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 From late 2002-present, Richard has
managed his media consultancy, Communications and
Campaigns International. This has included two periods as interim Media and
Audio-visual Director at Amnesty International's International
Secretariat.
From 2001-2003, he was Director of Communications at
Amnesty International UK. A member of the senior management team, he ran a
department of over 30 people responsible for media, public information,
website and publishing. He was previously Amnesty UK's Head of Press
(1997-2001) and Press Officer (1991-1997) at both Amnesty's UK and
International Secretariat offices.
In these roles he regularly featured in the
international and national media, giving hundreds of print and broadcast
interviews, from BBC 2's Newsnight
to the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. He managed liaison with numerous television series and
documentaries, including the annual BBC series 'Prisoners of Conscience' and 'Human
Rights, Human Wrongs'. He
led media activity on issues ranging from the ground-breaking Pinochet case to
international crises including Kosovo and Sierra Leone.
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Highlights include:
- Overseeing a huge rise in Amnesty UK's media coverage.
By 2002 the monthly average was 100 broadcast mentions and 300 print
mentions (both figures compare with 20 in the early 1990s).
- Project managing Amnesty's 40th anniversary campaign
(2001). Coverage included a special edition of the Observer's Life
supplement and dozens of stories on the music and comedy event We Know Where
You Live. Live! hosted by Eddie Izzard at Wembley Arena, which continued the
legacy of the Secret Policeman's Balls.
- Organizing the presentation of a lifetime achievement
award to Amnesty's founder Peter Benenson at The Mirror's Pride of Britain
awards (2001). The presentation by Cherie Blair and Bono from U2,
accompanied by a short film on Amnesty's work, was televised on ITV to over
9 million people.
- Managing the prestigious Amnesty International UK Media
Awards, including chairing judging panels of leading
journalists, broadcasters and commentators.
- Ensuring that human rights dominated coverage of the
1999 state visit of the Chinese president to the UK. A BBC 2 Newsnight
feature contrasted Richard's day campaigning with that of the Chinese
president. The
work was chosen as an example of using the news agenda to communicate
effectively in PR Power (Virgin Business Guides, 2002).
- Leading UK media work on the Pinochet
case (1998-2000). Saturation coverage included front page quotes in the
Times, Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph and Financial Times. This
campaign was used as an example of effective news management in The
Campaigning Handbook (Directory of Social Change, 2000).
- Managing the media campaign on the 50th anniversary of
the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1998) including attending a
high level delegation to Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street, and
the successful campaign for an International Criminal Court.
- Coordinating a team of 20 international media officers
at the 1993 UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.
Between 1984-1991, Richard worked as a journalist and news
editor on a range of newspapers and magazines. He has continued to work as a
freelance journalist.
He has served on the national council of Amnesty
International UK (1991-1993), and on the board of the International Broadcasting
Trust (1993-1996), a partnership of over 70 non-governmental organizations that
produces television programmes on human rights, environmental and development
issues.
Richard is also a Director of non-profit
organisation Little Green
Space which is working to create a network of environmentally and
wildlife friendly spaces, as well as carrying out education and awareness
work.
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