Professor Beth Johnson

Profile

I am PI of the AHRC-funded research project What’s on? Rethinking class in the television industry. Working in partnership with the BBC and Channel 4, What’s on? analyses the production, consumption, and reception of two case study dramas. In doing so, it connects questions of who produces, what is made, and how class is represented and understood. The projects uses four complimentary methodologies: a newtork ethnography for each programme; fieldwork interviews; textual analysis of the programmes; and analysis of audience data.

The reseach project runs from October 2023 to October 2026. The team includes Co-I’s Prof. Dave O’Brien (University of Manchester), and Dr Laura Minor (University of Salford), and Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Anna Viola Sborgi. More information about the research project can be accessed here.

From 1^st September 2026, I am joint-PI, with Dr Caroline O’Sullivan (TUD), of the AHRC/Research Ireland funded programme Rethinking class in the creative economy: A UK-Ireland network. Working in partnership with the BBC, Arts Council Ireland, Arts Council England, BFI, Arts Emergency and Cultural and Creative Industries Skillnet we will develop a shared, context-sensitive framework for understanding and measuring class in the creative economy, and translate this into practical recommendations for policy, research and practice.

I am an expert advisor for the DCMS College of Experts in the areas of cultural and creative industries, Vice Chair of Royal Television Society (Yorkshire branch), a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, and Principal Co-Editor for the Journal of British Cinema and Television. I work as an academic consultant for the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (2022-).

Responsibilities

• Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation (FAHC)

Research interests

My main research areas and interests include: television production and representation; intersectional inequalities in the screen industries; drama audiences; and television policy.

Working with Candour Productions, I have exec produced two research-led short film series (alongside Anna Hall); Industry Voices (2021), shortlisted for the BAFTSS Innovation Award; and What’s On? (2026).

Across 2018-19, I led and convened the Sadler Seminar Series The Performance of Political Feeling, funded by the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute.

A selection of recent press articles/interviews include:

• Who can afford to work in television? (The Big Issue)
• How The Traitors has brough the ‘buzz’ back to collectively watching TV (ITV news)
• Christmas adverts swap maudlin music for festive cheer (The Times)
• Britain’s BBC often unites the nation. This time it’s different (Australian Financial Review)
• Three times EastEnders led the way on big topics (BBC BiteSize)
• Waterloo Road: How the hit school drama is setting the standard for making an impact in local communities across the UK (BBC news)
• Tetchiness meets disenchantment: capturing the constrasting political energies of the [UK election 2024] campaign (with Prof Katy Parry)
• The Conversation and Edinburgh Evening News
• The Conversation (with Professor Kristyn Gorton)
• The Independent
• The Conversation
• The Conversation
• The Independent
• Election Analysis UK (with Dr Katy Parry)

Primary investigator (PI)

• 'What’s on?' Rethinking class in the television industry
• Rethinking Class in the Creative Economy

Qualifications

• PhD
• MA (Distinction)
• BA (Hons)

Professional memberships

• SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies)
• MeCCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association)
• BAFTSS (British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies)
• ICA (International Communication Association)
• RTS (Royal Television Society)
• ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association)

Student education

I currently supervise five PhD students, researching projects including: Chinese popular television drama and policy; the music industry and feminist intervention; class and non-scripted UK television production; television production and regional clusters; and television ecosystems.

Research groups and institutes

• Gender
• Visual Media and Communication

Current postgraduate researchers

• Channing Morsali
• Lingjun (Lettie) Wang