Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

Our research on the way Arab media laws and policies translate into multiple layers of censorship and self-censorship in Arab journalism and media production has informed and influenced international policy debate about Arab media development. It has provided evidence and argument for awareness-raising reports issued by UN agencies and a Euro-Mediterranean intergovernmental body, for the international outreach activities of two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and for planning and evaluation at the government-funded Danish body, International Media Support.

Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

Ben O'Loughlin led and participated in a series of grant-funded collaborative projects that explored the nexus between media and security, provided a foundation for innovations in political communication theory and practice, and impacted upon government, business and media organisations. The iteration of projects and outputs integrated qualitative and quantitative, behavioural and interpretive methodologies, which in turn revealed emergent relationships between policy, media and publics in global, multilingual media ecologies. O'Loughlin's collaborations with Linguamatics Ltd, the BBC World Service and the House of Lords have led the application of these new methodologies and created policy debate on the ethics of their use.

Summary of the impact

The research:

• Has considerably enhanced understanding of the forces at play in a society coming out of conflict;
• Has especially enhanced understanding of the role that the media, both in their formal structures and in their more diverse forms, have played and can play in promoting reconciliation and understanding;
• Has devised means and strategies to include previously excluded communities in the process of reconciliation;
• Has helped communities deeply affected by the conflict to tell their own stories and to share their own experiences of trauma, loss and reconciliation through use of the media;
• Has had an impact on post-conflict research internationally and has influenced approaches in other conflict cultures.

Summary of the impact

University of Glasgow research into public relations, sport and journalism has directly shaped the professional development programme run by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration at the University of Lausanne. The Diploma in Football Management is aimed at managers working in the 54 member nation football associations across Europe. The research underpins the Public Relations and Media Operations module delivered through this blended e-learning programme that helps participants enhance and increase their knowledge of the organisational management of public and media relations in the football industry.

Summary of the impact

Dr Olga Bailey's research examines the importance of the media in understanding processes of migration and the formation of diasporic identities and cultural practices. Her research had a direct impact on the development of a community interest company, the African Women's Empowerment Forum (AWEF), and therefore supported the empowerment of female asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Bailey's research findings were used as the basis for strategies to create networks, to give refugee and migrant women a voice, and to communicate their ideas and interests in the public sphere.

Summary of the impact

Memory of Fire, the 2008 Brighton Photo Biennial, shown across nine venues, had public impact, as measured by audience figures, audience comment on the website and in gallery comment books, attendance at public events and in education programmes, and the analyses of the event in an independent audit and Audience & Visitor Evaluation Report. Its longer term impact derives from the stimulation of discourse about the role of imagery in the conduct of war, over a period in which the UK has continually been at war, and in which the media's treatment of war has been of pressing public concern.