Paul Stillman

 

Along with other doctors in the 1990’s I found myself agreeing to present a weekly medical programme on my local independent radio station. There had been a huge increase in the licences granted to radio, and part of the conditions included a proportion of social services broadcasting. In my case I was expected to choose and research my subjects, aided only by a battered old TV in the news room tuned permanently to teletext and a scattering of tabloid newspapers, assuming I arrived early enough.

 

The need for training and up to date information was clear, and a few of us started meeting in a pub off Regent’s Street close to the BBC, probably in the hope that enlightenment would diffuse our way. It did, not just from the Corporation but the companies, institutions, charities and production houses who could see beyond a dozen or so complaining doctors to the ideals we were slowly defining.

 

And so Media Medics was formed, and has grown. It continues to grow, with more doctors joining alongside other healthcare professionals. Our aims remain, to offer information and opportunities designed to promote accurate and responsible broadcasting in an informative and entertaining style.