Media moguls

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Andy Burnham is returning to Edge Hill University as part of its annual Media Week, starting Monday 18 May.

The MP for Leigh will join Edge Hill Chancellor Professor Tanya Byron in a question and answer session with media students. Both are panel members for Digital Britain, the Government report led by Lord Stephen Carter into intellectual property rights on the internet and they will discuss different aspects of the report with students during the session. 

The visit by Andy Burnham is the finale of a week of activities in the University's Media department, which will see a number of workshops and lectures from well-known figures in the media. Some of these include:

• A lecture from veteran broadcaster Fred Talbot, who will talk to students on the secret to a long and successful media career, following his transition from teacher to TV presenter 30 years ago.
• A workshop with 23-year-old Phil Hawkins, a local filmmaker who was tipped for greatness by none other than uber director Steven Speilberg on US reality TV show On The Lot. He will show and discuss his film, The Butterfly Tattoo that was featured in last year's Cannes Film Festival.
• Edge Hill's own Professor Roger Shannon, producer of many successful UK films, including 1999 Cannes Film Festival award-winner Beautiful People, will deliver a lecture to students about the place of UK films and the importance of film festivals in their success.

Head of Media Carol Poole, said: "Following his visit to the University in February, the Secretary of State Andy Burnham has chosen to return because we feel he made a real connection with students and staff. It's an honour to have Fred, Phil and Roger here in Media Week but it's not really a surprise that we are getting such attention, as the Media Department has a lot of people who have been working hard for a long time, and this is clearly beginning to pay off."

For more information on Media programmes, visit www.edgehill.ac.uk/media.