Professor Peter Lewis is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Computing and Digital Media, having joined London Met as a Senior Lecturer in Community Media in 2007.
Dr Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Computing and Digital Media, having joined London Met as a Senior Lecturer in Community Media in 2007. From 2017-2019 he was Associate Professor Emeritus. Prof. Lewis holds undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of Oxford (1958), a PGCE from the University of London and a PhD by prior output from London Met (2010). Prior to joining London Met he was; Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, Goldsmiths (1980-1989), Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, Middlesex University (1994 - 1999), ESRC Research Fellow, London School of Economics (1999-2002) and Visiting Research Associate, Department of Media & Communications (2002-2007). He has taught in primary and secondary schools in both private and state sectors in Berkshire, Bristol, London and Canada and had some ten years’ experience in educational broadcasting for ITV, and in community television as manager of Bristol Channel, before beginning a career in higher education.
Prof. Lewis has published widely on community media, including consultancies and reports for UNESCO and the Council of Europe, contributing to its recognition both politically and as an academic field. An ESRC Research Fellowship at the LSE (1999-2002) enabled him to launch the Radio Studies Network (now affiliated to MeCCSA) which, with a journal (The Radio Journal) and a succession of international conferences, has given the medium an increased profile in the field of media studies, connecting British research and scholarship with work in mainland Europe and beyond. He was a Principal Investigator in the HERA-funded Transnational Radio Encounters project, 2013-2016, and was a REF Impact case study in 2014. He is now a member of the team developing the Radio.Garden.
Prof. Lewis' previous experience in educational broadcasting and community television has led to research interest in community media, community radio and radio. He is the Founding Member of the Radio Studies Network, Radio and Sound section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) and the Community Communications section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). He is now a member of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Met.
- Mitchell,C. & & Lewis, P.M. (2018) "Community Radio and Transnational Identities". In Föllmer, G. & Badenoch, A. (eds) Transnationalizing Radio Research: New Approaches to an Old Medium. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag.
- Lewis, P. (2016) "Radios libres: le point de vue anglais". In Lefebvre,T. & Poulain, S. Radios libres, 30ans de FM : La Parole libérée ? pp.209-221. Paris : L’Harmattan
- Lewis, P.M. (2015) "Community Media Policy". In Atton, C. (ed) The Routledge Companion to Alternative and Community Media. pp.179-188. London & New York: Routledge
- Lewis, P. (2015) "Discursive absence: the case for community radio", Quaderns del CAC 41, vol. XVIII - July 2015, pp. 5-10
- Lewis, P.M. (2015) A Remembered Soundscape: A British Family Listens to the Wireless in the 1930s and 1940s, Canadian Oral History Forum d'histoire orale.
- Lewis, P.M. (2012) ”It’s only community radio: the British campaign for community radio". In Gordon, J (2012) (ed) Community Radio in the 21stCentury. Oxford: Peter Lang
- Lewis, P.M. (2008) "Promoting Social Cohesion: the Role of Community Media". Report for the Council of Europe’s Group of Specialists on Media Diversity.
- Lewis, P.M. & Jones, S.(2006) (eds) From the Margins to the Cutting Edge – Community Media and Empowerment. Catskill, NJ: Hampton Press
- Lewis, P.M. (2004) "Opening and closing doors: radio drama in the BBC". The Radio Journal Vol.1 no 3, 2004
- Lewis, P.M. (2002) "Radio Theory and Community Radio" in Jankowski, N. & Prehn, O. (eds) Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives, Findings and Policies. Catskill, NJ: Hampton Press
- Lewis, Peter M. (ed) (1993) Alternative Media. Linking Global and Local. Reports and Papers in Mass Communication No.107. Paris, UNESCO.
- Lewis Peter M. (1991) "Referable words in radio drama" in Scannell,P.(ed) Broadcast Talk, London: Sage
- Lewis, Peter M. (1991) "Mummy, Matron and the Maids: feminine presence and absence in male institutions, 1934-63" in J.Tosh and M.Roper (eds) Manful Assertions: Masculinities in Britain since 1800, London: Routledge
- Lewis, P. M. & Booth, J (1989) The Invisible Medium: Public, Commercial and Community Radio, London: Macmillan. Reprinted 1995, translated into Spanish Barcelona: ediciones Paidos, 1992.
- Principal Investigator (IP5) HERA-funded Transnational Radio Encounters, 2013-16
- Scientific Co-ordinator, IREN (International Radio Research Network) EU FP6 Co-ordination Action, 2004-2006
- Evaluation consultant to Creating Community Voices (1999-2001), Digital Dialogues (2002-2003), META-Europe (2005-2006), Crosstalk (2007-2009), COMAPP - funded under EU’s Grundtvig and Lifelong Learning programmes
- Evaluation (with Tacchi and Slater) of Kothmale Community Radio Internet Project, Sri Lanka, 2002, funded by UK’s DFID in collaboration with UNESCO
- Adviser on Bristol Channel archives, University of Bristol, 2015 (researching Bristol Channel videotapes in the National Film Archive, providing metadata, and participating in public screening)
- Founding member (1998) Radio Studies Network (now affiliated to MeCCSA).
- Founding member, Community Communications Section of IAMCR
- Founding member, Radio Research Section of ECREA
- Member of Community Media Association of UK
- Co-founder of Community Communications Group, 1977- 1983
- Member of UK Radio Archives Advisory Committee
- "Expert" member of Community Media Forum for Europe
Professor Peter Lewis
Professor of Media and Culture
School of Computing and Digital Media
lewisp@staff.londonmet.ac.uk