ESRC IAA funded research shaped press regulator's ethical standards and drove public awareness campaign ahead of 2024 UK General Election

ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funded research informed the independent press regulator’s (Impress) updates to  their ethical codes of standards and the findings of the research to inspired them to invest in a public awareness campaign in advance of the 2024 UK general election

In 2022, Professor Julie Firmstone from the School of Media and Communication, secured an ESRC IAA grant of £15,000 via the Leeds Social Sciences Institute.  The grant enabled Julie, alongside her Co-Investigator Professor John Steel from the University of Derby, to quickly initiate a research project titled Engaging the public in regulating for ethical journalism, focusing on public expectations and experiences of journalism and on engaging audiences in debates about the regulation of journalism. The study resulted in the development of a methodology and toolkit to facilitate public discussions about ethical journalism. Two project reports highlighted low public knowledge of press ethics, and a lack of visibility of regulation, which was linked to a general distrust in the media.

The research has led to a valuable partnership between the University of Leeds, the University of Derby and Impress.  According to the CEO of Impress, the project has been "transformational" in ensuring that Impress’s development of its brand, strategy, Standards Code, and public engagement programme draws on independent, empirical evidence from audience research.  This collaboration has underscored the value of academic research in shaping Impress's future regulatory policies, services and programs.

In 2023, the Leeds Social Sciences Institute featured this project as a case study to demonstrate the impact of IAA funding.

If you would like to find out more about how an ESRC IAA research grant could help you maximise the impact and influence of your research, visit our IAA webpage.