Philip Schlesinger

Drawing on interviews with leading film executives, politicians and industry stakeholders, including Alan Parker, Stewart Till and Tim Bevan, this book provides an empirically grounded analysis of the rise and unexpected fall of the UK Film Council, the key strategic body responsible for supporting film in the UK for over a decade. As well as offering a critical overview of the political, policy and technological contexts which framed the organisation’s creation, existence and eventual demise, the book provides a probing analysis of the tensions between national and global interests in an increasingly transnational film industry, not least underlining how both US and EU interests and pressures have played themselves out. It therefore provides a timely and significant investigation into the contemporary policy environment for film in the 21st century.

Drawing on interviews with leading film executives, politicians and industry stakeholders including all of the UKFC's chairs (Alan Parker, Stewart Till and Tim Bevan) and its CEO John Woodward, this book provides an empirically grounded analysis of the rise and unexpected fall of the UK Film Council, the key strategic body responsible for supporting film in the UK for over a decade. As well as offering a critical overview of the political, policy and technological contexts which framed the organisation's creation, existence and eventual demise, the book provides a probing analysis of the tensions between national and global interests in an increasingly transnational film industry, not least underlining how both US and EU interests and pressures have played themselves out.

This study is based on the authors' fieldwork inside Cultural Enterprise Office, a small Scottish agency that supports creative businesses. It discusses UK policy on the creative economy, the rise of intermediaries between policy-making and the marketplace, and the playing out in the delivery of business advice services to creative microbusinesses.

Scottish devolution brought high hopes for an open political culture. But how far have these been fulfilled? Open Scotland? argues that in the field of political communication the old, established ways of the British state still remain firmly in place. Westminster and Whitehall still cast long shadows over Edinburgh. This book offers the first full-scale coverage of how media, politicians and lobbyists interact in the new Scotland. Based on their exceptional first-hand access to the key players, Philip Schlesinger, David Miller and William Dinan have written an inside account of the struggles to establish the rules of the game for covering politics. They have talked to the journalists of Scotland's political media pack who are at the heart of the new political system and who have a decisive impact on the image of the Scottish Parliament and government. They have observed and interviewed the professional lobbyists and reveal their strategies for achieving a respectable image in Scottish public life. And they have analysed some of the key rows and the failures of news management inside Scotland's government. Open Scotland? offers an insight to the world of lobbyists, journalists and spin doctors, revealing the motivations behind the news stories in Scottish politics today.

International Media Research offers a rigorous and critical review of key approaches and concerns that have recently defined the field of media research. In this clearly argued collection of essays, the contributors analyze and reflect upon dominant themes and debates that have made media research an increasingly important element of cultural theory. The volume begins with a critical evaluation of the work of the leading media scholar, Elihu Katz, and continues with an exploration of the relationship between media studies and adjacent disciplines: cultural studies and gender and sexuality.Contributors drawn from Britain, America, Canada and Belgium consider the relationships between media research and media policy in different national and international contexts. Focusing on the European Union, East-Central Europe, North America and Latin America, chapters assess the impact of social, economic and political circumstances on policy debates and the shaping of the research agenda. The final chapter adopts a transatlantic perspective in tracing and analysing the history of the media's role in reporting war.

International Media Research offers a rigorous and critical review of key approaches and concerns that have recently defined the field of media research. In this clearly argued collection of essays, the contributors analyze and reflect upon dominant themes and debates that have made media research an increasingly important element of cultural theory. The volume begins with a critical evaluation of the work of the leading media scholar, Elihu Katz, and continues with an exploration of the relationship between media studies and adjacent disciplines: cultural studies and gender and sexuality.Contributors drawn from Britain, America, Canada and Belgium consider the relationships between media research and media policy in different national and international contexts. Focusing on the European Union, East-Central Europe, North America and Latin America, chapters assess the impact of social, economic and political circumstances on policy debates and the shaping of the research agenda. The final chapter adopts a transatlantic perspective in tracing and analysing the history of the media's role in reporting war.