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Research and innovation

Our research

Our research is organized around four challenge-led themes, highlighting how our research relates to key societal issues and concerns.

We are committed to our research having a positive societal impact and value engagement and knowledge exchange with partners from industry, government, the public sector and civil society.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for updates on our latest research.

Research themes

Our research is organized around four challenge-led themes, highlighting how our research relates to key societal issues and concerns. The themes span traditional sub-fields of media, communication, and cultural studies while also making possible inter-disciplinary connections, enabling new research collaborations and emergent outcomes.

Each intersecting theme is explored through various theoretical perspectives, modalities, and methods, including creative practice and practice-led research. As well as advancing academic knowledge in these areas, we are committed to our research having a positive societal impact and value engagement and knowledge exchange with partners from industry, government, the public sector and civil society.

Working in partnership

The School of Media and Communication collaborates with internal and external partners to inform regional, national, and international policy through collaborations with industry, regulators and policymakers, such as the BBC, Ofcom, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and the European Commission. Our researchers work with communities and industry partners to interrogate the challenges they are facing through dialogue, participation, public engagement and creative practice. Find out more.

Research projects

Our research projects explore the past, present and future of media and communication using archives, new technologies and global partnerships.

Explore our research projects

News and events

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Events

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Clothworkers court

School of Media and Communication excels in national university guides

The University of Leeds’ School of Media & Communication has achieved…

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Paul Cooke's research project in Cambodia

New UK–Ireland research network to tackle class inequality across the creative economy

The project will examine how class inequality is understood, experienced and…

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A hand holding a remote control. The TV is seen in the background, the screen blurred.

'What’s On?' New research on class in UK television launches at Edinburgh TV Festival

The research has been conducted in partnership with the BBC, Channel 4 and…

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A man in a neck brace winces

Hard-hitting film targets drug-driving

The tragic consequences of misusing nitrous oxide have been laid bare in a…

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book cover

Book launch – Digital Journalism Practice: Skills for Now and the Future

A reception to mark the launch of Digital Journalism Practice: Skills for Now and the Future (Bucknell, I. and Painter, L. 2026) including a conversation on the changing newsroom with industry insight

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Clothworkers

Research Seminar: ‘Gurus, Hucksters, Entertainers: How Influencers Reshaped Social Media’

This talk examines how influencer careers and revenues shape the content that populates our social media feeds.

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Record shop

Science into Pop: Triangulating Legitimacy in Three Experimental Music Traditions

How can the case of Jamaican dub reggae broaden our understanding of music experimentation?

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