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Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original understandings of how social media has triggered change within the practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3 inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and generated new contributions to civil society and the creative community. Impact is demonstrated across 15 organisations where new community media collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (W2 Centre & True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 & #CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000 additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.
Since 2007, Open University (OU) researchers have been examining the BBC World Service (BBCWS) from the perspectives of its diaspora broadcasters in London and its diaspora audiences worldwide. Multilingual migrants have always enabled the BBCWS to broadcast in many languages, creating a cultural bridge to global audiences. Increasingly, BBCWS audiences themselves are diasporic: living outside territorial `homelands'. The research made the BBC aware of its diasporas for the first time. By demonstrating their significance, it led to changes in BBCWS strategy, editorial practices, human resources management and institutional memory. The historic collaboration between the BBC and the OU has acquired new dimensions.
The role of mass media in politics and society has in recent years been a subject of intense public debate, as well as lengthy legal investigation and repeated political intervention. Dr Jason Peacey's research on the earliest modern printed mass media and their relation to government and state at the time of the English Civil War illuminates the origins of the current situation, and has made a notable impact on public understanding, of the historical roots of the media's role in mediating between states and citizens in both the US and UK. This occurred through a major museum exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, as well as a range of public engagement and media activities in Britain.
The impact outlined here derives from research done by Professors Ivor Gaber and Jon Silverman in the related fields of political reporting, justice and democratic accountability through freedom of expression. This work, conducted under the aegis of the Centre for International Media Analysis, Research and Consultancy (CIMARC) at the University of Bedfordshire (UoB), has influenced both the policy environment and professional practice. For example, (in Gaber's case) improving the news coverage of elections in Nigeria, Malawi and Uganda; and (in Silverman's) working towards post-conflict reconciliation in Liberia and Sierra Leone, through an analysis of the media's reporting of war crimes trials.
The three impacts outlined here derive from research by Professors Ivor Gaber and Jon Silverman into the relationship between the media and the formation and development of policy in the fields of child protection, drugs policy and mental health. Gaber and Silverman were members of the Munro Review of Child Protection (2010/11), and their input led to recommendations about the management of media relations during child protection crises. Silverman's research into the media and drugs policy contributed to the final report of the influential UK Drug Policy Commission (October 2012). Gaber was a member of the Independent Inquiry into the Care and Treatment of Michael Stone (2006) and worked with the Mental Health Alliance, both of which played significant roles in the policy debates that led to the reform of the Mental Health Act.
This case study focuses on impact by the Media Policy and Industries Group within the Communications and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), specifically the complementary expertise of Jean Seaton and Steven Barnett. It shows how research on policy and historical issues related to public service broadcasting and journalism in the UK has informed and influenced policy debate and practice in respect of Parliament, the Leveson Inquiry, Ofcom and the BBC. Specifically research-based expert advice has improved the quality of evidence on three House of Lords Select Committee Inquiries (Investigative Journalism; British Film and Television Industries; Ownership of News); evidence and policy-making at the BBC; public and stakeholder understanding of key issues addressed by the Leveson Inquiry; and policy-thinking at Ofcom on local media ownership rules.
University of East London (UEL) research on media policies has contributed to policy submissions made to the UK government, Leveson Inquiry, politicians and regulators, and to supranational organisations such as the European Commission. The research has particularly informed the development of policies adopted by civil society organisations and has influenced regulatory outcomes, policies and policy debates, especially where these relate to product placement, cross- media promotion, and media ownership and pluralism. Proposals on media plurality have informed UK policy debate, particularly via their reference in oral evidence provided by Dr. Jonathan Hardy to the 2013 House of Lords Select Committee on Communications. These policies on media ownership have also influenced Labour Party policy debate and formulation, and have been adopted by the TUC and other organisations.
The European Social Survey (ESS), established in 2001 and located at City University London, is a major multinational social survey involving the participation of 36 countries. It is designed to monitor change and explain the interaction between Europe's changing institutions and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of its diverse populations. The impact of the ESS is extensive nationally and internationally particularly through improving survey methodology and through the subsequent adoption of these standards and practices by other national and international survey programmes. This has led to higher standards of measurement in policy-oriented surveys and commercial survey practice. The ESS was awarded the Descartes Prize for `Excellence in scientific collaborative research' in 2005 in recognition of its world-leading quality. In 2014 the ESS will become the first UK-hosted European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) when it is launched on 31st January at the Royal Society in London by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn of the European Commission Directorate-General (Research and Innovation) and the UK Minister for Universities and Science, the Rt. Hon. David Willetts MP.
Research undertaken at City University London in collaboration with the University of Sussex led to a new methodological approach being developed through interaction with survey researchers within the framework of the European Social Survey (ESS), supported by European funding. The new methodological tool enhances understanding and analysis of media claims by governments and policy-makers. The work undertaken has addressed the need for interpretation of attitude questions across different countries and variations in responses to cross-national studies.
The impact was achieved through 1) the design of new methodologies for the coding of media claims by governments and policy-makers; 2) providing contextual data on media events; 3) the provision of guidance manuals and training across eight European countries for coding and archiving data for media analysis; and 4) the development of a media events framework for the analysis and understanding by policy-makers of `normal' and `exceptional' findings of public opinion surveys.
The impact is based on research challenging conventional approaches to state-media relations in multicultural societies, with particular reference to Russia. The body of research has (a) informed the work of policy makers and NGOs by providing them with a more nuanced view of media-state relations in Russia, and of their implications for international affairs, including the rise of new cold war tensions; (b) made these groups aware of the importance of inter-ethnic and interfaith tensions to Russian media practices, and of parallels with media practices elsewhere; (c) contributed to the enhancement of public comprehension of the complexities of the Russian media environment.
The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield is among a core group of expert organisations helping to shape the work programmes of UN agencies, the Council of Europe and other IGOs, to put in place effective measures to safeguard free and independent media as well as journalists' physical safety against violence and judicial harassment and interference. CFOM research has played a prominent part in consultations leading to the adoption in 2012 of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, the purpose of which is to ensure better protections for the investigative work of journalists worldwide. As a close partner of UNESCO in the implementation of the UN Action Plan (2013-14), CFOM participates actively in monitoring, evaluation and follow-ups, assists the UN and other authorities to uphold international law, and is pioneering work to promote curriculum development relating to these issues.