Jesus College alumnus, and former President of ABC News, James Goldston (1986, PPE) is returning to College next month to give a talk on the Select Committee hearings into the January 6th attack on the US Capitol
James Goldston was tasked with producing the ten hearings conducted by the Select Committee, which made headlines around the world, and played a key role in the legal processes that are now underway against former President Donald Trump. The implications of the events of January 6 and the hearings that followed are now one of the central themes of this American election cycle. He will be joining us on Wednesday 28th May for Democracy on Trial: January 6 and the 2024 Presidential Election, in which he’ll discuss how the hearings came to happen, and why they remain so central to the future of US politics.
Goldston has established a global reputation as a journalist and innovator in the non-fiction space. He spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as President, overseeing all aspects of America’s number one news division, including #1 rated Good Morning America and World News Tonight with David Muir. He also led ABC News in to the streaming era with a series of successful podcast and documentary projects for Hulu and Disney Plus, including The Dropout, produced by Rebecca Jarvis and her team, which became a successful podcast, documentary and Emmy-award winning scripted series, and John’s Ridley’s Let it Fall documentary on the LA riots, which won a DuPont award. His teams have won five Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence, and numerous other prestigious honors in journalism including duPont, Peabody and Emmy awards.
After leaving ABC News in 2021, Goldston founded Aquitania Films, creating documentary series for the US, UK and global market. Last year he also brought his story-telling acumen to producing the January 6 hearings in Washington DC. His work led The Wrap to name Goldston as one of their Innovators of the Year for 2022. He is now the President of Candle True Stories, making documentaries and factual dramas for audiences around the world.
Tickets for Democracy on Trial: January 6 and the 2024 Presidential Election are free. The event takes place in the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub and starts with drinks at 6pm. The talk begins at 6.30pm.