Peter Thompson

Peter joined the Media Studies Programme at Victoria University of Wellington in 2011. He came to New Zealand in 1997, and lectured at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, where he helped establish the postgraduate programmes in international communication. Prior to that he lectured in communication at Bangkok University in Thailand, and also tutored in Thailand and Singapore for the Centre for Mass Communication Research at Leicester University.

Peter's broad area of interest concerns the political economy of media. Much of his published work concerns media policy, particularly in regard to public service media. He has closely followed recent developments in New Zealand and has published widely on the public broadcasting reforms under Labour from 1999–2008, most notably on the TVNZ Charter and public funding issues. He is a regular media commentator on public broadcasting issues and was appointed as Chair of the Working Party that reviewed public submissions on the revised TVNZ Charter and helped amend the Charter document (which is currently due to be abolished). He has also undertaken commissioned research projects for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (on public broadcasting funding mechanisms in 30 OECD countries) and for NZ On Air (on approaches to measuring broadcasting quality in seven countries).

The other key area of Peter's research concerns media and communication processes in financial markets. This was the focus of his doctoral thesis and involved the analysis of how financial traders and analysts use different forms of media and information in their investment decisions. The research also involved periods of trading floor observation and interviews at Deutsche Bank, ANZ, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Current research projects
Peter is continuing his investigations into public service media policy issues in New Zealand. Since the removal of the TVNZ Charter and the closure of public service channels TVNZ 6 & 7, he has been looking at government policy on digital media and convergence and the implications for non-commercial broadcasters

He is also developing his research findings on financial markets following state responses to the global 'credit crunch' crisis and their implications for democracy and civil society.

As a critical researcher, Peter is happy to engage with external stakeholders including government, industry and NGOs and welcomes opportunities for consultation and collaborative research.