Skip to main content
Stephen Cushion BA (E Anglia) PhD Cardiff MA Cardiff Senior Fellow (Advanced HE)

Professor Stephen Cushion

(he/him)

BA (E Anglia) PhD Cardiff MA Cardiff Senior Fellow (Advanced HE)

Comment
Media commentator
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Stephen Cushion

Overview

Stephen Cushion is a Professor at the Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Culture. He is the Director of Research Development and Environment and Impact at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture. Professor Cushion is currently leading the school's REF submission. He is also on the school's SMT (senior management team) and core Staffing Committee. He is the former PGR director at JOMEC (2017-2019), along with other school roles.

As PI, Professor Cushion has generated consistent and sustained research income over and above expected levels for the discipline. In total he has generated almost £3m across a range of funders, from peer reviewed competitive schemes to industry media bodies. 

His latest award from the AHRC is entited 'Enhancing the impartiality of news: An analysis of political reporting' (£755, 625) and is due to start in approx July 2025.

Professor Cushion has recently completed four major research projects from different funders:

He has written Four sole authored books, Beyond the Mainstream Media: Alternative Media and the Future of Journalism (2024, Routledge), News and Poitics: The Rise of Live and interpretive Journalism, The Democratic Value of News: Why Public Service Media Matter (2012, Palgrave) and Television Journalism (2012, Sage), one co-authored book, Reporting Elections: Rethinking the Logic of Campaign Coverage (2018, Polity Press, with Richard Thomas) and co-edited The Future of 24-Hour News: New Directions, New Challenges (2016, Peter Lang, with Richard Sambrook) and The Rise of 24-Hour News: Global Perspectives (2010, Peter Lang with Justin Lewis).

He has also published approx 100 journal articles, book chapters, research reports or other outputs on issues related to news, politics and journalism. He is former Associate Editor of Journalism Studies and is on the editorial board of several leading academic journals, including Journalism Practice, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Journalism Education and Journal of Applied Journalism and Media. He has co-edited (with Daniel Jackson) a special issue of Journalism about election reporting due out in the summer of 2019.

Stephen has been PI on three BBC Trust Impartiality Reviews and Co-I on one. The first two (in 2008 and 2010) led to a 4* rated REF impact case study (receiving the regional impact award from Cardiff University), while in 2021 he received either a 4 *or 3.5* for a REF impact case study based on a number of news related studies and engagement with broadcasters. 

Stephen has successfully supervised many MA dissertations and PhD dissertations to completion, acted as an internal and external PhD examiner and chaired vivas. 

Stephen regularly presents research at international and UK conferences, and has co-organised major academic conferences, such as the past Future of Journalism conferences, which included co-editing a special edition of three journals based on selected papers.

He welcomes PhD proposals (if he has supervision avaliability) in the area of political communication and journalism studies, particularly topics related to election reporitng, the mediatization of politics, and the impact of 24-hour news culture, or issues about journalistic balance, objectivity and impartaility, as well as broader inquires about media ownership and public service broadcasting, and internationally comparative news studies.

Stephen has recently supervised the following students to completion:

Jason Roberts (2024) 'Contesting the Boundaries of Journalism Within The Media Section of Breitbart News'

Moza Abdullah Said Al-Rawahi (2019) The Sultanate of Silence: A Critical Analysis of the Omani Newspapers’ Coverage of the 2011 Protests

Ogbebor, Binakuromo (2018) Representation of the News of the World phone hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry: an analysis of the British Press coverage of the debate that arose from the scandal

Kovačević, Petra (2023) The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook: 
Practicing the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism 

Afful, Ebo (2017) Journalism, Election Campaigns and Democracy in Ghana.

Kilby, Allaina (2014) Satire for sanity: An examination of media representation and audience engagement with The Daily Show’s Rally to Restore Sanity

Fitzgerald, Patrick (2014) Legitimising dissent? British and American newspaper coverage of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Reardon, Sally (2013) Accounting for News: A discourse analysis of the talk of television journalists.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

Articles

Book sections

Books

Conferences

Monographs

Websites

Research

External funding/REF Case studies

I am currently Principal Investigator (PI) on an AHRC project entitled 'Enhancing the impartaility of news: An analysis of political reporting' (£755, 625).

I have been PI on four ESRC grant projects: ‘Beyond the MSM: Understanding the rise of alternative online political media’ (£517,731.20) between 2019-2023, ‘Television News and Impartiality: Reporting the 2017 UK General Election Campaign’ (£42,765) in 2017-8, ‘Television News and Impartiality’ (£11,000) and ‘Reporting the 2015 UK General Election’ (£3000) in 2015. This generated £574,496.20 in research income.

I have been a PI on an AHRC project entitled 'Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media' (£579,183) between 2019-2023.

I have been a PI on a two year £9,839.80 research grant awarded by BA/Leverhulme entitled 'Accurate or misleading? The portrayal of MSM in alt-left media'.

I was the PI on two recently commissioned Ofcom reviews about the Range and Depth of BBC News and Current AFfairs (2019) and Network News coverage of Devolution (2021-22)

I have been a PI on three BBC Trust Impartiality reviews about media coverage of devolution or statistics (in 2009, 2015 and 2016), which generated £220,258 of research income. The 2009 project was developed into a 4 impact case study for JOMEC’s 2014 REF submission. It also received the regional impact award from Cardiff University in 2013. I also co-led a 3-5-4 2021 REF case study about the impact of our research on the impartiality of BBC news (largely based on three projects I was PI).

I have been a Co-investigator on three other projects: a £38,665 award from the Department for Communities and Local Government on British media coverage of young black men and boys, a £63,487 award from the BBC Trust project on a Nations’ Impartiality Review and the reporting of devolution in the UK, and a £173,229 European commission project entitled ‘Eurosphere’ relating to the European public sphere.

Overall, as either PI or Co-I I have worked on external grant awards worth over 1 million pounds.

Editorial roles/public talks/conferences 

I am an Associate Editor of a leading internal journal, Journalism Studies, and editorial board member of Journalism Practice, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Journalism Education and Journal of Applied Journalism and Media studies.

I regularly present research at international and UK conferences, as well being an invited speaker at leading international schools. While a visiting scholar in the US and Australia in 2016 and 2018, I gave talks at the University of Austin, George Washington University, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, Swinburne University and Queensland University of Technology.

I have co-organised major academic conferences, including several Cardiff University Future of Journalism conferences (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019), the 2007 MECCSA conference at Cardiff University and a 2018 ICA pre-conference in Prague.

Teaching

I coordinate the following modules and workshops:

MA - Introudction to Political Communication (Autumn)

PhD and JOMEC staff - Research development workshop series (Autumn)

BA - The Making and Shaping of News (Spring)

PhD and JOMEC staff - Research development workshop series (Spring)

Stephen welcomes PhD proposals in the area of political communication and journalism studies, particularly topics related to election reporitng, 24-hour news, balance, objectivity and impartaility, media ownership and public service broadcasting, and internationally comparative news studies.

He welcomes PhD proposals in the area of political communication and journalism studies, particularly topics related to election reporitng, the mediatization of politics, and the impact of 24-hour news culture, or issues about journalistic balance, objectivity and impartaility, as well as broader inquires about media ownership and public service broadcasting, and internationally comparative news studies.

Stephen has recently supervised the following students to completion:

Afful, Ebo (2017) Journalism, Election Campaigns and Democracy in Ghana.

Kilby, Allaina (2014) Satire for sanity: An examination of media representation and audience engagement with The Daily Show’s Rally to Restore Sanity

Fitzgerald, Patrick (2014) Legitimising dissent? British and American newspaper coverage of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Reardon, Sally (2013) Accounting for News: A discourse analysis of the talk of television journalists.

Biography

Employment

Employment:

November 2024: Professor and Director of Research Development and Environment and Impact (and REF lead for the Cchool) at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture

September 2020: Professor and Director of Research Development and Environment at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture

January 2020: Professor at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture (on research leave in spring semester)

August-December 2019: Professor and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture.

August 2015-July 2019: Reader and Director of MA in Political Communication and (from 2017) Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

Jan 2012-August 2015: Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA in Political Communication at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

Jan 2006-2012: Lecturer at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

May 2005-June 2005: Research Assistant at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies for a project on local and regional press coverage of the 2005 general election. This involved developing an appropriate methodological framework for the content analysis, coding many 100s of articles, inputting them into SPSS, generating the results and co-authoring the findings.

May 2003-June 2003: Research Assistant at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies for a project on the way the Welsh media reported the 2003 National Assembly for Wales election.

Education 

2002-2006 Doctor of Philosophy, ‘Protesting their apathy: Young People, News Media and Citizenship’ at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University, October 2006

2001-2002 MA in Journalism Studies (distinction): Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University.

1998-2001 BA Hons. Film and Media (2:1) University of East Anglia, Norwich.

2008  Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (PCTUL)

2023: Senior Fellowship with Advanced HE

Honours and awards

 

2025: Principal Investigator on an AHRC project entitled: ‘Enhancing the impartiality of news: An analysis of political reporting’ (£755, 625).

2023: Supervisor for Leverhulme Trust Early Career three year Fellowship, Dr Nadia Haq, ‘The Media versus the People: How audiences as active publics hold the media to account for discriminatory and divisive coverage against minority groups’ (£90,000)

2021: Principal investigator on Ofcom funded project ‘Content Analysis – Devolved Issues on Network News’ (£79,620.50)

2020-2022: Principal Investigator on an AHRC project entitled 'Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media' (£579,183)

2019: Principal Investigator on an Ofcom project examining the range and depth of BBC News  

2019: Principal Investigator on a British project entitled ‘Accurate or misleading? The portrayal of MSM in alt-left media’ (£9,839.80)

2019: Principal Investigator on an ESRC project entitled ‘Beyond the MSM: Understanding the rise of alternative online political media’ (£517,731.20)

2017: Principal Investigator, ESRC Award, Television News, impartaility and the 2017 UK general election campaign. (£42, 765)

2016: Principal Investigator on a BBC Trust project on Nations Impartiality Review and devolution in the UK. (£70,704)

2015-2016: Principal Investigator on a BBC Trust project on Impartiality Review about reporting of statistics. (£70,285)

2015-2016: Principal Investigator on a BBC Trust project on Nations Impartiality Review and devolution in the UK. (£79,269)

2015: Principal Investigator University ESRC initiator fund to support research about the 2015 General Election (£3000)

2015: JOMEC Impact and Engagement and seedcorn Funding (£2000) to support research about the 2015 General Election

2015: Principal Investigator on a Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) project (£1,360) about how Buzzfeed reported the 2015 UK general election

2014: Principal Investigator on a Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) project (£1,360) about television news reporting of the 2014 EU Elections

2013:  Regional impact award at Cardiff University (a JOMEC impact REF submission) for the Follow up review of Accuracy and impartiality in coverage of the 4 nations funded by the BBC Trust. This included a £1,000 award towards research

2009-2010: Principal Investigator on a BBC Trust project on Nations Impartiality Review and devolution in the UK. (£69,372)

2008-2010: Co- Investigator (with Kerry Moore and John Jewell) on a project for the Department for Communities and Local Government on British media coverage of young black men and boys (£38,665)

2007-2008: Co-Investigator (with Justin Lewis) on a BBC Trust project on Nations Impartiality Review and devolution in the UK (£63,487)

2007-2008: Co-Investigator on a European commission project entitled ‘Eurosphere’ on the European public sphere (£173,229). I joined this project after funding had been secured to help develop a methodological framework for the analysis of print and broadcast news across 15 European countries. This involved managing a large team of researchers and training them in relevant research methods.

Supervisions

Stephen welcomes PhD proposals in the area of political communication and journalism studies, particularly topics related to election reporitng, the impact of 24-hour news culture, or issues about journalistic balance, objectivity and impartaility, as well as broader inquires about media ownership and public service broadcasting, and internationally comparative news studies.

Current supervision

Keith Magnum

Keith Magnum

Maxwell Modell

Maxwell Modell

Nursi Er

Nursi Er

Jason Roberts

Jason Roberts

Engagement

Engagment/Impact

Along with colleagues at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Professor Stephen Cushion has collaborated with a number of news organisations and media regulators to help improve the quality of broadcast journalism in the UK. He has worked with the BBC Trust and Ofcom, for example, and engaged with senior news editors at the BBC, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, and Sky News.  In doing so, the aim of Cushion’s research has been to review editorial practices and enhance journalism standards, such as strengthening guidelines about reporting the nations and devolved politics in the UK, notably during the coronavirus pandemic, improving how journalists use statistics, and more broadly enhancing the range and depth of news output.

Recent examples of this research include:

Reporting politics in a devolved UK 

Cushion, Stephen and Thomas, Richard (2022) Reporting the nations and devolved issues on network news: An analysis of television and online coverage. London: Ofcom.

Reporting the nations and devolved issues (ofcom.org.uk)

Cushion, Stephen et al (2015) Four Nations Impartiality Review Follow-up 2015: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/impartiality/2016/cardiff_university_2015.pdf

Cushion, Stephen, et al (2016) Nations Impartiality Review: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/impartiality/2016/cardiff_university_2016.pdf

The journalistic use of data and routine reporting of statistics

Cushion et al (2016) Impartiality Review of BBC Reporting of Statistics: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/stats_impartiality/content_analysis.pdf

Enhancing the range and depth of news programmes in broadcast journalism

Cushion, Stephen (2019) The Range and Depth of BBC News and Current Affairs: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/174205/bbc-news-review-content-analysis-full-report.pdf

Contact Details

Email CushionSA@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 74570
Campuses Two Central Square, Room 2.58, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Journalism studies
  • Digital Political Communication
COVID-19 has increased awareness of devolution among UK news providers, report shows

COVID-19 has increased awareness of devolution among UK news providers, report shows

02 March 2022

Communicating a crisis

Communicating a crisis

20 April 2020

What are journalists doing to fight back against disinformation?

What are journalists doing to fight back against disinformation?

15 September 2019

External profiles