Jono Read / Campaigns & speaking

Good ideas deserve to be heard.

From independent campaigns that became national news to presenting practical digital innovation to journalists, I've spent years using communication to bring people together and help ideas travel further.

#SaveBBC3 · 271,886 signatures displayed at the BBC in February 2015

Sky News appearance · 25 March 2010

Conferences · Digital newsroom innovation

01 / Independent campaigns

From social media to national conversations.

Before my work in senior newsroom roles, I built and led digital campaigns around broadcasting, public services and regional communities. Each involved building support, communicating a clear case and working with journalists to bring the issue to a wider audience.

Petition boxes reading 271,886 Save BBC Three outside the BBC, during the February 2015 campaign
17 February 2015 · Outside the BBC with MP John McDonnell during the #SaveBBC3 campaign.
Broadcasting / 2014–2016

#SaveBBC3

271,886

Signatures shown on petition boxes during the February 2015 handover.

I led the digital activity for the national campaign opposing the move of BBC Three to online-only broadcasting, from the petition and supporter communications to social content and media outreach. The campaign attracted public-figure support and widespread coverage over two years.

BBC Three later returned to linear television in 2022, but I don't claim the campaign alone brought about that decision.

Read my original BBC Three analysis ↗
Grassroots campaigning / 2010

Leave Our Cider Alone

I launched an online campaign opposing proposed changes to cider duty, developing its social messaging, bringing supporters together and securing coverage beyond the original online community.

On 25 March 2010, I appeared on Sky News as a cider campaigner. The footage gives a glimpse of how social media campaigns were already finding national audiences.

Watch the Sky News footage ↗
Sky News broadcast screenshot with caption Cider Campaigner Jono Read
Sky News · 25 March 2010. Image supplied for use on this website.
Public services

Act on Ambulances

I led communications and digital activity for a North Norfolk campaign about ambulance provision and emergency response, coordinating supporter updates and media outreach to give a local concern wider visibility.

Regional economy

Keep it Cromer

I coordinated press and digital communications around concerns about jobs connected to Cromer's crab industry, using media coverage and community engagement to draw attention to the issue.

02 / Speaking & innovation

Sharing what works,
and challenging how newsrooms work.

I've presented at local journalism and industry events, including at Facebook's headquarters (now Meta), on social discovery, audience engagement and making innovative tools useful in everyday editorial practice. I also contributed to discussions at Behind Local News, sharing experience of bringing digital audience thinking into regional journalism.

Jono presenting a slide on CrowdTangle as a culture change for local newsrooms
Digital tools as a culture changeSpeaking about how tools such as CrowdTangle could help journalists use social signals, find stories and shape newsroom agendas, rather than simply monitor platforms.
Jono speaking with a microphone on a panel in front of a Behind Local News screen
Behind Local NewsContributing to an industry panel discussion on how local publishers and journalists can develop their approaches to audiences and digital storytelling.

The common thread across my speaking and campaigning has been making digital work practical: understanding communities, using evidence to make better decisions and helping other people feel confident trying something different.