I have been teaching, researching and writing about aspects of public communication since the mid-1970s. Before academic life, I had several years in the Communications branch of the Navy, leaving to work briefly in journalism before becoming a mature student, first at Ruskin College, Oxford and then at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Most of my academic career was spent at the University of Liverpool, finally as a Professor and Head of the School of Politics and Communication Studies. On retirement, I became Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds. I have authored or co-authored 9 books, edited or co-edited 8 others and written over 150 articles or chapters in books or journals. I have given papers at conferences across Europe, Australia and the United States. From 1989 until 2023 I was an editor of the journal Media, Culture and Society. For more information, see the documents on this site and my Author page on Amazon for book details. Email Contact: Corner494@btinternet.com
My recent articles are:
2024 ‘The Narrative Turn revisited’: A brief note on political storytelling’, Media Theory 8.2. Free access at
The ‘Narrative Turn’ Revisited: A Brief Note on Political Storytelling | Media Theory
2024 ‘Media Research and Proposals for Media Reform’, Media, Culture and Society 46.2 436-443 Download PDF
2023 with Dick Pels, ‘Media and the Restyling of Politics 20 Years On’, in J. Harsin (ed.) Rethinking Mediations of Post-Truth Politics and Trust. Routledge: Abingdon and New York. 34-42, Download PDF
2022 Political News and the Celebrity Frame’ in Morrison, J. Birks, J. and Berry, M. (eds) The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. Abingdon and New York. 52-61, Download PDF
- 2021 Figuring Covid: A Note on Media Flows and ‘Statisticality’, Download PDF
- 2019 Origins and Transformations: Histories of Communication Study, Media, Culture and Society. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0163443718820666
- 2019 ‘Aesthetics and Media Inquiry’, open access at mediatheoryjournal.org (within ‘commentaries’)
- 2018 ‘Mediatization, Media Theory’s Word of the Decade’, open access at the ‘blog’ of media theory journal at mediatheoryjournal.org volume 2.2.
- 2017 ‘Reflections on ‘Engagement’. Afterword to section on Media Engagement. Media Industries Journal. 4.1. Spring.
- 2017 ‘After Dark: Channel 4’s Innovation in Television Talk’ (with David Lee) Journal of British Cinema and Television. 14.4 445-463
- 2017 ‘Fake News, Post-Truth and Media-Political Change’ (review article) Media Culture and Society, November issue. (39.7)
- 2016 with Kate Nash) ‘Strategic Impact Documentary: Contexts of Production and Social Intervention’, European Journal of Communication 31.3. 227-242. 2016