Researcher part of first UK broadcasting devolution study

Goldsmiths academic joins researchers from Aberystwyth, Ulster and Glasgow universities in the first study into devolving broadcast policy.

The AHRC-funded project will be the UK’s first study exploring how devolving broadcasting powers could improve media provision as well as the public’s connection with it.  

The research team is made up of representatives from the four nations: Dr Tom Chivers from Goldsmiths, Dr Phil Ramsey from Ulster University, Dr Inge Sorensen from the University of Glasgow, and Professor Jamie Medhurst from Aberystwyth University leading the study.  

Policy areas such as health and education are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly, but this project aims to understand how devolving broadcasting powers, currently controlled from Westminster, may benefit the four nations. 

Roundtables will be organised with key stakeholders in each of the four nations to understand how broadcasting might work in a more devolved UK. The project will also include the preparation of briefing papers, including policy recommendations. In April 2027, there will be a UK-wide conference and the publication of the final report.  

Dr Tom Chivers, Research Associate in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies (MCCS), said, “I’m hugely excited to join this UK-wide project that will facilitate discussion, knowledge exchange and research around devolution of UK broadcasting powers to the English regions.  

“There is growing criticism that the UK’s major broadcasting institutions are detached from the lives, perspectives and unique identities that make up the UK’s national and regional communities. Major decisions about the stories and voices featured in our media are mostly made in London and the south-east of England, which poses huge challenges to the relevance and accountability of our public media to the UK public. 

“Exploring how English regions could benefit from greater local power over our public service broadcasters will help us understand more about how distributing power over major public institutions may help to reinvigorate democracy and accountability across all parts of the UK.” 

Professor Jamie Medhurst from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University, who is leading the project, said: 

“The concept of the UK – as a unitary state, made up of four nations – is coming increasingly under pressure, and the issue of how broadcasting both reacts to and shapes these debates is a growing issue on policy, political and academic horizons. 

“This two-year project will provide a unique and novel forum for discussion, knowledge exchange and cooperation on current and future broadcasting policy in an evolving UK, with a focus on the devolution of broadcasting powers to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.”