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Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool

Peter's research interests centre on broadcasting history and institutions (both in the UK and internationally), including the form, content and public contribution of programming. In particular, his work focuses on documentary, television current affairs programming and the circulation of public knowledge via television, as well as broader historical and contemporary developments in broadcasting, regulation and 'due impartiality'.

Recent projects have included a major analysis of the performance of the British media during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Pockets of Resistance, 2010, co- authored with Piers Robinson, Katy Parry and Craig Murray) and a study of the World in Action current affairs series (Public Issue Television: World in Action, 2007), jointly authored with John Corner and Kay Richardson.

Popular Television in Authoritarian Europe, his edited collection containing work on the forms of popular television that developed under authoritarian regimes in various parts of Europe, will be published in 2013. Peter is currently embarking on a project to investigate the present health of the long-running current affairs series in Britain (BBC Panorama and Channel 4 Dispatches, for example) and changes and developments in its form, content and public contribution over the past forty years.

In January 2013, he organised a successful conference on the subject, Current Affairs Television: Then and Now, involving series editors and journalists in discussion with academics. Peter is currently applying for funding to develop his research in this area.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool