Email address: s.m.crone@liverpool.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Simeon Yates (University of Liverpool), Dr Rhia Jones (BBC), Dr Elena Musi (University of Liverpool), Dr Tom Nicholls (University of Liverpool)
Research topic:
Faced with the emergence of transnational streaming giants and the existential threat that they pose, public service media organisations (PSMs) have responded in a variety of ways. One common strategy for maintaining and strengthening their relationship with audiences, however, has been for PSMs to compete directly with digitally native global competitors by developing digital content platforms of their own. Indeed, many PSMs, confronted with budgetary pressures, have signalled their intention not only to increase investment in digital product, but to shift the locus for financial and editorial decision-making decisively away from broadcast channels.
This ‘digital-first’ agenda is perceived as imperative for the survival of PSM. Yet given the inequalities that exist in relation to digital technologies and the different extent to which – and ways in which – these are used, understood, perceived and experienced by different groups, there is clearly also a risk that the ‘digital-first’ transition will exacerbate the broader societal inequalities with which digital inequalities are inextricably interwoven. Such an outcome would violate the values of diversity and inclusivity that define PSMs, challenging them to achieve an equitable ‘digital-first’ transition. Yet what it means – and why it matters – to be excluded from PSM in a digitalised and datafied age remains an underexplored question.
Working in partnership with the BBC, my project draws on academic and policy literature related to digital inequalities more broadly, as well as a range of quantitative and qualitatitve data from both primary and secondary sources, in looking to better understand the nature, extent, causes and possible solutions to digital exclusion within a PSM context.
Research areas: Digital inequality; digital inclusion; public service media; digital culture
Academic achievements:
Funded by an EPSRC ICASE studentship, I have previously worked across a range of humanities and social science subject areas as a research assistant. (Click here for a link to previous publications.) I hold a Bachelor’s degree in history (first class) and a Master’s degree in data science and artificial intelligence (distinction), both from the University of Liverpool. My undergraduate thesis was awarded the university’s Mark Almeras Thompson Prize, for the best dissertation submitted that year on a modern historical subject. For my Masters degree, I received the Ann Maybrey Prize as the best overall student on a taught masters in the department of computer science that year.
Teaching experience:
I have assisted with teaching on COMM207 (Communication and Media Research I), delivering seminars on interviews, focus groups and research design.