Steven Barnett is Professor of Communications and a prominent writer and broadcaster who has been involved in policy analysis at the highest levels, both nationally and internationally, for the last 25 years. He has advised government ministers in the UK, has given evidence or served as an adviser on several parliamentary committees, has been called to give evidence to the European Parliament, and has been invited to speak at numerous national and international conferences.
He specialises in media policy, regulation, the theory and practice of journalism, political communication, and press ethics, and has directed over thirty research projects on the structure, funding, regulation and business of communications in the UK and around the world. His work is frequently quoted in parliamentary debates and government reports, and he is a regular commentator and writer on media issues. He was a columnist on the Observer newspaper from 2000-2004, writes freqently for the national, online and specialist press and has been quoted by newspapers or interviewed for TV in Australia, the US, Japan, China, France, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Denmark and Ireland.
Most recently, he has acted as specialist adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications for its enquiries into News and Media Ownership (published June 2008), the UK Film and Televison Industries (published January 2010), and the Regulation of TV Advertising (published February 2011). In March 2011, he was invited to address an international conference in Cairo on democratising Egyptian media.
His current research interests and active projects include studies on media ownership, television journalism, and the future of the BBC and public service broadcasting.
