Journalism and Media

Introduction

Research in Journalism and Media at Huddersfield incorporates distinctive and innovative journalistic practice with traditional film and media studies and a growing interest in the theory and practice of oral history.  Key themes addressed include the intelligence community, gender and film, media policy, ethnicity and the oral history of sport, especially football, cricket and rugby league.

Staff have published a number of books which operate at the inter-face between academic and journalistic writing, including acclaimed works on Oswald Mosley, the Profumo affair, pirate radio in the 1960s and various aspects of Liverpool Football Club. These are complimented by monographs, collections and articles in books and journals focusing on women in British cinema, British and European media policy and political communication. A number of staff members are pursuing research towards doctorates exploring practical elements of broadcasting, audience reception and heritage and Brazilian railway culture.

The group has an expanding graduate research culture with recently launched MA programmes in Oral History and Digital Journalism (commencing in January 2009) along with research students in sports’ history, film and media studies. These developments build on the growth of the Centre for Oral History Research, directed by Stephen Dorril, which has secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the MLA and the University of Huddersfield to explore topics ranging from the history of rugby league, through the experience of the first Asian settlers in mid twentieth century Kirklees to recent support for a project investigating the meaning of the two minute silence.

Journalism and Media research staff can point to many indicators of national and international esteem including papers at major conferences in the United States and Canada, close involvement in the activities of the British International Studies Association, and invitations to address seminars at Reading and St Andrews Universities. Stephen Kelly’s novel Mr Shankly’s Photograph was nominated for the William Hill Sports’ Book of the Year Award on its publication and has now been developed as a play which featured as part of Liverpool’s European City of Culture programme. Staff are involved in reviewing for publishers, journals and research councils, including the ESRC and are in demand with the print and broadcast media, featuring in a range of programmes focusing on intelligence agencies, football and British art and culture.