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Professor Julian Petley's research into media policy, regulation and censorship has impacted on public policy debate through a number of invitations to give evidence to the Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions, the Press Complaints Commission's Governance Review, the Crown Prosecution Service's consultation on prosecutions involving communications sent via social media, and, most recently, the Leveson Inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press. He was also a member of a small group of academics consulted by Dr Tanya Byron when compiling her report Safer Children in a Digital World.
The last 10 years leading up to the Leveson Inquiry have been a significant period for journalism. Research at LJMU has concentrated on standards, the effectiveness of media regulators and dealings between reporters and their sources. This work has demonstrated the weaknesses in press regulation that underpin poor standards of press journalism (evidence given to Leveson). This research has directly influenced policy makers, campaigners, and the regulators in their examination of how reporters work. This includes a fuller understanding of the expectations of both reporters and sources in reporting bereavement that is of relevance to all working in victim support.
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.