Nick Pollard (Chairman)
Nick Pollard was appointed to the Content Board in April 2016. He was appointed as an Ofcom Board Member and as Chairman of the Content Board with effect from 14 November 2016. Nick Pollard has had a long career as a journalist and broadcasting executive. He started his career as a local paper reporter on Merseyside and spent nearly ten years in newspapers and radio before joining BBC Television News in 1977. He subsequently became Executive Producer of News at Ten during more than a decade at ITN and spent ten years as Head of Sky News during which it won numerous awards for its coverage of major news events including the death of Princess Diana, the September 11th attacks in 2001, the Iraq War and the London bombings. He recently retired from the post of Chief Executive of SSVC, the organisation that runs the British Forces Broadcasting Service.
Nick led the independent inquiry into the BBC's handling of the Newsnight-Jimmy Savile story in 2012. He is a former chairman of the Royal Television Society's Journalism Awards and a recipient of the RTS's Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Journalism.
Nick is a member of the Nominations Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Professor Philip Schlesinger
Professor in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science; Deputy Director, CREATe, RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy.
He joined Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Scotland on its formation in 2004 and was Chairman from 2009-2014.
He has held academic posts in the UK and visiting chairs and fellowships in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. His research ranges across media and culture and has been extensively published and translated. He is on the editorial boards of numerous academic journals and advises several research projects.
He has conducted academic research funded by the AHRC, ESRC and European Commission and other bodies. He has led consultancy and research projects, amongst others for the UK Government’s Know How Fund, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the European Institute for the Media, the Home Office, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Arts Council and Creative Scotland.
His most recent, co-authored, books are The Rise and Fall of the UK Film Council (Edinburgh UP 2015) and Curators of Cultural Enterprise (Palgrave Macmillan 2015). He is presently working on cultural expertise in the digital age.
Dr. Aled Eirug
Aled Eirug joined the Content Board with effect from December 2015. He is also a freelance strategic policy adviser and works for Swansea University and other clients. He was a member of the governing authority for the Welsh language broadcasting service, S4C (2012 -2015), chairman of the British Council’s advisory committee for Wales (2012-2015) and a member of the British Council’s Board of Trustees (2013-2015).
He is an experienced journalist and broadcaster with over 30 years experience in ITV and the BBC, and was for 14 years BBC Wales’ Head of News and Current Affairs and a member of BBC Wales’ Board of Management. He has extensive experience of radio, television and online production across news, current affairs and documentary making, and is at present researching a PhD on aspects of the First World War.
Aled Eirug is the Content Board member for Wales.
Tony Close
Tony Close joined Ofcom in 2003. He is currently Ofcom’s Director of Content Standards, Licensing & Enforcement.
Tony is responsible for broadcast licensing and for setting and enforcing content standards for television, radio and on demand services. He oversees Ofcom's role promoting audience safety, inclusion and assurance in broadcasting and online environments. Tony is also an executive member of Ofcom’s Content Board which is charged with understanding, analysing and championing the voices and interests of the viewer, the listener and citizen.
Zahera Harb
Dr Zahera Harb is senior lecturer in Journalism at City, University of London Journalism Department. She has published extensively on journalism, media and politics in the Arab world. She has conducted research, published and made academic contributions on representation of ethnic minorities in British media.
Before beginning her career as an academic, Zahera worked as a journalist in local and international media organisations in Lebanon for 11 years. During this time, she held roles as a producer, television news anchor and news editor, after starting as a news reporter.
The academic was named a Stanford Humanities Centre International Fellow for 2014, and in the same year was commended in the City, University of London Vice Chancellor's Awards in recognition of excellence in international engagement. She is board member of Ethical Journalism Network.
Janey Walker
Janey Walker is Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of Brighton. She was Managing Director of the Indie Training Fund from 2014-2016, providing television training for many of the UK's leading indies. Janey was Director of IGGY at the University of Warwick from 2011-2013 and launched its award-winning online network for gifted teenagers.
Janey worked at Channel 4 from 1996-2010. She was Managing Editor for Commissioning from 2000 as well as Head of Education from 2006. She was Channel 4's Commissioning Editor for Arts and Music 1996-2000. Janey worked in the independent sector 1994-1996 and at the BBC from 1982-1994.
Robin Foster
Robin is an expert in media policy, regulation and strategy, and a founder of Communications Chambers, a consultancy specialising in telecoms and media policy and regulation. He has a long interest and involvement in the UK media sector, and currently advises governments and regulatory authorities outside of the UK. Until December 2015 he was an independent member of the ATVOD Board, and is currently a member of BCAP’s Advertising Advisory Committee.
From 1993 to 2005, he held senior level strategy positions at the BBC, the Independent Television Commission and Ofcom. More recently he has served on a number of advisory boards including the Digital Britain Board, Ofcom’s Spectrum Advisory Board and ComReg’s expert advisory panel. He was also special adviser to the House of Lords Communications Committee for their inquiry into media convergence.
Robin has written extensively on trends and changes in media markets, and the implication of digital and social media for the future shape and health of UK broadcasting. His recent publications include reports on the UK creative sector, the future of TV news, and the impact of digital intermediaries on news plurality.
Kevin Bakhurst
Kevin Bakhurst joined Ofcom as Group Director for the Content and Media Policy Group on 31 October 2016. Previously he was the Deputy Director General and Managing Director of News and Current Affairs at RTE, the Irish public service broadcaster. Kevin has also spent a significant period with the BBC, where his roles included Deputy Head of the BBC Newsroom and Controller of the BBC News Channel. He also held several key editorial positions with the BBC including as Editor of the Ten O’Clock News and as Assistant Editor of the Nine O’Clock News. He started he career with Price Waterhouse.
