Charlie Beckett, LSE Is the world really changing rapidly or does it just appear that way? There’s been a dizzying transformation in media and communications over the last ten years and one its biggest effects is to make everything else seem to be spinning fast, too. When a meteorite crashed into Russia injuring 1200 people …Continue Reading

Karen Ross, University of Liverpool On International Women’s Day this year, I was invited to give a talk about my recent research on women in media industries. Nothing unusual about that you may say, that is your expertise and of course, that’s absolutely right. But on this occasion, I was talking about the media’s poor record …Continue Reading

David Lee, University of Leeds What was the ultimate purpose of the Leveson Enquiry? To satisfy a public aghast following revelations about the hacking of Millie Dowler’s mobile phone alongside the more general widespread illegal practices of the red-tops? To sate the desire for revenge by politicians after years of obeisance to the Murdoch press?  Or …Continue Reading

Tim Gopsill, Free Press At one of the innumerable gatherings in London on this Leveson business I met a journalist friend I hold in some respect. “Which way do you swing on this?” I asked. “Against you, I am afraid,” she replied. (Clue: I was handing out copies of Free Press, the Campaign for Press Freedom …Continue Reading

Justin Schlosberg, Birkbeck, University of London As we reflect on the post-Leveson political furore, it is worth recalling Stuart Hall’s maxim that it is the way in which public problems are defined – rather than their proposed solutions – which exemplifies the exercise of real power in advanced capitalist democracies.  The overwhelming spotlight shone by …Continue Reading

Stuart Allan, Bournemouth University Science journalism is often fraught with tensions, particularly where issues concerning possible risks, threats or hazards come to the fore. ‘Cancer danger of that night-time trip to the toilet’ one Daily Mail headline declared by way of example, the ensuing news story alerting readers to what seemed a particularly insidious health …Continue Reading