Organisers of the Celtic Media Festival have today (Wednesday 6th February) unveiled the first details of the 2013 festival programme, with the announcement that News International’s Director of Communications (and former Communications Director for Boris Johnson) Guto Harri will speak about his career in media and shaping media at this year’s festival. Harri is the first name to be confirmed for the 34th edition of the annual event, which is set to attract some the biggest names in the broadcasting and film world to Swansea over 24 – 26 April.

The Cardiff-born Welsh speaker will return to his home country to speak about his distinguished media career at the festival, which celebrates the unique languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions on screen and in broadcasting. Harri’s career began at a Welsh-language radio station before he moved to national Welsh-language channel S4C, where he worked on the news programme Newyddion as well as a number of historical documentaries.

He spent 18 years with the BBC, where his assignments included covering the collapse of communism in East Germany and reporting from inside Iraq during the first Gulf War, as well as stints as their chief political correspondent, North America business correspondent and Rome correspondent. He was appointed Communications Director for the Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s administration in 2008, and left his post after Mr Johnson’s successful re-election in May last year to join News International as Director of Communications. In what is sure to be a highlight of the festival, Harri will appear in conversation with Peter Florence – the Director and co-founder of the Hay Festivals – the renowned celebration of arts and literature which is rooted in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye, and which has expanded across the globe.

Further details on the Celtic Media Festival 2013 will be unveiled shortly, with the shortlist for the prestigious Bronze Torc Awards for Excellence set to be revealed later this month. The shortlist will celebrate the very best of film, television, radio and digital media promoting the unique languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions.

Domhnall Caimbeul, Chairman of the Celtic Media Festival, said: “We’re thrilled to announce Guto Harri as our first speaker for the Celtic Media Festival 2013. He is one of the most highly respected figures in the industry and has a long-standing association with Celtic media through his background in Welsh-language broadcasting, and we’re delighted to be bringing him to Swansea for the festival. This year’s festival is already shaping up to be a fantastic event, and we’ll be announcing further details of the programme, as well as the hotly anticipated shortlist for the prestigious Bronze Torc Award for Excellence over the coming months.”

Guto Harri said: “News is a basic human necessity… Like food, drink, clothing and shelter. But it’s changing fast and those in media and those dealing with it have a major challenge. Smaller communities and those communicating through less dominant languages have a greater challenge, but there are opportunities too and I look forward to being in Dylan Thomas’s town exploring how a good story properly told can resonate far afield.”

For more details on the history of the festival, award categories and delegate registration, please visit: www.celticmediafestival.co.uk

Source: Celtic Media Festival