Author: Einar Thorsen

Shelley CobbUniversity of Southampton In this moment when key players and activists in the UK film industry appear to agree on the importance and value of fair representation of different social groups on screen, as well as in filmmaking and television production, diversity as an idea and ideal is wearing thin in places and not …Continue Reading

Vincent MøystadTom GreenwoodGoldsmiths, University of London Casualisation of academic staff is one of the key issues of this strike. Casualisation refers to the tendency of academic work to be split up into smaller, part-time jobs on fixed contracts. More and more academic workers face a precarious existence, expected to carry out more work for less …Continue Reading

Abigail RhodesUniversity of Nottingham Throughout 2019 Extinction Rebellion (XR) made UK headlines with their protest repertoires and numerous deliberately disruptive non-violent direct actions (NVDA) with the intention of drawing attention to the climate and ecological emergency. As the general election approached, XR embarked on a series of tactics in an effort to ensure that the …Continue Reading

Des FreedmanGoldsmiths, University of London Democracy requires a free and independent media, especially during elections when there is a particular need fairly to scrutinise parties, politicians and manifestos. This is a far cry from what we have in the UK.  Comprehensive research from the team at Loughborough University shows that, in the first three weeks of the …Continue Reading

Stephen CushionCardiff University It was billed as the Brexit election, but exiting the EU did not dominate the news agenda. According to one study, Brexit made up between 11.0% and 16.2% of all press and TV election news in the first three weeks of the campaign. As with the 2017 campaign, the parties quickly learnt they …Continue Reading

Gurvinder Aujla-SΩidhuDe Montfort University Most of us are aware that UK media regulation stipulates the requirement for due impartiality to ensure news, ‘in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy’ and that election rules come into effect when an election is called, that require broadcasters to give ‘due weight’ to the coverage of political parties …Continue Reading

David DeaconLoughborough UniversityJackie GoodeLoughborough UniversityDavid SmithUniversity of Leicester One remarkable feature of the 2019 General Election so far is the amount of controversy there has been about the mainstream media’s role. It started with the Lib Dem and SNP’s unsuccessful legal challenges to ITV’s decision to exclude them from the first televised leaders’ debate on …Continue Reading

Natalie FentonGoldsmiths, University of LondonChair, Media Reform Coalition Political parties have traditionally steered clear of engaging with issues of media policy in their election manifestoes in order to garner favour with the news media who will be reporting on them in the election campaign period. But with social media now offering alternative platforms for distribution …Continue Reading

Julian McDougallBournemouth University December 2019, University of Birmingham picket line. Billy Bragg is in town so he turns up. Whose Side Are You On? Power in a Union. As he puts it “you don’t have to thank me for coming, it’s my job, I’m Billy Bragg.”  The day after, John McDonnell speaks to party members and …Continue Reading

Einar ThorsenBournemouth University General elections appear to have become a bi-annual tradition, and as is customary this edition of Three-D focusses on election issues of concern to MeCCSA members. We have two features reviewing party manifestoes – Julian McDougall looks at HE policy, whilst Natalie Fenton scrutinises pledges on media reform. We also have a range of …Continue Reading