PressPad

Cofounder – June 2018 – Oct 2020

PressPad is a social enterprise that aims to diversify the media by subsidising one of the main financial obstacles to those trying to enter the profession: the cost of accommodation. We pair young people from across the UK who have an internship in London and other big cities with experienced media professionals who have a spare room for mentorship and hosting – like AirBnB but with great advice thrown in!

Unpaid or poorly paid internships in expensive cities are becoming an inescapable catch-22 for aspiring journalists. PressPad exists to make sure that everyone can afford to enter the industry by providing accessible, affordable and safe accommodation, rewiring currently elitist networks and encouraging media companies to foot the bill so that journalists from all backgrounds can consider a job in the media. Through our grassroots host-mentorship scheme, we aim to motivate the entire journalism community to improve diversity, and in doing so, rebuild trust in the British press.

Why diversity matters



Winners of the Georgina Henry Award for 2018 are @OliviaCrellin and @lauragrb with @PressPadUK a website which links young people wanting to do work experience in the capital with journalists who can offer a spare room. #PressAwards pic.twitter.com/otmiZQNjAY

— Society of Editors UK (@EditorsUK) April 2, 2019

The Politics of “Post”-Truth

Organiser – Oct 2018

The Politics of (Post) Truth conference brought together academics, politicians, media practitioners, and members of the public in two days of collaborative exchange. It aimed to revisit the prevailing understanding of what has popularly been labelled ‘post-truth’ politics. The conference brought together three, closely linked, disciplines – politics, philosophy and journalism – to explore new and shifting perspectives on this topic and establish an interdisciplinary understanding of ‘post-truth’.

Speakers included:

  • Dr Julian Baggini, Philosopher and Author, A Short History of Truth: Consolations for a Post-Truth World
  • James Ball, Journalist
  • Dr Jen Birks, Assistant Professor in Media, University of Nottingham
  • Allie Elwell, Founder, Beyond Brussels Podcast
  • Professor Steve Fuller, Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick
  • Dr Michael Hannon, Deputy Director, Institute of Philosophy, University of London
  • Dr Darren G. Lilleker, Associate Professor in Media Communications, Bournemouth University
  • Professor Chris Rojek, Professor of Sociology, City, University of London
  • Hattie Schofield, Head of Communications, Simple Politics
  • Professor Jane Singer, Professor of Innovation Journalism, City, University of London
  • Professor Mark Wheeler, Professor of Political Communication, London Metropolitan University
  • Professor James Williams, Honorary Professor of Philosophy, Deakin University
  • Peter York, President, The Media Society

Access to Tools Trainer

Delivering a two-hour workshop that looks specifically at tools that can be used for investigations. The Access to Tools programme will see the CIJ lead up to 20 workshops between September 2018 and January 2019, training journalists and citizens in key areas, and showing how digital tools can improve their journalism.

Worldwide Association of Women Writers and Journalists

AMMPE‘s World Congress is coming to London in 2018

I am part of the organising committee in charge of our website, social media presence, and more. Our next Congress is in London on the 6-9 November 2018. Our theme is “Telling the whole story; a complex world needs all its story tellers”. This is a volunteer position where I represent the University of Kent. I am also responsible for our webpage and social media presence.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmAKWXyKqwI[/embedyt]

Interactive video explaining Art 50 ruling

Brexit can be very confusing (even for experts). So in the interest of explaining a complicated legal case regarding who had the constitutional authority to trigger Art 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and formally begin the process of Brexit, I teamed up with another lecturer the University of Kent to create this interactive video. I did all the all the technical production as well as the edit and online assembly. Oh to live in times of Brexit…

CIFA – Convention of Independent Financial Advisors 2017

I was part of a two person crew that covered CIFA’s International Forum 2017 in Monaco. Our job consisted in producing end of the day bulletins wrapping up the main themes of the conference, plus interviewing over 40 attendees. The conference focused on how finance and civil society can work together to address global poverty and development.

Research Associate at Cumberland Lodge

During it’s 70th anniversary, I have been tasked with created multimedia content to celebrate and tell the story of this remarkable place. This was a volunteer position.

A short documentary video about Amy Buller’s groundbreaking 1943 book, ‘Darkness over Germany’, republished in 2017 as ‘Darkness over Germany: A Warning from History’ by Arcadia Books and launched on 16 May 2017 at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. ‘Darkness over Germany: A Warning from History’ provides a timely reminder of how a message of hate once fuelled a nation to unite. It delivers a stark warning from history of how a man with little political experience rose up as a voice of the people, a voice for the disenfranchised who were suffering the injustices of social inequality and unemployment. The hate and support grew until every problem the nation had was the fault of others. Then the nationalism became militarised and the hate led to a devastating war and genocide. All this came from an anger at the failures of politicians and a burning desire for change.

This video also charts the establishment of the educational foundation at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, 70 years ago, as a result of Buller’s book and with the support of the King and Queen, to help ensure that what happened in Germany in the 1930s will never be repeated. It features readings by the actress Tamsin Greig, excerpts from addresses by Dr Rowan Williams and Baroness Butler-Sloss, and interviews with Jane Furniss (Trustee of Cumberland Lodge), Professor Kurt Barling (Professor of Journalism at Middlesex University London, and author of the foreword to the new edition of ‘Darkness over Germany’), Katherine O’Lone (Amy Buller PhD Scholar at Cumberland Lodge) and Canon Vincent Strudwick (an early visitor to Cumberland Lodge in the 1950s, who met Amy Buller in person).

With grateful thanks to Laura Garcia (Research Associate at Cumberland Lodge and Lecturer at the University of Kent) for producing this video.

KMTV

KMTV is a brand new TV channel jointly run by the KM Media Group and theUniversity of Kent. The Centre for Journalism has an international reputation for excellence and has been ranked first in the UK for journalism in the Guardian’s 2015 University Guide. The KM Group operates a network of kmfm radio stations and the UK’s fastest-growing digital regional news network, KentOnline.

My work involves managing our internship programme as well as delivering specialist training skills for our students who work on our special programmes.


Paul on Politics – Kent’s political landscape

Please enable Javascript to watch this video


Chris & Co – All things business in Kent

Assistant News Editor at ITN

I had the incredible privilege of working for one of the major news channels in the UK: ITN’s Channel 5 News. My role as Assistant News Editor is to help shape the programme: anything from finding guests to going out and doing interviews my self. I also dealt with logistics, planning stories, working with cameramen, briefing our presenters on stories and researching longer term features. These are some of the stories that I have worked on and helped arrange.

Son of Yazidi community leader on the fate of the group

A true heroine of WWI – the campaign to recognise the bravery of the nurse who refused to take sides

New advice on where best to deliver your baby

TV star Caroline Aherne reveals she has lung cancer

Correspondent for Mexican/Hispanic TV news

Desde el referendo en el Reino Unido sobre su membresía en la Unión Europea he hecho varias contribuciones en vivo traduciendo y explicando la política y las noticias de Inglaterra el público en México y los Estados Unidos. Mi trabajo requiere que comprenda completamente como se va desenvolviendo el #Brexit y explicarlo en Español para el público de Bloomberg TV / El Financiero, Imagen MX y Estrella TV en Los Ángeles.

The forgotten pygmy tribes of Uganda

As tourism booms for Uganda’s national parks and visitors flock to see the mountain gorillas, many Batwa warn that the price of a thrilling encounter with a gorilla in the wild is not just the $600 dent in a visitor’s pocket, it is also the humanitarian cost to an ancient people, displaced, living in poverty and largely forgotten by the authorities.

Multimedia project with Charlotte Stafford.

Read the whole project here: https://lauragrb.atavist.com/batwafinal

 


 


 

 

Writer for The Student Journals

I have recently joined the ranks at The Student Journals as a film and culture writer. The pieces will start to trickle out and I will list them here as soon as they are published.

Published work:

REVIEW: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

“Ever since his feature length film debut, Rushmore (1998), Wes Anderson’s style has been undeniable. Well before “hipsters” were a “thing”, Anderson’s films were chuck-full of thick rimmed glasses, vintage clothing, very specific colour palettes and impossibly symmetric frames. Don’t believe me? Have a look at this fabulous curated tumblr: Wes Anderson is the Original Hipster. If you look back into his work you would think it all comes from the latest “Urban Outfitters” catalogue, but it is quite the opposite. Anderson was the original hipster before “being a hipster” became mainstream. All you have to do is watch his latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, to see the consummate lens of an experienced filmmaker that has been refining his style for a couple of decades.”

Want to read more? CLICK HERE

Jason Schartzman in Rushmore (1998) being a hipster before it was mainstream.
Jason Schartzman in Rushmore (1998) being a hipster before it was mainstream.

The Eric Whitacre Singers are not your grandmother’s choir (even though I must have been the youngest in the audience by a good 25 years). It is as far from parochial and rigid as music can get without losing respect for notes and harmony. I first heard of Eric Whitacre a couple of years ago when a friend told me about his third virtual choir, “Water Night”. What this American Thomas Thallis scholar had done was bring choral music to the 21st century by crowdsourcing his singers from all over the world. A whole host of different people recorded themselves singing a particular part of “Water Night”, and Eric Whitacre put them all together into a mind-blowing virtual performance. Since then, I have always been an avid Eric Whitacre fan and I was beside myself that I was going to get to see the master himself conduct a 20-strong vocal army for the Newbury Spring Festival.Want to read more? CLICK HERE

MAYA ANGELOU: THE PASSING OF A STORYTELLER, BEGINNING OF A LEGEND

For all the things that have been written (and are still yet to be written) about Maya Angelou’s death at the age of 86, no one can deny that she was born in a very different world from the one which she left behind. There are people in this world that command attention, who echo peace with their mere presence and weave powerful stories borne of life experience and growth. Dr Maya Angelou was definitely one of them.

Want to read more? CLICK HERE

Maya  Angelou

 

Attempting to make a film that even remotely brushes outer space after Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey is a bold move. Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi blockbuster,Interstellar not only tackles space, but life, death, time, and humanity’s place in the Universe.

Interstellar is a completely different creature to his previous films. It is not about superheroes or about mind-bending plots. It has a LOTR-worthy running time of 169 minutes and even Middle Earth would seem small in comparison to the vastness of the universe told through Nolan’s lens.

Want to read more? Click HERE

 

The Sport Feed- London 2012 Coverage

During the London 2012 Olympics I was a writer and gymnastics correspondent for The Sport Feed.

Here are some of the best stories from my collaboration.

“From Ninja Spy To Badminton Hero”

TSF Exclusive_ From Ninja Spy To Badminton Hero

“There’s still a long way to go”

There’s Still A Long Way To Go_ A Gymnast’s Journey To The Olympics

Bella Kinetica (VIDEO)

As seen on national TV, Bella Kinetica enchant, excite and amaze the audience as they hang by their toes, spin by their necks, and skate circles around everyone else.This award winning duo will astound you with their ‘death-defying’ routines, with ‘pace, danger and glamour’.

The wonderful ladies from Bella Kinetica are constantly pushing the boundaries of circus performance, theatre and aerial show tricks. I have had the incredible opportunity of capturing their on-stage magic in still photos and video. Have a look at these series of photos from one of their last shows and enjoy their fresh energy in the video below.

Bella Kinetica from Laura Garcia on Vimeo.

Televisa Deportes Network Radio

Durante el verano del 2012, fuí corresponsal para Televisa Deportes Network antes de las Olimpiadas de Londres.

In the run up to the 2012 summer Olympics I was a radio correspondent for Televisa Deportes Network, a Mexican national radio station.