Media, Inequality and Representation

In the context of concerns about enduring and entrenched inequalities among groups, this theme explores how media may hinder and promote equity and better representation. Our research examines media production, texts and audiences through the lens of inequality, and considers how more inclusive and equitable media environments and practices might be imagined and brought about in national and international contexts. The theme includes (but is not limited to) research on inequalities and representation related to gender, race, class, age, disability, intersectionality, and international/global structures and flows of communication.

School of Media and Communication to host the Race and Media conference

Today, the representation of race across news, entertainment, and social media offers a rich landscape for interrogating how racial hierarchy is constructed and contested in contemporary life. From 22-23 April 2026, this international conference will bring together researchers working in the field of race and media research.

Research projects

'What’s on?' Rethinking class in the television industry

‘What's on? Rethinking class in the television industry’ is situated in the context of academic, media, and public discussions about social class and the TV industry. From policy concerns about working class access to the sector, through to class as a prominent point of discussion in BAFTA award winners' speeches, class is important to national conversations about TV. Funded by UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

INCLUDE+ Network

INCLUDE+ is a network exploring how social and digital environments can be built, shaped and sustained to enable all people to thrive. The five-year programme of activities (2022-2027) will build a knowledge community around in/equalities in digital society that will comprise industry, academia, the public and third sectors in response to the UKRI Equitable Digital Society theme. Funded by UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Women, Ageing and Machine Learning on Screen

What does ageing on screen look like in UK screen cultures when AI is doing the looking? How inclusive can film and TV become if ML analyses the texts and reports back on visual ageism to industries? When ageing on screen is computed through inclusive research methods, working across disciplines of media and communication, sociology and computer sciences, how can ‘ageing on screen’ become meaningful to researchers and beneficiaries of the research? This research project offers a new exploration for media and screen industries of using machine learning to analyse texts at scale and the algorithm will be open source. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Events

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Navigating Industrial and Critical Challenges After Mass Media

An exploration of how the dominant and ‘normal’ operation of commercial screen storytelling became a business of attracting microaudiences and what that means for the stories told

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Research Seminar: ‘Visibility, invisibilities and hypervisibility of female professionals in the Dutch screen industry’

Based on research in collaboration with professional organizations I discuss how female screen professionals navigate challenges in their work through visibility, invisibility and hypervisibility.

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Media, Inequality and Representation