Skip to main content

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

News
Events

See more news like this

Student at computer desk

Funding opportunity for PGRs to share their research

Postgraduate researchers (PGRs) in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and…

More on Funding opportunity for PGRs to share their research

Clothworkers court

School of Media and Communication celebrates research funding successes

Researchers in the School of Media and Communication have recently achieved…

More on School of Media and Communication celebrates research funding successes

Cinema and television research group

Leeds professor to deliver prestigious public lecture on class and the future of television

Professor Beth Johnson (School of Media and Communication) will deliver the…

More on Leeds professor to deliver prestigious public lecture on class and the future of television

Remote being held up in front of smart TV showing Netflix

Public service broadcasters face unprecedented challenges and must adapt to survive in the age of streaming, Faculty researcher argues

The report identifies four key challenges faced by public service media (PSM)…

More on Public service broadcasters face unprecedented challenges and must adapt to survive in the age of streaming, Faculty researcher argues

See more events like this

A black and white photo of a crowd facing the lens

Making (knowledge of) the nation

Online platforms appear democratizing, but Wikipedia shows disagreements over mundane topics expose schisms—not over facts, but whose knowledge is acknowledged and whose downplayed

More on Making (knowledge of) the nation

Amm landscape

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

More on Navigating Industrial and Critical Challenges After Mass Media

Film crew l minh

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.

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

EPOD 2026 Conference - Beyond the Classroom: The Power of Podcasts in Shaping the Future of Learning and Media

Education through Podcasting (EPOD) is a conference and book series where experts share research and practice on learning through recorded audio, media, and podcasting in educational contexts

More on EPOD 2026 Conference - Beyond the Classroom: The Power of Podcasts in Shaping the Future of Learning and Media