Professor Des Freedman

Des Freedman is interested in media and power together with media policymaking, regulation and reform.

Staff details

Position

Professor of Media and Communication Studies

Department

Media, Communications and Cultural Studies

Email

d.freedman (@gold.ac.uk)

Des Freedman is interested in the relationship between media and power together with the political and economic contexts of media policymaking, regulation and reform. He was a founding member and recent chair of the Media Reform Coalition and was project lead for the Inquiry into the Future of Public Service Television chaired by Lord Puttnam. He is a former editor of the Sage journal 'Global Media and Communication' and has edited several strands for openDemocracy including 'Anti-austerity and media activism' (with Natalie Fenton and Gholam Khiabany), 'Liberalism in neo-liberal times' (with Gholam Khiabany, Kate Nash and Julian Petley) and 'Capitalism and universities' (with Michael Bailey). His latest books include Misunderstanding the Internet (2nd edition, Routledge 2016, with James Curran and Natalie Fenton) and The Contradictions of Media Power (Bloomsbury 2014).

Des is currently Head of Department and Co-Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre.

Teaching

Des Freedman convenes and teaches on 'Media, Modernity and Social Thought' and the spring term PhD methods course, 'Researching Media and Culture'.

Areas of supervision

Current Research Students

Michael Klontzas is researching the BBC's use of technology as a form of public policy delivery.

Completed Students

Noemie Oxley researched soldiers' videos of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Alejandro Rodriguez looked at Mexican media policies in relation to Habermasian concepts of ideal speech and the public sphere
Vana Goblot evaluated notions of 'quality' in relation to BBC4 and the idea of 'think television'
Yachi Chen explored regulatory discourses in relation to the National Communications Commission in Taiwan
Laurence Pawley assessed different models of citizenship in relation to the policies, programmes and performance of the BBC.
Kate Coyer looked at the democratic implications of local and community radio with case studies of radio stations in Los Angeles and London.
Eugene Gorny, an experienced web producer, researched the history of creativity in Russian cyberculture.
Sen-Yin Li looked at press narratives in relation to debates on GM food.
Thomas Chivers evaluated the power dynamics of recent media policy debates in the UK.
Sabrina Wilkinson used networked gatekeeping theory to examine the assumptions governing the regulation of digital intermediaries in Canada.
Vince Medeiros explored the possibility of business models supporting radical content in a commercial environment

Publications and research outputs

Book

Media, Democracy and Social Change: Re-imagining Political Communications Davis, Aeron; Fenton, Natalie; Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Khiabany, Gholam. 2020. Media, Democracy and Social Change: Re-imagining Political Communications. London: SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781526456960
The Media Manifesto Fenton, Natalie; Freedman, Des (D. J.); Schlosberg, Justin and Dencik, Lina. 2020. The Media Manifesto. Cambridge: Polity. ISBN 9781509538065
Misunderstanding the Internet, 2nd edition (in Korean) Curran, James P.; Fenton, Natalie and Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2017. Misunderstanding the Internet, 2nd edition (in Korean). Seoul, South Korea: Culturelook. ISBN 97-11-85521-06-0-94300

Edited Book

Media pasts and futures: Critical reflections on 'Power Without Responsibility' Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Klontzas, Michael, eds. 2025. Media pasts and futures: Critical reflections on 'Power Without Responsibility'. London: University of Westminster Press. ISBN 9781915445667
Capitalism's Conscience: 200 Years of the Guardian Freedman, Des (D. J.), ed. 2021. Capitalism's Conscience: 200 Years of the Guardian. London: Pluto Press. ISBN 9780745343341
A Future for Public Service Television Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Goblot, Vana, eds. 2018. A Future for Public Service Television. London: Goldsmiths Press. ISBN 9781906897710

Book Section

Reverse Media Policy: Challenging Empires, Resisting Power Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2022. Reverse Media Policy: Challenging Empires, Resisting Power. In: Joan-Pedro Caranana; Eliana Herrera-Huerfano and Juana Ochoa Alamnza, eds. Communicative Justice in the Pluriverse: An International Dialogue. New York: Routledge, pp. 94-108. ISBN 9781032326894
Media Reform and the Politics of Hope Fenton, Natalie and Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2022. Media Reform and the Politics of Hope. In: Joanna Zylinska, ed. The Future of Media. London: Goldsmiths Press, pp. 25-41. ISBN 9781913380144
Introduction: 'Just the Establishment'? Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2021. Introduction: 'Just the Establishment'? In: Des (D. J.) Freedman, ed. Capitalism's Conscience: 200 Years of the Guardian. London: Pluto Press, viii-xv. ISBN 9780745343341

In the wake of Peterloo? A radical account of the founding of the Guardian Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2021. In the wake of Peterloo? A radical account of the founding of the Guardian. In: Des (D. J.) Freedman, ed. Capitalism's Conscience: 200 Years of the Guardian. London: Pluto Press, pp. 1-18. ISBN 9780745343341
Media Policy Failures and the Emergence of Right-Wing Populism Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2021. Media Policy Failures and the Emergence of Right-Wing Populism. In: Silvio Waisbord and Howard Tumber, eds. The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism. London: Routledge, pp. 421-429. ISBN 9780367435769
¿Sin tropiezos? El modelo de propaganda y tiempos de crisis Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2019. ¿Sin tropiezos? El modelo de propaganda y tiempos de crisis. In: Joan Pedro Carañana and Francisco Caballero, eds. El modelo de propaganda y el control de los medios. Salamanca, Spain: Comunicacion Social, pp. 225-244. ISBN 9788417600259
Media Development and Media Reform: Time for Change Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Obar, Jonathan A.. 2019. Media Development and Media Reform: Time for Change. In: Nicholas Benequista; Susan Abbott; Paul Rothman and Winston Mano, eds. International Media Development: Historical Perspectives and New Frontiers. 23 New York: Peter Lang, pp. 220-229. ISBN 9781433151484
Media Power and the Framing of the Charlie Hebdo Attacks Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2017. Media Power and the Framing of the Charlie Hebdo Attacks. In: Gavan Titley; Des (D. J.) Freedman; Gholam Khiabany and Aurelien Mondon, eds. After Charlie Hebdo: Terror, Racism and Free Speech. London: Zed, pp. 209-222. ISBN 978-1783609390
Fake Democracy, Bad News Fenton, Natalie and Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2017. Fake Democracy, Bad News. In: Leo Panitch and Gregory Albo, eds. Rethinking Democracy. 54 London: The Merlin Press, pp. 130-149. ISBN 9781583676714
A return to prime-time activism: Social movement theory and the media’ Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2017. A return to prime-time activism: Social movement theory and the media’. In: Victor Pickard and Guobin Yang, eds. Media Activism in the Digital Age. London: Routledge, pp. 120-133. ISBN 9781138228023
Critical perspectives on media and conflict Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2017. Critical perspectives on media and conflict. In: Piers Robinson; Philip Seib and Romy Frolich, eds. Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. London: Routledge, pp. 68-79. ISBN 9780415712910
Divided Britain? We were already divided... Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2016. Divided Britain? We were already divided... In: Daniel Jackson; Einar Thorsen and Dominic Wring, eds. EU Referendum Analysis 2016: Media, Voteres and the Campaign. , p. 48 ISBN 9781910042090
Media Reform: An Overview Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Obar, Jonathan, A.. 2016. Media Reform: An Overview. In: Des (D. J.) Freedman; Jonathan Obar; Cheryl Martens and Robert McChesney, eds. Strategies for Media Reform: International Perspectives. New York: Fordham University Press, pp. 3-18. ISBN 9780823271658
‘The Resilience of TV and its Implications for Media Policy’ Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2015. ‘The Resilience of TV and its Implications for Media Policy’. In: Kate Okaley and Justin O'Connor, eds. The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries. London: Routledge, pp. 120-129. ISBN 9780415706209
How to Study Ownership and Regulation’ Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2015. How to Study Ownership and Regulation’. In: Manuel Alvarado; Toby Miller and Milly Buonanno, eds. The Sage Handbook of Television Studies. London: Sage, pp. 3-21. ISBN 9780761947417
How to Study Ownership and Regulation Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2015. How to Study Ownership and Regulation. In: Manuel Alvarado; Milly Buonanno; Herman Gray and Toby Miller, eds. The Sage Handbook of Television Studies. SAGE, pp. 3-21. ISBN 978-0761947417
The Resilience of TV and its Implications for Media Policy Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2015. The Resilience of TV and its Implications for Media Policy. In: Kate Oakley and Justin O'Connor, eds. The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries. London & NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415706209
Power in the Digital Economy Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2014. Power in the Digital Economy. In: Granville Williams, ed. Big Media and Internet Titans: Media Ownership: the Democratic Challenge. Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, pp. 94-105. ISBN 978-1898240075
Truth over justice: the Leveson Inquiry and the implications for democracy Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2014. Truth over justice: the Leveson Inquiry and the implications for democracy. In: Philip Dearman and Cathy Greenfield, eds. How We are Governed: Investigations of Communication, Media and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 53-74. ISBN 978-1443854061
The Politics and Possibilities of Media Reform: Lessons from the UK Fenton, Natalie and Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2014. The Politics and Possibilities of Media Reform: Lessons from the UK. In: Toby Miller, ed. The Routledge Companion to Global Popular Culture. London & NY: Routledge, pp. 458-470. ISBN 978-0415641470
Regulating for plurality: lessons from the UK Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2013. Regulating for plurality: lessons from the UK. In: Franck Rebillard and Marlene Loica, eds. Pluralisme de l'information et media diversity : Un état des lieux international. De Boeck (in French), pp. 97-116. ISBN 978-2804182328
An Ethical Deficit? Accountability, Norms, and the Material Conditions of Contemporary Journalism Couldry, Nick; Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Phillips, Angela. 2010. An Ethical Deficit? Accountability, Norms, and the Material Conditions of Contemporary Journalism. In: Natalie Fenton, ed. New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age. London: Sage, pp. 51-67. ISBN 978-1-847-87574-7
The Political Economy of the 'New' News Environment Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2010. The Political Economy of the 'New' News Environment. In: Natalie Fenton, ed. New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age. London: Sage, pp. 35-50. ISBN 978-1-847-87574-7
Policy and regulation Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2008. Policy and regulation. In: R Picard; R Towse; L Kung and R Wallis, eds. The Impact of the Internet on the Mass Media. SAGE.
The Mirror and the war on Iraq Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2007. The Mirror and the war on Iraq. In: Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn, eds. The Tabloid Culture Reader. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 70-80. ISBN 978-0335219315
Internet Transformations: “old” media resilience in the “new media” revolution Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2006. Internet Transformations: “old” media resilience in the “new media” revolution. In: James P. Curran and David G. Morley, eds. Media and Cultural Theory. London and NY: Routledge, pp. 275-290. ISBN 978-0415317054
Media policy-making in the free trade era: the impact of the GATS negotiations on audiovisual industries Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2006. Media policy-making in the free trade era: the impact of the GATS negotiations on audiovisual industries. In: Sylvia Harvey, ed. Trading Culture: Global Traffic and Local Cultures in Film and Television. John Libbey & Co, pp. 21-32. ISBN 978-0861966691
The Mirror and the War on Iraq: Profits, Politics and Product Differentiation Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2004. The Mirror and the War on Iraq: Profits, Politics and Product Differentiation. In: Anita Biressi; Heather Nunn; Jonathan Rutherford and Fran Davies, eds. MediaWar (Mediactive). 3 Barefoot Publications. ISBN 978-1905007028
How Her Majesty's Opposition Grew to Like Commercial TV: The Labour Party and the Origins of ITV Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2003. How Her Majesty's Opposition Grew to Like Commercial TV: The Labour Party and the Origins of ITV. In: Toby Miller, ed. Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415255028
Raymond Williams Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2003. Raymond Williams. In: Chrsitopher May, ed. Key Thinkers for the Information Society: Vol 1. Routledge, pp. 173-190. ISBN 978-0415296731
Misreporting war has a long history Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2003. Misreporting war has a long history. In: David Miller, ed. TELL ME LIES: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq. Pluto Press, pp. 63-69. ISBN 978-0745322018

Article

Arm’s length or joined at the hip? Public service media’s coverage of Gaza Forde, Sydney L and Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2025. Arm’s length or joined at the hip? Public service media’s coverage of Gaza. Communication, Culture & Critique, 18(2), pp. 155-163. ISSN 1753-9129
Neither private property nor public service: Critical reflections on the conceptual framework of public service media Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2024. Neither private property nor public service: Critical reflections on the conceptual framework of public service media. European Journal of Communication, 39(5), pp. 472-485. ISSN 0267-3231
Critiquing the Vocabularies of the Marketized University Fenton, Natalie; Freedman, Des (D. J.); Khiabany, Gholam and Williamson, Milly. 2023. Critiquing the Vocabularies of the Marketized University. Media Theory, 7(1), pp. 277-298. ISSN 2557-826X

Conference or Workshop Item

PERC Paper 2: Media Moguls and Elite Power Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2015. 'PERC Paper 2: Media Moguls and Elite Power'. In: Goldsmiths Political Economy Research Centre. London, United Kingdom 28th February 2015.

Dataset

Local newspapers - core data Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2023. Local newspapers - core data.

Digital

Trump-style universities headed for the UK Freedman, Des (D. J.) and Ismail, Feyzi. 2016. Trump-style universities headed for the UK.

Report

Who Owns the UK Media? 2023 Report Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2023. Who Owns the UK Media? 2023 Report. Other. Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, London.
A Future for Public Service Television: Content and Platforms in a Digital World Freedman, Des (D. J.). 2016. A Future for Public Service Television: Content and Platforms in a Digital World. Project Report. Goldsmiths, University of London.
A Future for Public Service Television: Content and Platforms in a Digital World Freedman, Des (D. J.); Tryhorn, Chris; Goblot, Vana; Born, Georgina; Loughrey, Pat; Chitty, Andrew; Griffee, Andrew; Watson, Neil; Clayton, Sue; Normington, David; Douglas, Omega and O’Neill, Onora. 2016. A Future for Public Service Television: Content and Platforms in a Digital World. Project Report.

Articles related to Professor Des Freedman

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