Senior Lecturer in Television Production (Theory)

  • Academic
Dr Chris Roberts

Chris teaches Television Production Theory on the BA Hons Television Production degree programme at Maidstone. He adopts a Cultural Studies approach to Television Studies and Television Production, and most often uses Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis as his analytical method. He has expertise in theories of ideology, representation, and cultural hegemony.

Dr Chris Roberts

Bio

Chris’s first achieved qualification was a City and Guilds in Plumbing and Heating in 1991. Tired of – and not very good at – plumbing, Chris returned to formal further and higher education as a mature student in the late 90’s. Once ensconced in academia, he endeavoured to never leave. As a consequence, Chris joined UCA in August 2022 having previously held academic positions at the University of Roehampton (2004-2022) and Lancaster University (2001-2003). At Lancaster he taught Television Drama on the Drama and Theatre Studies BA programme. At Roehampton his research and teaching spanned a range of different undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including BA Television Studies; BA Media Studies; BA Cultural Studies; MA Media, Culture and Communications; and BA Journalism. He has written, convened and taught a number of undergraduate and postgraduate units related to Television, including Television Futures; Television and the Public Sphere; Televising Reality; Television Journalism; Introduction to Culture and Communications; Studying Popular Culture; Dissertation.

His PhD thesis was entitled: ‘The Appropriation of Dramatic television elements in Contemporary British Current Affairs Broadcasting: Narrative, Characterisation, and the presence of Primary Definers. A Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Panorama’s Coverage of the 2003 Iraq War.’

Research supervision

Chris has been Examiner for 2 PhD theses and is open to supervising doctoral students in the field of Cultural Studies; Television Studies; Television Production. He is particularly interested in any doctoral candidates seeking to examine television representations of class; television and sports; ‘event’ television; Current Affairs Television; Television Drama.

Research outputs

PhD Thesis:

The Appropriation of Dramatic television elements in Contemporary British Current Affairs Broadcasting: Narrative, Characterisation, and the presence of Primary Definers. A Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Panorama’s Coverage of the 2003 Iraq War.’

https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/the-appropriation-of-dramatic-television-elements-in-contemporary

Election Analysis 2015:

http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/

The Fetishization of the Fiscal Deficit: A Media Discourse

http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/section-8-media-influence-and-interventions/the-fetishization-of-the-fiscal-deficit-a-media-discourse/

EU Referendum Analysis 2016:

http://www.referendumanalysis.eu/

It’s the ‘Primary Definers’, Stupid!

http://www.referendumanalysis.eu/eu-referendum-analysis-2016/section-4/its-the-primary-definers-stupid/

Election Analysis 2017:

http://www.electionanalysis.uk/

When is an electoral ‘bribe’ not a bribe?

http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-4-parties-and-the-campaign/when-is-an-electoral-bribe-not-a-bribe/

Roberts, C (2017) The Language of “Welfare Dependency” and “Benefit Cheats”: Internalising and Reproducing the Hegemonic and Discursive Rhetoric of “Benefit Scroungers” pp189-204. in Mooney A, and Sivaki, E (2017) The Language of Money and Debt: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Basingstoke. Palgrave Macmillan.

Forthcoming:

Staging the (imagined) Nation: The Reproduction of an Idealised France in British Media Coverage of the TdF – A case study of the ITV4 Highlights Show.

The Epistemology of the 'Political Correspondent': Political Journalism Representations of the (Labour) Left and Momentum 2017-2019.

Professional Membership, Affiliation and Consultancy

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Member of the British Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA)
  • Member of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
  • Member of Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Chris was the External Examiner for the Journalism; Communications and PR MA programmes at University of Teeside (2014-2018) and is currently External Examiner for the MA in Digital Journalism at Middlesex University. He has also examined 2 PhD’s.