Daniel Bruce (broadcaster)

Daniel Bruce addressing an event at the Overseas Development Institute in London

Daniel Bruce (born 1981) is a British journalist, broadcaster and international development worker. Since 2008, Bruce has worked for the international organisation, Internews, which builds the capacity and sustainability of independent media in developing countries.[1] In February 2014, he was appointed the organisation’s Chief Executive in Europe.[2]

Career

Broadcasting

Bruce spent his early career working as a journalist, newsreader and presenter for local and regional radio networks in the UK. He worked for various independent commercial radio groups, most notably the Lincs FM Group and CN Group.[3]

From 2006-2008, he served as the CN Radio Group’s first Regional Editor, overseeing a network of newsrooms across various local radio stations, including the Touch FM Network, now owned by Quidem.

In this role, Bruce was responsible for setting up one of the earlier regionalised ‘news hubs’ in the commercial radio sector. All news bulletin and programme production was merged into one central site in Coventry, leaving satellite reporters to produce content from their respective coverage areas. Under his editorship, the networked team were finalists in the ‘News Team of the Year’ category at the European Radio Awards in 2007.

Bruce spoke of the editorial and economic benefits of this, often controversial, model when giving evidence to the House of Lords Communications Committee in 2008.[4] Some years later, Bruce reflected that "the economic and regulatory model of ‘small-scale, alternative location’ broadcasting licences [had been] strained from the outset" in response to a wave of closures of such stations. [5]


International Development

Bruce left the UK commercial radio sector in 2008 to join Internews as its Country Director in Uganda. He cited a growing interest in international affairs and the important role of local media in poor or fragile countries for this apparent change of career direction.[6]

In Uganda, he ran Internews’ ‘Reporting for Peace’ project where journalists from various community radio stations were taught skills in conflict sensitive reporting in the wake of the civil war with the Lord’s Resistance Army.[7] The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Bruce went on to run a similar project in Kenya and Nigeria before undertaking a variety of programme design and fundraising roles for Internews, and other similar organisations, around the world.[8]

Since his appointment as Internews’ Chief Executive in Europe, Bruce has played a leadership role in some of the organisation’s most complex crisis responses in the Gaza strip,[9] the West Africa Ebola outbreak [10][11] and the Ukraine conflict.[12] Meanwhile, in 2015, Bruce was openly sceptical of a plan by Facebook to launch satellite internet access to remote parts of Africa, claiming it would have "limited social impact" without investment in "meaningful local content". [13]

Appointments

Bruce has served on a number of UK charitable boards, previously acting as a trustee for CORD and Castle Mead Radio. He currently sits on the board of the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities Network.[14]

In 2015, Bruce joined the Radio Award jury panel at the annual One World Media Awards[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Daniel Bruce of Internews Europe" Third Sector Magazine 27 March 2015
  2. ↑ "New Leadership as Internews Europe Gears Up for Media Development Challenges" Internews, 4 March 2014
  3. ↑ Ashe, Isaac. "Radio DJ hits the big time with new role" The Hinckley Times 25 February 2015
  4. ↑ Communications - Minutes of Evidence House of Lords 27 February 2008
  5. ↑ "Mourning the loss of Oak FM" Loughborough Echo 26 August 2006
  6. ↑ Ashe, Isaac. "Radio DJ hits the big time with new role" The Hinckley Times 25 February 2015
  7. ↑ "Internews Helps Radio Journalists Give Ugandan Citizens a Voice" IIP Digital, US Embassy 23 April 2008
  8. ↑ "Internews Key Staff, Daniel Bruce" Internews
  9. ↑ "In Gaza, Souktel Partners with Internews to Link Families with Aid, via Mobile and Radio" Souktel 11 August 2014
  10. ↑ Long, Callie "Let’s Not Poison the Well – How the Media Can Help Combat Ebola-related Stigma" Ebola Communication Network 21 October 2014
  11. ↑ "Radio producers' tips for making radio work for development" Child to Child April 2015
  12. ↑ Bruce, Daniel "Information war leaves Ukrainians trapped and searching for truth" The Guardian 17 February 2015
  13. ↑ Towey, Niamh "Facebook will launch satellite to provide internet access to Africa" Irish Times 6 October 2015
  14. ↑ Governance - CDAC Network
  15. ↑ Jury Panels 2015 One World Media
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