James Harding

James Harding

• Former Director of BBC News and co-founder of Tortoise Media
• The youngest person ever to assume the post of editor of The Times Newspaper
• Author of “Alpha Dogs- The Americans Who Turned Political Spin Into A Global Business“
• Conference speaker focusing on the future of finance and journalism in general

Conference speaker James Harding is a British journalist and former Director of BBC News. He is the co-founder of Tortoise Media, a slow news venture.

After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, with a first-class degree in History, James Harding went on to learn Japanese and work as a speechwriter in the office of Japan’s chief cabinet secretary at the time. He went on to work in the Japanese unit of the European Commission from 1993 – 1994.

His career in journalism started in 1994 when he joined the Financial Times as a corporate reporter. The three years from 1996 – 1999, however, saw him a correspondent in China and saw him open the Shanghai bureau for the Financial Times. This was the first European newspaper to open an office in the area since the Chinese revolution of 1949. James Harding was appointed Washington bureau chief three years later. In 2007, he was appointed as editor of The Times newspaper. He was the youngest person to ever assume this position.

James Harding joined the BBC in 2013, taking on the role as the new head of BBC news. He left the newscaster in 2018 and co-founded a new venture, Tortoise Media, a slow media company.

The author of “Alpha Dogs- The Americans Who Turned Political Spin Into A Global Business”, James Harding has written for various magazines and journals. Amongst these are included The New Republic, The Economist, Slate, and The Washington Post. Besides BBC, he has also appeared on numerous international and national television and radio networks. Amongst these are CNN, Fox, and The McLaughlin Group.

His mentorship to two secondary school children in South London led to his involvement in the formation of justdosomething.net in conjunction with a Common Purpose civic action group. The idea was to present an online service that is dedicated to enabling UK citizens to participate in public service and links professionals and with non-executive positions in prisons, schools, hospitals, and charities.

James Harding – Speaker

As a sought after conference speaker, James Harding is a man who has reached the summit of his profession and is able to talk about various aspects of the future of finance, life as a journalist, and many more.

James Harding lives in the UK and is fluent in English, Japanese, German, and French.

Speaking Topics

• Finance & Futurism
• Washington Bureau Chief
• Journalism & Broadcasting
• The Financial Times