James Deane

James Deane is Head of Policy of the BBC World Service Trust, where he manages a five-year DFID funded Policy and Research Program on the role of Media and Communication in Development that focuses principally on media and democracy in fragile states. Before joining the Trust in 2007, he was Managing Director of the Communication for Social Change Consortium, a New York based organization set up by the Rockefeller Foundation. He is also a founding member and former executive director of the Panos Institute, London, which works globally with the media to inform and stimulate public debate on development issues. In that capacity, he was heavily involved in establishing independent, regional Panos Institutes in Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and South Asia. He has provided formal strategic advice and consultancies to DFID, the EC, Sida, Norad, Danida, Swiss Development Cooperation, The World Bank, WHO and several United Nations agencies, mostly related to communication and media in development. He has a Masters degree (distinction) in international communication and development. He has written numerous papers and publications on media, information and communication technologies.

The BBC World Service Trust works in more than thirty countries to support media and improve access to information to people living in poverty.