NatCen Brings in BBC's Mark Easton to Boost BSA Impact

The UK's National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has appointed Mark Easton, former Home Editor for BBC News, as a Senior Fellow. Easton's remit is to promote engagement with the Centre's flagship British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, which has been conducted annually since 1983.

NatCen is a registered charity and the largest independent social research organisation in the UK, working for and partnering with governments, NGOs, charities and others to investigate topics from climate change to health via crime, education, employment, travel, social attitudes and families. Its work includes one-off projects and complex, multi-year social surveys.

The BSA is the longest-running measure of public opinion in Britain, providing data on a range of social and political issues and focused around attitudes to living in Britain and to the way it is governed and run. Reporting includes time series and trend data for the four decades since the survey's introduction.

Easton is a journalist, broadcaster and author, and in his twenty plus years at the BBC led coverage of major UK stories across television, radio and online, helping to shape national awareness and understanding of key social and political issues. Prior to joining the Corporation he was Political Editor for Five News and then Home and Social Affairs Editor for Channel 4 News. In the 1980s he spent four years at London radio station LBC.

NatCen CEO Michael Davis says of the appointment: 'We're delighted to welcome Mark to NatCen. We look forward to drawing on his extensive experience in journalism and public affairs to enhance the impact of the British Social Attitudes survey. Mark's deep understanding of the British public will help ensure our findings continue to inform and engage policymakers, journalists and the public alike.' Easton himself says he is 'excited to help ensure the story of changing Britain is heard loudly and clearly.'

Web site: www.natcen.ac.uk .