Peter Golding is Emeritus Professor at Northumbria University, UK. Until July 2015 he was Pro Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria University, and previously Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Loughborough University, where he was Head of Social Sciences from 1991-2006.  He  is Hon. President of the Media Research Network of the European Sociological Association, editor of the European Journal of Communication, and Hon. Sec. of the subject association for the field in the UK (MeCCSA). He chaired the Research Assessment Exercise for the field in the UK in 2008 and 2014.  He has published widely on media sociology, the political economy of the media, and on communications and social policy.