Dr Mike Berry

Bsc (Bath) PhD (Glasgow)

Research

My research interests are focused around the question of how the mass media affects public knowledge and understanding, and in particular the social, political, economic and cultural contexts in which messages are produced and received. I have conducted research on a wide variety of subjects including the reporting of crime and sentencing regimes, Euroscepticism, terrorism/national security and public health. However, I want to focus in detail on the three areas where I have made the most significant contribution to the research literature: the reporting of the Israel-Palestine conflict, financial and economic journalism and refugee and asylum news.  

• Production, Content and Reception of News on the Israel-Palestine Conflict: What factors structure the production of broadcast news in this long running and controversial conflict? Do broadcasters maintain due impartiality in their coverage? How do audiences receive news about the conflict and what processes are involved in their processing of media messages? Over more than two decades I - together with Greg Philo of Glasgow University - have undertaken a series of studies exploring these issues. Our first study published as 'Bad News from Israel' (Pluto, 2004) was conducted with the support of a large ESRC grant and brought together members of the public with leading journalists and filmmakers - including the BBC's George Aligiah and Brian Hanrahan, Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum, and Ken Loach - to explore how news accounts influenced public knowledge and belief. This research was only the second study in the social sciences to simultaneously analyse all aspects of the circuit of communication (production-content-reception) and was ranked as 'outstanding' in a review by the ERSC. It was also widely cited in the BBC's impartiality review of its Middle East coverage to which we submitted written and oral evidence. The findings of the study were reported in articles the Guardian and Observer as well as in the Jerusalem Post, Al Jazeera and on BBC Radio. In 2006 we published a further book  'Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories' (Pluto, 2006) looking specifically at the how the history of the conflict was contested by Israelis and Palestinians. In 2011 we published a second major research book on reporting of the conflict 'More Bad News from Israel' (Pluto, 2011) which featured major content and audience reception studies of the 2008-2009 Gaza War and the attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010. This book was again well received and widely publicised being reported in media outlets including the Guardian.
• Production, Content and Reception of News on the Great Financial Crisis: The 2008 Great Financial Crisis was the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Governments around the World took unprecedented steps to nationalise banks and attempt to shore up the financial system. The crisis itself precipitated the worst global recession since the 1930s and led to many governments introducing austerity measures in an attempt to reduce government deficits. But how was the crisis and its aftermath reported in newspapers and in broadcasting? What were the impacts of these accounts on public opinion and why did journalism take the form it did? Between 2008 and 2019 I published a number of research articles and a book exploring these issues. In 2013 I published an article in Journalism exploring how the BBC's flagship Today programme reported on the most intense phase of the crisis in October 2008. The findings were later publicised in Guardian articles by Aditya Chakrabortty and Owen Jones. These were later followed by two articles in Sociology and Media, Culture and Society focusing on how the political turn to austerity had been reported in the press and broadcast media. In 2019 I published 'The Media, The Public and the Great Financial Crisis' (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2019) which brought together extensive content studies, interviews with leading brodcasting and print journalists plus focus groups with members of the public to explore how news of the crisis had been produced and received by audiences. It was widely praised by leading figures in the field. For instance: ‘An enormously impressive book’ (Professor James Curran, Goldsmiths College); ‘Indispensable for any full understanding of the current and recent history of British capitalism’ (Professor Peter Golding, Loughborough University). ‘A brilliant exposition of the weakness of economic journalism’ (Professor Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths College) It has also drawn praise from leading macroeconomists illustrating its interdisciplinary relevance: ‘‘essential reading’ and an ‘incisive and meticulous study’ (Howard Reed, former chief economist at the IPPR); a ‘must read’, ‘interesting and highly important’ and containing a ’wealth of fascinating material’ Simon Wren-Lewis (former Treasury economist and Professor of Economic Policy, Oxford University). Shortly after publication of the book I was invited to give a presentation on its findings at a symposium alongside a ‘star line-up of economists and social policy and media experts’ including the Nobel prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz, the late Sir John Hills, Carys Roberts (Director, IPPR) and Robert Joyce (Deputy Director, IFS). I have also given a presentation on the book's findings to the Director of BBC News, James Harding and the book was cited in a House of Common debate on BBC Impartiality and publicised in a New Statesman article by Anoosh Chakelian. 
• Cross-national Research on the Reporting of Refugees and Asylum Policy: In 2015 I lead a project for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees which analysed how refugees and asylum policies were reported in five European countries: Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. At the time many refugees were trying to attempting to gain asylum in the EU, by crossing the Mediterranean or using land routes across the Balkans or Eastern Europe, and the UNHCR was concerned how these events were being reported across the continent. The research looked at key issues such as the labels used to describe refugees (refugee? migrant? illegal?) as well as how population flows were explained and the range of solutions offered to audiences. The final UNHCR report, for which I was the lead author, has now become a reference work in the field having been cited over 600 times since 2016. I provide a summary of key findings in a Conversation article and you also can read about it in the Guardian here.  

Teaching

I currently teach three modules:

• The Mediation of Political Violence (BA level)
• Putting Reserach into Practice 1 (MA level)
• The Media and Political Understanding 

I am also currently supervising dissertation students at the BA, MA and doctoral level.

Biography

Since 2012 I have been a member of academic staff at JOMEC. During this period I lead projects for various funders including the UNHCR and the TUC. I have published seven books and my research has appeared in leading journals including Sociology, Journalism, Media, Culture and Society and Journalism Studies. I currently teach on various modules at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Level as well as supervising MA and PhD students. I am currently the Director of the MA in Political Communication and previously have held roles including Director of International Development, Chair of Undergraduate Admissions and Erasmus Officer.

Prior to working at Cardiff I was a lecturer at the University of Nottingham (2006-2012) where I was a founding member of the Department of International Media and Communication. Whilst at Nottingham I was involved in establishing the degree programme and setting up the extensive student exchange with Nottingham's campus in Ningbo, China. I taught at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in my department and convened a module for the business school. 

Following completion of my PhD I was employed as a researcher on an ESRC 'New Security Challnges' project examining the framing of security threats in Russia, the United States and Britain  - out of which came my second co-authored book 'Terrorism, Elections and Democracy' (Palgrave-Macmillan). I also taught on various undergraduate modules at Glasgow.

In 2004 I completed my PhD at the University of Glasgow where I worked with members of the Glasgow Media Group. In 2004 I published my first co-authored book 'Bad News from Israel' (Pluto Press) based in part on my thesis 'Reporting on contested territory: Television news coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict'. The findings of the book were widely publicised in the media.

After completing my Bsc in Sociology and Psychology (2:1) at Bath University (1991-1995) I spent two years working as a researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara on a major research project funded by the American cable television industry. During this time I published my first journal article in the Journal of Social Psychology and I was a co-author of the National Television Violence Study, which was based on the largest and most representative sample of television content ever evaluated by a single scientific study.

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas:

• Economic and financial journalism
• Conflict reporting
• Public understanding of social and political issues.
• Political communication
• The reception of broadcast and digital news.

Current supervision

Matt Jones

Research student

Engagement

I have always been committed to ensuring that all my research related activities have impact beyond the academy and to that end I have consistently sought to engage with key stakeholders including the media, policymakers, third sector organisations and the general public.  

Media engagement

The mass media remains a key forum for public and a crucial site in the formation of elite and popular opinion. To utilise this space I have been proactive in disseminating my work to leading journalists in order to raise JOMEC’s profile and influence public debate. These media articles reference my research.

The Covid Pandemic

• The Herd Immunity Catastrophe: How British Public Broadcasters Failed the Impartiality Test on COVID-19, Byline Times, 13 March 2023.

Financial and Economic Reporting

• Austerity 2.0 is not a necessity – it’s a choice. Why won’t the media say so?, Guardian, 15 November 2022.
• Inside the BBC reckoning over its economic coverage, New Statesman, 1 November 2022.
• Corbyn must slay the zombie ideas that blight our economy, Guardian, 29 September 2015.
• It's business that really rules us now, Guardian, 11 November 2013.

The Israel-Palestine Conflict

• Gaza ‘media bias’: BBC vs Channel 4, Al Alarabiya News, 1 August 2014
• Israel makes sure its pen is as mighty as its sword, South African Mail and Guardian, 3 June 2011.
• Israel's PR victory shames news broadcasters, Guardian, 31 May
• BBC is 'confusing cause and effect' in its Israeli coverage, Guardian, 23 May 2011.
• Classics of 2004, Sunday Herald, 5 December 2004.
• Have I got news on the views, Mail on Sunday, 25 July 2004.
• Let’s extend our global reach, Observer 20 July 2004.
• What you get in 20 seconds, Guardian 14 July 2004.
• "Who's occupying whom?", Jerusalem Post, 2 July 2004.
• In the news: Greg Philo, Times Higher Education Supplement, 25 June 2004.
• Slow rise of a star, Guardian, 21 June 2004
• The story TV news won't tell, Guardian 20 June 2004.
• Bad news from Israel … media coverage, Al Jazeera, 28 September 2003.

Labour and Antisemitism

• I’ll take Labour dithering over Conservative cruelty any day, Guardian, 20 November 2019

Refugee and Asylum Policy 

• Migrants are off the agenda for the UK press, but the damage is done, Guardian, 26 January 2020

I have written about my research for various media outlets and online publications including the New Statesman,  the Conversation and Open Democracy and been interviewed by BBC Radio and various international news outlets including Euronews and Le Monde.     

Engagement with Policy Makers

A second way to ensure my research had impact is through engagement with policy makers.

• In 2005 Professor Greg Philo and myself submitted evidence to the BBC’s Impartiality Review of it’s Middle East coverage. The Review notes that our research was heavily cited in other submissions. 
• In 2012 I was part of a team of JOMEC researchers who carried out an Impartiality Review for the BBC Trust looking at reporting of the EU, Religion and Immigration. The report, which I co-authored, can be found here.
• In the lead up to the EU Referendum in 2016 I gave a presentation on my research to leading journalists and politicians at a  conference organised by the thinktank ‘Britain in a Changing Europe’.
• In 2017 I gave a presentation on my research on economic journalism to the Director of BBC News, James Harding and other executives at New Broadcasting House.
• My book on economic journalism together with other reaserch I worked on was cited in a debate in the House of Commons dealing with BBC impartiality. In addition, it was described as excellent and informative’ by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was endorsed by the Labour MP, Clive Lewis, as ‘fascinating read’ that he ‘could not recommend highly enough’          

Work with the Third Sector and Civil Society

I have conducted research on behalf of a variety of civil organisations. These include the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Trade Unions Congress and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. In 2023, in partnership with the Schofield Trust, I submitted a grant proposal to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to explore how news broadcasters could facilitate the career progression of underprivileged,  BAME and disabled journalists.    

Engagement with the General Public

A key part of my engagement activities has always been public lectures and debates. For instance, in 2016 I co-organised a conference which brought together media academics from across Europe with economists and journalists to debate the impact of economic journalism (Capitalist Crisis and the Media: European Perspectives, City University, 10 May 2016). In April 2024 I will speak alongside academics and journalists at a debate on the reporting of the Gaza War at SOAS University. For many years I have also have spoken at a number of festivals including Merthyr Rising and the Big Green Gathering. In 2024 I will be giving my first presentation at the Glastonbury festival.