Meet The (BBC) Guy!

As part of the Anglais Monde Contemporain (AMC) specialty programme, our students attended a journalism masterclass led by Guy Hedgecoe, a TV, radio and print journalist who reports on Spain for the BBC, The Irish Times and other media. He has been in Madrid since 2003. Previously he was a correspondent in Ecuador, where he reported for outlets that included the Financial Times and CNN.

The session was offered to several Première groups and to our two Terminale AMC groups, and was linked to the themes "Breaking the news and getting informed", as well as "Living together" and “Global relations”.

Guy Hedgecoe introduced our students to the fundamentals of journalism, explaining what the latter is, how it developed, and the crucial difference between news and opinion in mainstream media. He also highlighted the impact of the internet on journalism and its economic and ethical challenges.

He focused on the importance of informing the public and holding those in power to account, illustrating his points with concrete examples from BBC investigations. Issues such as fake news, fact-checking, credibility, and the pressures faced by journalists today were also discussed.

Drawing on his personal experience as a correspondent in Spain and South America, Guy Hedgecoe shared real-life reporting stories that greatly captured students’ attention. They showed strong interest, asked numerous questions and actively participated.

This masterclass was a valuable and inspiring experience that helped students better understand the role of journalism in today’s societies while strengthening the objectives of the AMC curriculum.

So, thank you very much, Mr. Hedgecoe!