Three-D Issue 17: HE White Paper and Media Reform

Einar Thorsen
Bournemouth University

In this issue of Three-D, we are for the first time publishing an anonymous article. It is a sad consequence of the belligerent attacks on higher education, and in this instance media studies, that people fear speaking out publicly. The article makes grim reading and is a stark warning to us all of what might happen if we do not stand up against the reckless implementation of vain Government policies, not to mention Universities’ kneejerk reactions to arbitrary NSS scores. Natalie Fenton provides an excellent critique of the Higher Education White Paper, whilst Milly Williamson suggests ways in which we should resist the ‘ideological attack on the purpose of higher education and on the social role of learning’.

Following the phone hacking scandal that led to the News of the World’s closure, our attention is naturally also on media reform. Stephen Coleman offers a call for media scholars to be actively involved in this process. Media Reform UK has taken on the role of coordinating such efforts, and details about policy briefing papers being developed are also in this issue.

Over the summer we completed work on the revamped version of the MeCCSA website. As part of this process, Three-D content will now be dual-published as news posts on the website, in addition to this PDF version. Crucially, we have enabled comments on news items to enable people to respond with greater immediacy directly on the site. Moderation is in place to avoid spamming, but we hope this will foster an additional space for creative and free-flowing dialogue around issues concerning the MeCCSA membership. Following the website relaunch, we have also refreshed the network pages of Three-D with the new logos and visual identities. We hope you enjoy these changes and as alway welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

If you would like to write for or advertise in the next edition of Three-D, please get in touch with me on ethorsen@bmth.ac.uk by the end of January 2012. Suggestions for our website are also welcome.