27th June 2013

 

Sowing dragons’ teeth: A right of Press freedom

Paper delivered at Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, W G Hart Legal Workshop 2013, The Constitution of the Public Sphere: the post-Leveson Landscape 25th June 2013 

2012 and earlier

Chair and moderation of sessions entitled: ‘How is and how should Data Protection be reconciled with Freedom of Expression?’ and ‘What should be the future shape of transnational governance regimes in this area?’

OxPILS (Oxford Privacy Information Law and Society), Centre for Social Legal Studies, Oxford University, The 'Right to be Forgotten' and Beyond: Data Protection and Freedom of Expression in the Age of Web 2.0, 12th June 2012

 

The ‘Full Liberty of Public Writers’: special treatment of journalism in English law

Paper delivered at Green Templeton College, second year doctoral presentations, 8th June 2011

 

Practical experiences of investigative journalism under English anti-terrorism laws

Paper delivered at New York University, Prague and Respekt conference Media Freedom and Responsibility in the Age of Terrorism of Global Reach, 30th November 2007

Consultancy work

Coordinator of Channel 4’s Investigative Journalism Training Scheme. (Details here)

 

Advanced media law trainer for the BBC Academy

 

Freelance producer of various live current affairs broadcast programmes. Clients include BBC, ITN, Channel 4, and Sky.

Externally funded research grants information

Research Associate on the AHRC funded project researching the production of news in a digital environment, Cambridge University and CREATe. 2014-2016. Principal Investigators were Professor Lionel Bently of Cambridge University, and Professor Ian Hargreaves at Cardiff University, formerly editor of The Independent, who led the recent Hargreaves Review, Digital Opportunity: Intellectual Property and Growth (2010). (Details here)

Professional esteem indicators

External examiner to Edinburgh Law School in various courses related to media law.