Anthony Smith (producer) facts for kids
Anthony David Smith (born 14 March 1938 – died 28 November 2021) was a smart British man who worked in television, wrote many books, and taught at a famous university. He was even the head of Magdalen College at Oxford University from 1988 to 2005. He received a special award called the CBE for his important work.
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Anthony Smith's Life and Work
Anthony Smith was born in 1938. He went to school in Harrow, England, and then studied English at Brasenose College at Oxford University.
Starting in Television
In the 1960s, Anthony started his career at the BBC, which is a big British TV and radio company. He produced "current affairs" shows, which are programs about important news and events happening at the time. He even became in charge of the nightly news show called Twenty-Four Hours.
Working with Media and Film
In the early 1970s, he became a researcher at St Antony's College, Oxford. He helped with important groups that looked at how TV and newspapers worked in the UK. For example, he worked for the Annan Committee, which helped create Channel 4, a new TV channel in the UK. He was even on the board of directors for Channel 4 for a few years. He also did research for the McGregor Commission, which studied the press (newspapers and magazines).
From 1979 to 1988, Anthony was the director of the British Film Institute. This organization helps promote and preserve films. He was also involved in creating the Museum of the Moving Image in London, which was a museum all about movies and TV.
Leading a College
In 1988, Anthony Smith became the President of Magdalen College at Oxford University. This is a very important leadership role, like being the head of a school. He stayed in this position until he retired in 2005.
Awards and Helping Others
Anthony received the CBE award in 1987. This is a high honor given to people who have made a big positive difference in the UK. He also received an honorary degree from Oxford Brookes University in 1997.
He spent many years helping different organizations. He was part of the Arts Council of Great Britain, which supports arts and culture. He also worked with the Writers & Scholars Educational Trust, which publishes Index on Censorship, a magazine that talks about freedom of speech around the world.
Anthony also helped people who were hurt by landmines through the Cambodia Trust. He was also the chairman of the Jan Hus Educational Foundation. This group helped smart people and teachers in Czechia and Slovakia during a time of big political change called the Velvet Revolution in 1989.
He was a supporter of the London Film School and helped with other groups like the British Institute of Florence and the Medical Research Foundation. He also led foundations that gave scholarships to Russian students to study at Oxford University and helped Russian universities get English books.
Anthony Smith passed away on 28 November 2021, at the age of 83.
Anthony Smith's Books
Anthony Smith wrote many books about broadcasting, newspapers, and how information is shared in the modern world. Here are some of his books:
- (editor) British Broadcasting (1974), ISBN: 978-0-7153-6326-3
- (editor) The British Press Since the War (1974) ISBN: 978-0-7153-6573-1
- The Shadow in the Cave: a Study of the Relationship Between the Broadcaster, his Audience and the State (1976) ISBN: 978-0-04-791029-6
- The Politics of Information: Problems of Policy in Modern Media (1978) ISBN: 978-0-333-23610-9
- The Newspaper: an International History (1979) ISBN: 978-0-500-27286-2
- Goodbye Gutenberg: the Newspaper Revolution of the 1980s (1980) ISBN: 978-0-19-502709-9
- The Geopolitics of Information: How Western Culture Dominates the World (1980) ISBN: 978-0-19-520208-3
- Books to Bytes: Knowledge and Information in the Postmodern Era (1993) ISBN: 978-0-85170-402-9
- Software for the Self: Technology and Culture (1996) ISBN: 978-0-19-503900-9
- (editor with Richard Paterson) Television : an International History (1998) ISBN: 978-0-19-815928-5
