THE STATE OF US PODCAST: Court Podcasts Cross-Examined

TIME & LOCATION

Tuesday 10 November, 11:00 am

End Time: 12:30 pm

Studio Theatre

About

The BBC News NI podcast The State of Us is live from the Belfast Media Festival for the second year to explore the impact and ethics of courtroom podcasts.

This year, The State of Us became essential listening for audiences following the Noah Donohoe Inquest and the Jeffrey and Eleanor Donaldson sex abuse trial. In these series, the audience was brought into the heart of the courtroom through detailed daily coverage of the evidence.

But what impact does that have on victims and their families? On open justice? And on the public’s appetite for true crime stories?

Join Tara Mills and Declan Harvey with special guests to discuss podcasting from court.

In 2026, The State of Us podcast was shortlisted by the British Podcast Awards and expanded its audience by establishing a TV and YouTube presence.

Chair

SPONSOR

Panel

Tara Mills

Senior lead presenter, BBC Northern Ireland

Tara Mills presents BBC Northern Ireland’s flagship television news programme BBC Newsline. She is also a podcast host, radio presenter and documentary maker. Her recent BBCNI Spotlight film ‘I Am Not Okay’ followed the lives of four autistic boys and their parents. It won several UK and Irish journalism and broadcasting awards. She also presents BBCNI’s election coverage and has a special interest in mental health and learning disability. She reported live for BBC Newsline from the Shankill Road area and the Falls on the day the IRA decommissioned. The programme went on to win an Irish Film and Television award. Tara has reported extensively for the BBC for almost 30 years and fronted a wide range of documentaries including Teens On The Edge, Spend It Like Stormont and ‘Tara Mills, Life After Loss'.

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Declan Harvey

Senior lead presenter, BBC Northern Ireland

Declan Harvey is co-presenter of the BBC’s flagship news programme in Northern Ireland, BBC Newsline. A multi award-winning broadcaster and journalist, he also fronted Radio Ulster’s drivetime news programme, Evening Extra, for four years before this year moving with Tara Mills to launch the BBC NI news podcast The State of Us. For several years Declan worked for BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat and has presented live programmes and documentaries on the BBC World Service, Radio 4 and BBC Sounds including Generation Right, Year ’21 and Did a Serial Killer Murder My Sister? Earlier this year he presented the series Banned at the BBC which has be recommissioned for Christmas 2025. His career began as a reporter in commercial radio at LBC, Capital FM and Classic FM for Global.