Cultural, Communication and Media Research Group

The cultural, communication and media research group (CCMRG) undertakes research in the conceptual, applied and practice-based aspects of cultural and media studies with a focus on established and new digital media.

Alongside our colleagues in the connected lives, diverse realities research group (CLDRG), based in the School of Health and Society, we contribute to the two core themes of cultural and media research at Salford: digital culture and heritage; and media industries and media systems.

Research in the CCM field at Salford dates back to 2001. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, a quarter of our research was judged to be world leading, with almost two thirds judged as internationally excellent or world leading. On a research power ranking CCM at Salford was ranked 21st in the UK.

Our research foci

Our scholars in the CCMRG have the following specialisms:

• media frameworks; interactive and hybrid media (Prof Insook Choi)
• cognitive, emotional and behavioural consequences of exposure to media messages, with particular focus on the role played by media in affecting  the public’s involvement in politics and citizenship-related issues  (Dr Sharon Coen – School of Health and Society)
• the historical development of UK television performance; television aesthetics  (Dr Richard Hewett)
• the philosophy of virtuality; cultural identity in the socially networked society (Dr David Kreps – Salford Business School)
• radio drama, audio, podcast, adaptation (Dr Leslie McMurtry)
• new media technologies and systems: drones, social media, esports (Prof Andy Miah – School of Science, Engineering and Environment)
• history of journalism; cultural history of public urban green spaces  (Dr Carole O’Reilly)
• European and global media policy; Internet governance; public service media (Prof Seamus Simpson)
• media industries and their popular narratives (Dr Anthony Smith)

Recent books by CCMRG scholars

Richard Hewett (2017) The  Changing Spaces of Television Acting: from Studio Realism to Location Realism in BBC  Television Drama, Manchester: Manchester University Press

David Kreps (2018) Against Nature – the Metaphysics of Information Systems, London: Routledge.

Andy Miah (2017) Sport 2.0: Transforming Sports for a Digital World, Cambridge MA. : MIT Press.

Andy Miah (2020) Drones: the Brilliant, the Bad and the Beautiful. : Bingley: Society Now, Emerald.

Leslie McMurtry (2019) Revolution in the Echo Chamber: Audio Drama’s Past, Present and Future. Bristol: Intellect.

Carole O’Reilly (2019) Greening the City: Urban Parks and Public Leisure 1840 – 1940. London and New York: Routledge. 

Peter Humphreys and Seamus Simpson (2018) Regulation, Governance and Convergence in the Media, Cheltenham and Hershey PA: Edward Elgar.

Alison Harcourt, George Christou and Seamus Simpson (2020) Global Standard Setting in Internet Governance, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anthony Smith (2018) Storytelling Industries: Narrative Production in the 21st Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Some examples of our recent externally funded research

International Professional Fora: A study of Civil Society Organisation Participation in Internet Governance

Between 2015 and 2018 Seamus Simpson (Professor of Media Policy) undertook a three year ESRC funded research project on civil society participation in Internet governance. This was a collaborative project with Alison Harcourt (Project PI, Politics, University of Exeter) and George Christou (Project Co-I, Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick). The project asked: does civil society participation in self-regulatory fora promote public interest goals in internet governance at the international level? The project lifted the lid on Internet governance at the international level and produced insights into a world which, although highly technical, very much affects the way in which citizens live and work on a daily basis.  

Project Duration: September 2015-September 2018

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Project Value: £470,000

Project website: http://internetpolicystreams.com

Understanding Digital Events : A philosophical and sociological study of virtual experience in the everyday.

Dr David Kreps

British Academy Mid Career Fellowship 2018

In August 2017, David Kreps  was awarded a British Academy Fellowship to undertake a research project which introduced an events-based approach to understanding digital experience. Focusing on the event-ontologies of Bergson and Whitehead’s process metaphysics, it explored subjective experience and objective reality as unified ‘events’ in the form of concrete slabs of existence. Such slabs are temporally defined by a term or period, in which all physical-chemical processes and personal subjective experience are included. Bringing together insights from a range of different specialisms, the research urges us to consider a science of nature that includes both physical and non-physical realities and, from this ontological position, draws on philosophy, media, and user experience practice to provide a new account of the technological or virtual world of today. An examination of the manner in which process philosophy may be applied to contemporary digital experience, the publications from this project addresses academic enquiry in philosophy, science and technology studies and information systems. 

The funded project ran between 1st January and 31st December 2018. 

Project website: https://concrescence.org.uk

Our PhD research student community

The CCM research group is interested in receiving high quality proposals for MPhil and doctoral research projects addressing the conceptual, applied and practice-based aspects of culture, media and communications, in their traditional and/or new forms. See our latest PhD studentship opportunities.

Some of our recently supervised and current research degree topics are as follows:

• Online role play gaming, culture and resistance (Lee McDougall)
• Development communication in Ghanaian education projects (Francis Gbadago)
• Between friends and fans. Interpreting PR communication on Facebook : a focus on the written word (Ben Gust)
• Reinventing the rattling tin: explaining the dynamics of social networking site fundraising (Evie Lucas)
• Distribution and exhibition of documentaries in Columbia (Carolina Patino)
• Cyberactivism in a non-democratic context: social campaigning in Saudi Arabia (Abdullah Abalkhail)
• Public relations programs and diplomacy (Khalid Abdalla)
• The space building function of news content of television channels of the Middle East (Safiya Alabdalkarim)
• Professional obstacles of local press coverage (Ali Almania)
• An explorative study on the impacts of new media on Saudi women (Abdalhadi Almfleah)
• A framing and sentiment analysis of the representation of Saudi women in the British press from 2005-2013 (Nahid Bashatah)
• The role of psychological discourse (Lesley Blaker)
• Journalists in violent conflicts in Jos, Nigeria (Godfrey Danaan)
• Media and ethno-religious conflict in Plateau State, Nigeria (Andrew Danjuma Dewan)
• Mass media and female empowerment in Nigeria (Esa Ella)
• Robin Ellis  How can installation be employed as a technique? (Robin Ellis)
• Made for TV monsters: the style, spectacle and production of TV horror (Stella Gaynor)
• Twitter and citizen journalism in Saudi Arabian media (Aljawhara Almutarie)
• Public relations and peace negotiations in the Niger Delta (Harvey Igben)
• Credibility of news: a comparative study of the credibility of TV news, newspaper news and internet news (Abdullah Maqbul)
• The role of Facebook and Twitter in generating social and political change during the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt (Mohammad Mesawa)
• Wind vision: towards a ‘cinemeteorology’ (Dalia Neis)
• The exploration of existing ways and origination of new methods to effectively present history for a young audience (Tanya Nelson)
• Media framing and audience perception of conflict (Taye Obateru)
• An exploratory study of new media adoption for participatory programming in SW Nigeria’s radio stations (Olawale Oni)
• Between narrative/semiotic structure and the moving body (Pavel Prokopic)
• Democratisation of media through online social media and its impact on democractic political institutions in India (MPhil) (Richa Yadav)
• Media use by civil society land rights organisations in Malaysia (Pao Sium Yap)
• The significance of news website commenting in Nigerian media (Ade Apejoye)

AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship Competition for 2021-22 entry

Call for Expressions of Interest and Applications in Media and Cultural Studies  

North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship Competition for 2021-22 Entry 

We  invite  expressions of interest and applications, to the Media and Cultural Studies Pathway, for +2/+3 full and part-time PhD studentships as part of the AHRC’s North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership studentship competition. 

The studentship covers PhD fees, provides an annual stipend for the duration of your study (currently set at £15,283 and subject to review), and access to additional funding for field research and further training. 

The University of Salford is a member of the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP), which includes non-HE institutions such as the BBC, Home/Cornerhouse, Tate Liverpool, Opera North, FutureEverything, and FACT (Liverpool).  

The School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology at the University of Salford has an international reputation for research, both theoretical and practice-based. The Cultural, Communication and Media research group at Salford undertakes research in the conceptual, applied and practice-based aspects of cultural and media studies and traditional and new digital media. CCM research has been established formally at the University of Salford since 2001. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, a quarter of CCM research was judged to be world leading, with almost two thirds judged as internationally excellent or world leading. 

Our media and cultural studies research environment is based at the heart of MediaCityUK, allowing for unique access to  – and engagement with  – media institutions like the BBC and ITV, reinforced by a rich programme of research events with both an industry and academic focus. 

Areas of expertise of our academic staff include: Journalism studies; Media theory; Digital culture; Social media; Internet regulation and governance; Television studies; Media politics; Transnational media; Urban cultures; Creative industries; Popular culture; Cultural theory; Media policy.  

How to Apply: 

Prospective applicants who are interested in applying ­ and eligible for funding ­ should get in touch with us with an expression of interest by Friday 11 December 2020.  Please contact the CCM Media and Cultural Studies Pathway Representative at Salford: 

Dr Carole O’Reilly (C.OReilly@salford.ac.uk)  

We would expect you to have a very good first degree, and a completed or current MA, or equivalent professional experience. 

Following that, it will be necessary to complete a formal application for PhD study at the University of Salford by Friday 15 January 2021  

and ultimately an application to the Northwest Consortium by Friday 5 February 2021 

For further information including an application form and guidance notes, please see the NWC DTP site:   

 If you have further queries about the research specialisms in media and cultural studies in the School of Arts and Media, and the potential for working with our non-HE partners, please contact  our CCM Research Group Lead, Professor Seamus Simpson (s.simpson@salford.ac.uk).  

If you have any questions regarding the formal application procedure please contact  PGR-SupportSAM@salford.ac.uk 

CCM research seminars

CCMRG has a long established research seminar programme involving invited talks in a wide range of topics from external speakers. Our programme over the last two years has comprised…..

CCM Research Seminar programme 2019-20

30 October (Mediacity 2.20) 15.30-16.30

“I love you Brother”: Suicide and the radio phone-in

Kathryn McDonald (Bournemouth University)   

20 November (Mediacity 2.20) 15.30-16.30

Recent Books by Salford CCM Scholars:

Leslie McMurtry (2019) Revolution in the Echo Chamber – Audio Drama’s Past, Present and Future. Bristol, Intellect

Carole O’Reilly (2019) The Greening of the City, London: Routledge.

11 December (Mediacity, 03) 15.30-16.30

Is Critique Compatible with Utopia as a Vision of the Future?

Graeme Kirkpatrick (University of Manchester)

5 February (Mediacity 2.19) 15.30-16.30

‘Cybersecurity: The Challenges of Governing Cyberspace’

George Christou (Professor of European Politics and Security, University of Warwick)

11 March Mediacity 2.19

Research in Digital Cultural Heritage at Salford: the Digital Curation Lab

Toni Sant (Director, Digital Curation Lab, University of Salford)

CCM Research Seminar Programme 2018-19

10 and 11 October 

Arts and Humanities Research Council North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership 2018 Conference: ‘Human Technologies, Digital Humanities’

Venue: MediacityUK (various rooms).

7 November

Let’s Stay Together: Going to Church with the Reverend Al Green

Mark Duffett (University of Chester)

14  November (15.30-17.30)

Recent Books from Salford CCM scholars

This week’s extended seminar will comprise a series of short presentations and discussions on research monographs and edited collections produced by CCM researchers at Salford since 2017.

21 November

REF2021. You, Your Research and the REF

Chris Frost (Liverpool John Moores University)

5 December

Transmedia Branding at the “world’s longest-running magazine based on a television series”: Doctor Who Magazine, the “double-time” of Journalist-Fans, and Intra-Franchise Fandom  

Matt Hills (University of Huddersfield)

30 January  (MediacityUK, 3.02)

When ‘I’ becomes ‘we’: Exploring the impacts of social identity in digital gaming

Linda K. Kaye (Edge Hill University)

6 February  (MediacityUK 3.11)

 Making Social Television & Making Television Social: Media convergence in UK TV & Social Media Industries

James Bennett (Royal Holloway, University of London)

13 February  (3.02 Mediacity)

False Impressions: Photography, Freak Shows, and the Bounds of Feasibility

Treena Warren (University of Sussex)

27 February (3.02 MedicityUK)

Transmediality, Materiality and Paratextual-Spatio-Play in the Fan-Tourist Experience

Rebecca Williams (University of South Wales, Cardiff)

6 March (2.20 MediacityUK)

Device or Digital Companion? The expanding role of smartphones in our lives.

Jens Binder (Nottingham Trent University)