On the 14th 0f November the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Jane McKeown, a former journalist.

Jane had chosen The Changing Face of Newspapers as her subject and began by informing the members that she would be dealing with the serious topic of freedom of speech where the UK rated as 60th best in the world.

The first instance of a journalist being criticised by Parliament for revealing unpleasant truths was in 1760 when John Wilks of the North Briton revealed that the words of George II were being altered by Parliament.

Jane then gave us a summary of how journalism has changed along with the improvements in communication, the changes in printing technology and the introduction of the world wide web. Jane then detailed the problems to the modern journalist caused by political interference and other difficulties the press is experiencing in simply surviving.

After members had joined in the discussion Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Jane McKeown for a fascinating and intriguing talk and complimented her on her passionate delivery.