Caspar Melville is editor of the New Humanist magazine. He was Executive Editor and co-editor of the Media & the Net theme on openDemocracy. He began his career as a music journalist, writing for specialist publications like Blues & Soul and Touch magazine. During a six year stint in San Francisco he helped found the magazine On The One. He is completing a PhD on London black music cultures at Goldsmiths College where he is also a part time lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies.

Recent articles

Why “multiculturalism”? Why now? The British Council’s Martin Rose and openDemocracy’s Caspar Melville introduce a debate whose global character and focus on human experience connect it to the world’s conflicting passions.

The broadcasting schedules of global media have little space for Africa, still less for Africans who want to tell their own stories. Sorious Samura, the Sierra Leonean journalist, has forced the river to flow upstream in a series of remarkable films. As his latest, “Surviving Hunger”, is shown worldwide, openDemocracy's media editor Caspar Melville profiles him.

London’s Notting Hill Carnival has come a long way since the 1950s. Caspar Melville charts the history of the music, the traditions and, crucially, the conflict that has made the event a vital part of British multiculture.

Stroll, swagger and boogie (red stripe can in hand) through the streets of West London and the highlights of Europe’s biggest street festival.

By the logic of New Labour “Absolutely Fabulous” promotes drunkenness and child abuse, and “Fawlty Towers” is offensive to Britain’s hoteliers.