About Us

CAMRI emerged more than 40 years ago as the research wing of the department that had launched the UK’s first BA Media degree in 1975. Formerly the Centre for Communication and Information Studies, it was founded by Nicholas Garnham in 1986. CAMRI’s research builds upon the legacy of what James Curran has labelled the ‘Westminster School’ – this term describes the early work here that helped shape the development of media research in the UK and beyond by emphasising media policy, political economy, media and democratic theory, media history, and communication technology. Members of the Westminster School’s first generation founded the journal Media, Culture & Society in 1979. The standard book on the UK media, James Curran and Jean Seaton’s Power Without Responsibility, also has its origins at Westminster in this period.

CAMRI has always maintained a leading reputation in these areas, with a strong emphasis on international media research; this has expanded more recently to encompass research on digital and social media, media activism, and music and screen industries. CAMRI’s research is distinguished by its critical orientation and strong historical grounding, combining rigorous contemporary analysis with long-term perspectives on media, communication and societal change.

Today our research analyses communication power in the light of ongoing transformations in society and the communications landscape. Current work in CAMRI can be expressed through our four research themes: Media Policy and the Public Interest; Global Media, Decolonisation and Mobilities; Communication, Platforms and Infrastructures; and Media Industries and Creative Labour.