John Corner

Media Research

Posts and Positions Held

Emeritus Professor, University of Liverpool, Visiting Professor, University of Leeds, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

  • 1958-70 Communications Branch, Royal Navy.
  • 1970-75 Mature Student and Student Teacher.
  • 1975-80: Lecturer, Communication Studies, Polytechnic of Sunderland
  • Lecturer then Senior Lecturer, then Reader, then Professor, Department of Communication Studies, then School of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool.
  • 2008: Emeritus Professor, University of Liverpool.
  • 2008-2023: Visiting Professor, Communication Studies, University of Leeds. 

Research  Grants

As a co-applicant with Dr K. Richardson of the Communications Department, I received funding from the ESRC (£18,000 approx.) for a project on ‘Television Reporting and Nuclear Energy’ during 1988-89. The publications from this are indicated as appropriate below. In December 1994 I received funding (ESRC £35,000) with Dr Richardson and Dr Gavin for research on economic news. This was completed in 1996 and publications from it are indicated. In January 1999 I received funding (ESRC £80,000) with Dr. Richardson and Mr. P. Goddard for research on the history of television current affairs, with specific reference to the series World in Action. I was invited to participate in the European Research Fund, ‘Changing Media, Changing Europe’ project, running for 5 years from 1999. In April 2001 I was awarded, as a co-applicant, £79,000 for a two year research programme into the ‘The Regulatory History of “Due Impartiality” within ITV Current Affairs’. In 2009, I received as a co-applicant (with Dr Kay Richardson) funding from the AHRC for a project (approx £150,000) on aspects of political culture and media genre.

External Posts and Positions

  • 1980-88: Member and then Vice-Chairman of the CNAA Communication and Cultural Studies Panel.
  • 1982-86: Member of the CNAA Social Science Research Sub-Committee.
  • 1983-88: Member of the CNAA Committee for the Humanities.
  • 1988-93: Specialist Advisor to the CNAA (Media Studies).
  • 1988-93: CNAA representative on Joint Advisory Council for the Training of Radio Journalists.
  • 1984-87: Member of the Steering Committee, Northern College Media Studies.
  • 1976-80: Member of the executive, the Media Studies Association.
  • 1982-90: Member of the executive, the Association for Cultural Studies.
  • 1985-90: Member of the committee of Merseyside Media Education group.
  • 1988-90: Member of the D.E.S. North West Working Party on Media Education.
  • 1992: Member of Universities Funding Council Research Selectivity Panel, Library and Communications.
  • 1995: Member of the Steering Committee for the ESRC Media  Economy and Culture Project.

(1995-2000)

  • 2000-04: Member, Executive, MECCSA (national subject organisation).
  • 1999: Panel Member, Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, HEFCE RAE2001.
  • 2005: Subpanel Member, Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, HEFCE, RAE2008.
  • 2005: Expert Advisor, Current Affairs Programmes, Office of Communications.

During my term with the CNAA I visited over 20 institutions as a member of a visiting panel, in several cases as Chairman.  As Vice-Chairman of a subject board I was engaged in negotiations with a number of national bodies in respect of Communications work.  These included the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the Business Education Council and various research foundations.

External Examinerships.

  • 1981-84: Examiner B.A. Media Studies, Polytechnic of Central London.
  • 1981-84: Senior External Examiner B.A. Media Studies, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh.
  • 1982-86: Senior External Examiner, Complementary Studies, Faculty of Art and Design, Manchester Polytechnic.
  • 1983-87: External Examiner, B.A. Media Studies, Glasgow College.
  • 1987-90: External Examiner B.A. Media Studies, Polytechnic of Wales.
  • 1988-90: External Examiner Postgraduate Diploma in Media Studies, Polytechnic of Wales.
  • 1988-91: Senior External Examiner, B.A. Modern Studies, Manchester Polytechnic.
  • 1990-92: External Examiner, Media Studies, University of Manchester.
  • 1990-95: External Examiner, Media Studies, Christchurch College, Canterbury.
  • 1991-96: External Examiner, Access Courses in Media Studies, Merseyside Colleges Federation.
  • 1991-95: External Examiner, B.A. Media Studies, University of Stirling.
  • 1993-97: External Examiner, M.A. in Media Studies, University of London Institute of Education.
  • 1997-01: External Examiner, MA Media and Communication Studies, London School of Economics.
  •  2002-4: External Examiner, MA in Audience Research and MA in Television Studies, University of Aberystwyth.
  •  2004-08: External Examiner, MA and BA Film Studies, University College, Dublin.
  •  2007-: External Examiner, MA Media Management, Glasgow University.

I have also examined at M.Phil level for the University of Birmingham and at Ph.D. level for institutions including the Universities of Cambridge, Cardiff, East Anglia, Glasgow, Kent, Lincoln, Leicester, Loughborough, London (LSE), Goldsmiths College, Greenwich, Guildhall, Dublin and Stirling, the Open University and abroad including Oslo, Trondheim, Copenhagen and La Trobe, Australia.

Editorships

  • Editor, Media Studies Newsletter 1976-79.
  • Assistant Editor The Media Reporter 1978-82.  (This journal, a ‘quarterly journalism review’, was begun in 1977 with the assistance of the National Council for the Training of Journalists and the NUJ).
  • Member of the Editorial Board, Media, Culture and Society 1989- Managing Editor from 2009, Corresponding Editor from 2023.
  • Member of the Editorial Board Continuum 1997-
  • Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of British Cinema and Television 2004-

Editorial Consultancy.

Editorial Advisor, Media Studies, to Edward Arnold Ltd. 1988-92.

I have acted as a referee for the Journal of Communication (USA), The European Journal of Communication, The European Journal of Cultural Studies, The International Journal of Cultural Studies, Journalism Studies and the publishers – British Film Institute, Edward Arnold, Macmillan, Routledge, Sage, Harvester, Blackwell, Polity, Open University Press, Oxford UP, Edinburgh UP and Manchester UP.

Visiting Fellowships and Professorships.

Visiting Fellow, University of Trondheim, Norway Spring 1991, Visiting Fellow, Cowan University, Western Australia, Summer 1992, Bonnier Visiting Professor, University of Stockholm, Autumn 1993. In May 1995 I was appointed Visiting International Professor of Media Research at the University of Stockholm for a period of 3 years.

Other Honours.

2001 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.