Joy of Six for Journalism Professor

George Orwell Now!, an edited collection of essays on Orwell’s life and writings, is one of six books published in 2015 by Richard Lance Keeble, Professor of Journalism at the University of Lincoln.

The book, published by Peter Lang of New York, is a follow-up to the symposium Keeble, who is chair of the Orwell Society, organised at the university last year with some of the money he gained in the National Teaching Fellowship award in 2011.

It is the first time Richard Blair, Orwell’s son and patron of the Orwell Society, has endorsed a publication – contributing a Preface.

The Pleasures of the Prose: Humour and Journalism, a collection of essays looking at humorous journalism in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, the UK and US, edited with David Swick, of the University of King’s College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been published by Abramis, of Bury St Edmunds.

Keeble has also jointly edited with Sue Joseph, of the University of Technology, Sydney, two books on profile writing. Profiling Pieces: Journalism and the ‘Human Interest’ Bias, published by Routledge, and The Profiling Handbook, published by Abramis, which includes chapters on Australia, Brazil, South Africa, the UK and US.

The BBC Today: Future Uncertain, jointly edited with Professor Richard Tait and John Mair and published by Abramis, brings together 39 chapters from leading media commentators, academics, activists and broadcasters, including Professor Brian Winston, the Lincoln Chair, Michael Grade (Lord Grade of Yarmouth) and Rona Fairhead, chairman of the BBC Trust.

It was launched at the Bloomsbury Hotel, Great Russell Street, London, on 28 September 2015. Excerpts were carried in a wide range of newspapers including the Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, The Times, Herald, Daily Telegraph and Broadcast magazine.

Ian Reeves, of Kent University, with Keeble, has also brought out the fifth edition of The Newspapers Handbook (Routledge). First published in 1994, this new edition brings up to date the historical background and carries substantial sections on Hackgate and the ongoing ethics debate, and news and feature reporting in the age of Twitter and social media. Nick Nuttall updates his chapter on investigative reporting, Mark Hanna his chapter on court reporting – and John Turner on reporting national and local government.

Peter Lang, of New York, are also publishing next year The Funniest Pages: International Perspectives on Humour in Journalism which Keeble is jointly editing with David Swick. It brings together 17 chapters looking at humorous journalism in a range of countries including Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Keeble, who has been retired for two years, said: “Once freed from the avalanche of emails and all those meetings, it’s amazing what you can achieve.”

He had sent out calls for papers on journalism and humour, and profile writing. “We received so many excellent abstracts that we were able to create two books on both subjects.”

He has also recently contributed chapters to a range of books including News from Somewhere: A Reader in Communication and Challenges to Globalization, edited by Daniel Broudy, Jeffery Klaehn and James Winter, The Routledge Handbook, Media, Conflict and Security, edited by Piers Robinson, and The Routledge Companion to Community and Alternative Media, edited by Chris Atton.

And next year, with Professor John Newsinger, of Bath Spa University, Keeble, who is joint editor of Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, is to launch a peer-reviewed, academic quarterly, George Orwell Studies.