Luckhurst tries his hand at academe

ONE of the country’s top commentators is off to academe.

Tim Luckhurst is taking up the post of Professor of Journalism and the News Industry at the University of Kent.

He’ll head up a new department and set the course for undergraduates joining in the autumn of next year.

He’s known for penning columns in The Scottish Daily Mail, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, Sunday Times Scotland, The Times, The Toronto Globe and Mail and others.

It’s a return to academia, in June: it’s over 20 years since he quit his PhD to work for the Labour Party in Westminster.

After a stint working for Donald Dewar, he joined the BBC and came north in the mid-1990s. At career at the BBC came to an abrupt halt, but he was soon picked up by The Scotsman, and briefly edited the paper.