Ruth Garland

I spent more than 25 years in public sector strategic communications before starting my PhD in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics in 2012.  I was awarded my doctorate in February 2017 for my thesis: Between media and politics: can government press officers hold the line in the ‘age of political spin’? The case of the UK since 1997.  I taught at the LSE summer schools (2016/2017) and at Brunel University (2016-17), running modules as part of the MA in Media and Public Relations, and I now lecture in Media Cultures to undergraduate and postgraduate students. 

My research focus is on public communication and the relationship between media and politics, and I position myself between three media studies areas: mediatization and media sociology; political and public communication; and public relations and promotional culture.  I worked at the BBC for 19 years as a TV and book publicist so have an enduring interest in British television.  My current research interests include the examination of  the recent history of UK government communication, and a thematic content analysis of the ITV daily live programme Loose Women.