Police, the Media and their Audiences, 2006-2008

This is a mixed-methods data collection.<br> <br> This research comprised a study of police-media relations. It aimed to investigate the strategies and processes through which the police service in England and Wales communicates into the public sphere; it examined police interaction with media organisations and explored how people receive and make sense of mediated information about the police. The research activities involved: (a) undertaking a questionnaire survey of police force communications, media, and public relations (PR) offices ; (b) site visits to police forces, including interviews with police corporate communications managers/practitioners; (c) interviewing news-media professionals; and (d) conducting group discussions with local people in different sites within one police force area. Using these methods, the study brought together the three elements of police, media and audience into one integrated study that mapped the national context of police-media relations and then examined the communications dynamics at a local level. The study made a timely and practical contribution to current knowledge of police communications in relation to the accountability and perceived effectiveness of public sector organisations. On a theoretical level, it explored the role that police-media relations play in maintaining police legitimacy during times of rapid technological and organisational change. The data collection includes qualitative summaries of the police officer interviews, news-media interviews and the focus group discussions, and a quantitative file comprising data from the police organisation questionnaires. <br> <br> Further information may be found on the ESRC's <a href="http://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-000-22-1921/read" title="The police, the media and their audiences">The police, the media and their audiences</a> award page.<br> <br>