MeCCSA is pleased to announce that it has now been approved as an accredited society by the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS). While this does not have an impact on the day to day running of our organisation, it does have a number of benefits for our members, as follows:

1.  MeCCSA will ensure nominations from a broad cross-section of the field and our membership by inviting nominations directly from our members. We will inform members of the deadline dates for nomination of potential AcSS Fellows and advise that if they wish their nomination to be supported by MeCCSA it should be submitted to the MeCCSA Chair two months ahead of the deadline.
2.      The draft nomination should be in a form and contain all relevant information as set out by the AcSS on its website (https://acss.org.uk/our-fellows/nominate-a-fellow/guidance-on-making-nominations-for-fellowship/). Applicants will be advised to read the full Guidance Notes provided on the AcSS website before drafting their application.
3.      The Executive Committee will invite input from an existing AcSS Fellow from the Media, Communications, and Cultural Studies field in the event that there are no AcSS Fellows on the committee at the time (currently there are three, Einar Thorsen, Peter Golding, and Karen Boyle).
4.       The nomination would be considered by the MeCCSA Executive Committee and assessed against the criteria for Fellowship required by the Academy, including “evidence of the nominee’s contribution to wider social science and the ways in which this has been distinguished and significant.” In addition the Executive will consider the advantages to the field we represent accruing from the nominee’s support.
5.      The nominee would be advised of the Executive Committee’s decision, and if the nomination is not to be supported the nominee would be advised that they might still go ahead with Fellow to Fellow nomination if they so choose.
6.      The nomination would be submitted by the Academy deadline by MeCCSA, using the ‘Nominations for Fellow by Accredited Learned Society’ form.

The British Academy has published a new report on the importance and impact of media, screen, journalism and communication studies in British higher education.

It includes student and staff trends, as well as review of research capacity, funding, and impact. It provides useful context against SHAPE disciplines and sector trends in general.