Petros Iosifidis

Nationality: Greek

Director of Studies: Prof. Nicholas Garnham
Second Supervisor: Prof. Vincent Porter

Aim of the study

Media concentration policy in Europe and the public interest

This work uncovered the technological, economic, political, socio-cultural and legal forces influencing media concentration regulatory policies and action and discussed the ways of safeguarding media pluralism. It focused on the different methods of measuring media concentration with a view to promoting media pluralism and diversity. I embarked on a systematic study of various methods of regulating and measuring media concentration. The findings highlighted a number of problems: none of the proposed methodologies can effectively establish ‘media influence’ and effects on pluralism; different indicators of assessing concentration are likely to lead to disparate conclusions as to its level in a given market; a system that is applicable to all information services with different characteristics is hardly conceivable.

PhD experience

It was a privilege to be accepted in one of the top universities in London and have well-known supervisors  Although I wasn't meeting with them often (it was once a month I think) it nevertheless helps a lot to use the experience of top academics in the field who are experts in the topic under investigation. My supervisors enabled me to establish useful contacts with other experts whose ideas/views helped in the fast completion of my PhD (I finished it in 2.5 years). But as most doctoral students I was isolated, studying a lot from home and not interacting with others on a regular basis (I was based in central London then with limited space/facilities for students - the Harrow campus set up later). Still, one of the best experiences was my participation in the Doctoral Student Network with other universities abroad which in 1994 enabled me to travel to Montpellier, France and present preliminary results of my work.

What you would suggest to a new PhD student...

Start writing drafts of the thesis from the outset and not wait till the writing-up stage. This way the work will become more efficient and the completition date will be closer.

Publications

Books

(2005) European Television Industries (co-editor with Jeanette Steemers and Mark Wheeler) London: British Film Institute.
 
(forthcoming, 2007) Public Television in Europe: Technological Challenges and New Strategies London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Refereed Journal Articles

(forthcoming, Feb 2007) 'Public Television in Small European Countries: Challenges and Strategies' International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, to appear in 3(1) (Published by Intellect Ltd, Bristol, UK; ISSN: 1760-8296).
 
(2006) 'Digital Switchover in Europe' Gazette The International Journal for Communication Studies 68(3) (Published by Sage; ISSN: 0016-5492).
 
(2005) 'The Application of EC Competition Policy to the Media Industry' International Journal of Media Management 7(3&4): 103-111, (published by the Media & Communications Management, University of St. Gallen, Swittzerland; ISSN: 1424-1277).
 
(2005) 'Digital Switchover and the Role of BBC Services in Digital TV Take-up' Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 11(3): 57-74 (published by the University of Luton; ISSN: 1354-88565).
 
(2003) 'Information Society Strategies in the European Context: The Case of Greece' (with Nicos Leandros) Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 3(2): 67-96 (published by Frank Cass, London; ISSN: 1468-3857).
 
(2002) 'Digital Convergence: Challenges for European Regulation' Javnost/The Public 9(3): 27-47 (ISSN: 1318 3222).
 
(2000) 'Legal Issues concerning Cable TV: The Greek Case' (with Ioanna Kiki) Communications and the Law 22(2): 5-22 (published by Fred B. Rothman, a division of William S. HEIN & Co. Inc; ISSN: 0162 9093).
 
(1999) 'Diversity Versus Concentration in the Deregulated Mass Media Domain' Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 76(1): 152-62 (published by the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication; ISSN: 1077 6990).

Book Chapters

(2004) 'The Digital Revolution and the European Information Society' in R.  Panagiotopoulou (ed.) The Digital Challenge: Mass Media and Democracy Tipothito, Athens 461-476 (ISBN: 960 402 115 X).
 
(2003) 'Media Concentration and the Communications White Paper', in S. Ralph, H. Manchester & C. Lees (eds.) Diversity or Anarchy Current Debates in Broadcasting 10, University of Luton Press 207-216 (ISBN: I 86020 591 7).

Research interests

  • Broadcasting policy and regulation in Europe
  • Media ownership and media pluralism
  • The impact of technological convergence on regulatory frameworks
  • The information society, digital television and digital exclusion
  • The prospects of public service broadcasting in the digital era

Current Job

Lecturer in Media and Communications and Director of the MA in Communication Policy Studies at City University, London.

Contact details

MA Communication Policy Studies, Director 
School of Social Sciences
Department of Sociology, Room: D628
Phone: +44 (0)20 7040 8538
Fax: +44 (0)20 7040 8558

E-mail: P.Iosifidis@city.ac.uk