Professor Greg Philo

The Executive Committee of MeCCSA was sad to hear of the death in May of Greg Philo, one of the key founding figures in UK media research, and until his retirement in 2021, Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Glasgow and Director of the Glasgow University Media Group, as he had been for over 40 years.

The Glasgow University Media Group was formed in 1974, and Greg was co-author of its first book, Bad News, and many subsequent publications.

In later years he was involved in analysis of UK media coverage in many areas, including mental health, Israel, the Developing World, health crises, anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, refugees, criminal justice policy, trade unions, and climate change. Always aware of the cultural force and political potency of media portrayals, he was an energetic and influential critical researcher across a range of communications fields.

Greg’s work, and that of the GUMG that he led for more than 40 years, had an important and foundational impact on the development and critical edge of media studies in this country.

May 2024