Dr Richard Danbury

Overview

Dr Danbury is an academic lawyer, a journalist and a former practicing barrister. He directs the MA in investigative journalism.

A long while ago, he practised -- briefly -- as a criminal barrister, before joining the BBC, where he worked for about a decade. He was based in news and current affairs, and specialised in interviews and investigations. He spent extended periods on programmes such as Newsnight and Panorama. His first job was as a researcher on the investigative documentary series Rough Justice, and his last staff job was as Deputy Editor of the 2010 BBC Prime Ministerial Debate. While at the BBC, he was part of teams that won two Royal Television Society Awards and a New York Festivals medal. He then went freelance, and has worked for Channel 4, Sky and ITN. Up until Sir Keir Starmer's leadership of Labour, he had produced interviews with just about every leader of a main UK political party since 2000. He has worked on TV coverage of the past six general elections.

He has coordinated Channel 4’s investigative journalism training scheme for the past seven years, and has been the BBC’s Advanced Legal Trainer for the past ten years. He is a member of the Scott Trust Review Panel, the organisation that deals with editorial complaints in relation to the Guardian's content.

His undergraduate degree is in philosophy from Cambridge University, and his doctorate in media law is from Oxford University, where his supervisor was the constitutional expert Professor Alison Young. He then undertook post-doctoral research back at Cambridge, into copyright and news, under Professors Lionel Bently (of Cambridge) and Ian Hargreaves (of Cardiff University). He continues to research in the area of international and comparative media law and freedom of speech law.

He is an expert at Columbia University's Global Freedom of Expression project. He has been a consultant for the Council of Europe and the International Senior Lawyers' Project in relation to teaching international freedom of expression law, to the Thomson Foundation in respect of practical international media law, and to the OSCE and the East-West Management Institute in relation to the teaching of journalism in Albania at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Qualifications

• D Phil, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• M Stud, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Barrister, Inns of Court School of Law, United Kingdom
• Diploma in Law, College of Law, United Kingdom
• BA, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Employment

• Senior Lecturer, City, University of London, Sep 2019 – present
• Associate Professor, De Montfort University, Jan 2017 – Aug 2019
• Principal Lecturer, De Montfort University, Jan 2016 – Jan 2017
• Research Associate, University of Cambridge, Jan 2014 – Jan 2016
• Researcher, Ranking Digital Rights, Jan 2013 – Jan 2014
• Coordinator, Investigative Journalism Training Scheme, Channel 4, Jan 2013 – present
• Advanced Law Trainer, British Broadcasting Corporation (United Kingdom), Jan 2010 – present
• Producer, BBC, Jan 1999 – Jan 2010
• Pupil, then barrister (crime), 9-12 Bell Yard, Sep 1995 – Jan 1997
• Pupil barrister (general common law, professional negligence, family), 1 Crown Office Row, Oct 1994 – Aug 1995

Visiting appointments

• Associate, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, University of Cambridge, 2017 – present
• External Examiner (Freedom of Expression related papers), LLB and LLM, Edinburgh Law School, Edinburgh University, 2016 – present
• Visiting Lecturer, Freedom of Information, Information Law Paper, LLM, Cambridge University, 2015 – 2020

Fellowships

• Associate Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, 2015 – present
• Journalist Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, 2007

Memberships of committees

• Advisory Board, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, Cambridge University, Jul 2020 – present
• Advisory Committee, Price Moot Court Competition, Oxford University, Jun 2019 – present
• Panel Member, Scott Trust Review Panel, 2017 – present

Memberships of professional organisations

• Academic Constituency, Global Network Initiative, Oct 2016 – present

Publications by category