I am Associate Professor in Journalism Studies at the University of Stirling. I spent over a decade as a staff reporter for regional and national news organisations including the Press Association and the Independent on Sunday, and went on to work as a freelance writer for numerous titles ranging from the Guardian, Telegraph Magazine and the Times Educational Supplement to History Today, the Ecologist and Museums Journal.
My research interests focus on the interplay between media and political representations of marginalised groups, their lived experiences and public attitudes towards them. In addition to publishing in a number of peer-reviewed journals, my books include Familiar Strangers, Juvenile Panic and the British Press (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), Scroungers: Moral Panics and Media Myths (Zed Books, 2019) and The Left Behind: Reimagining Britain's Socially Excluded (Pluto Press, 2022). Scroungers was praised in The Guardian for making 'many salient and persuasive arguments, most notably regarding the abstract fetishisation of work and the grim reality of work in neoliberal Britain', while Chas Critcher (co-author with the late Stuart Hall of Policing the Crisis) described it as 'a highly original contribution to the sociology of hate' - drawing on 'a forensic analysis of ideological ploys by right-wing politicians, wilfully distorted narratives in traditional media and vitriolic outpourings on social media'. Reviewing The Left Behind, Lancaster University's Tracey Jensen described it as 'a sophisticated interrogation of how the 'left behind' are mythologised, problematised and weaponised by those whose insights rarely stretch beyond regional condescension and recycled tropes'.
I am currently UK Co-investigator on the joint AHRC/German Research Foundation (DFG) project 'Voices from the Periphery: (De-)Constructing and Contesting Public Narratives about Post-Industrial Marginalization (VOICES)'. I am also working on a new monograph for Intellect Books, provisionally titled Inactive: Stigma, Unpaid Labour and the Myth of Worklessness.
In addition to my research activities, I am also a member of the Public Affairs Board of the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and the author of a set textbook for journalism students and trainees: Essential Public Affairs for Journalists (OUP), now in its eighth edition.
My research interests focus on the interplay between media, political and pop cultural representations of marginalised groups, their lived experiences and public attitudes towards them. I am particularly interested in the ways in which disadvantaged minorities - from working-aged benefit recipients to economic migrants and refugees - are problematised through narratives of othering, stigmatisation and moral panic. My interests also include the ways in which real-time data-driven market intelligence and the evolving dynamics between news audiences, produsers, journalists and sources is transforming the newsgathering practices, cultures, ideologies and identities of news professionals. Much of my empirical work adopts an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods approach combining analysis of media, political and/or social media discourse with individual interviews, focus groups, authored testimonies/journals and other forms of participatory research.
Newspaper / Magazine
Labour says benefit reforms are a 'moral mission' - It looks more like moral panic
Morrison J (2025) Labour says benefit reforms are a 'moral mission' - It looks more like moral panic. The Conversation. 19.03.2025. https://theconversation.com/labour-says-benefit-reforms-are-a-moral-mission-it-looks-more-like-moral-panic-252404
Book Chapter
Introduction: Un-silencing the Silenced - From Marginalization to Mainstreaming?
Morrison J & Pedersen S (2024) Introduction: Un-silencing the Silenced - From Marginalization to Mainstreaming?. In: Morrison J & Pedersen S (eds.) Silenced Voices and the Media: Who Gets to Speak?. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65403-9_1
Edited Book
Silenced Voices and the Media: Who Gets to Speak?
Morrison J & Pedersen S (eds.) (2024) Silenced Voices and the Media: Who Gets to Speak?. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-65403-9
Newspaper / Magazine
Getting Britain to work without blaming 'scroungers' - can Starmer change the narrative?
Morrison J (2024) Getting Britain to work without blaming 'scroungers' - can Starmer change the narrative?. The Conversation. 29.11.2024. https://theconversation.com/getting-britain-to-work-without-blaming-scroungers-can-starmer-change-the-narrative-244779
Article
Morrison J (2024) Abusing the unprotected ‘poor’: The prevalence of povertyist stigma and hate speech on unmoderated newspaper comment threads. Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies. https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-applied-journalism-media-studies
Newspaper / Magazine
Why demonising people as ‘workless’ won’t solve rising economic inactivity
Morrison J (2024) Why demonising people as ‘workless’ won’t solve rising economic inactivity. The Conversation. 01.05.2024.
Monograph
The Left Behind: Reimagining Britain's Socially Excluded
Morrison J (2022) The Left Behind: Reimagining Britain's Socially Excluded. London: Pluto Press. https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745344621/the-left-behind/
Article
Morrison J (2022) 'Left behind' North of the Border? Economic Disadvantage and Intersectional Inequalities in Post-Pandemic Scotland. Scottish Affairs, 31 (4), pp. 393-418. https://doi.org/10.3366/scot.2022.0428
Website Content
Wow! The Tories are planning to 'level up' Britain again. It means almost nothing
Morrison J (2022) Wow! The Tories are planning to 'level up' Britain again. It means almost nothing. novaramedia.com [Blog post] 21.11.2022. https://novaramedia.com/2022/11/21/hang-on-who-actually-are-left-behinds-rishi-sunak-wants-to-level-up/
Website Content
Forget culture wars: It's the economics, stupid!
Morrison J (2022) Forget culture wars: It's the economics, stupid!. blogs.lse.ac.uk [blogs.lse.ac.uk] 04.11.2022. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/who-are-the-left-behind-forget-culture-wars-its-the-economics-stupid/
Website Content
Is it time to retire the term 'left behind'?
Morrison J (2022) Is it time to retire the term 'left behind'?. newlocal.org.uk [Blog post] 13.10.2022. https://www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/is-it-time-to-retire-the-term-left-behind/
Website Content
A Liz in Toryland: the irrelevance of Tory culture wars.
Morrison J (2022) A Liz in Toryland: the irrelevance of Tory culture wars.. plutobooks.com/blog [Blog post] 08.07.2022. While Liz Truss outbids Rishi Sunak to revive culture-war rhetoric, it’s stagnant wages and rising prices – not ‘woke’ issues – that are worrying Britain’s ‘left behind’. James Morrison, author of the new book The Left Behind, explores how out of touch the Conservative Party is.
Website Content
The limits to Partygate: English local elections suggest the majority don't care.
Morrison J (2022) The limits to Partygate: English local elections suggest the majority don't care.. [plutobooks.com] 06.05.2022. https://www.plutobooks.com/blog/the-limits-to-partygate/
Article
Morrison J (2021) "Scrounger-bashing" as national pastime: the prevalence and ferocity of anti-welfare ideology on niche-interest online forums. Social Semiotics, 31 (3), pp. 383-401. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2021.1930859
Book Chapter
Morrison J (2021) Pluralist public sphere or elitist closed circle? Elite-driven agendas and contributor ‘chemistry’ as determinants of pundit choice on a flagship BBC politics show. In: Morrison J, Birks J & Berry M (eds.) Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. 1 ed. Routledge Companions. Abingdon: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Political-Journalism/Morrison-Birks-Berry/p/book/9780367248222#
Book Chapter
Introduction: The New terrain of mediated politics
Morrison J, Birks J & Berry M (2021) Introduction: The New terrain of mediated politics. In: Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. Routledge Companions. Abingdon: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Political-Journalism/Morrison-Birks-Berry/p/book/9780367248222
Book Chapter
Morrison J (2020) From Community To Commerce? Analytics, audience 'engagement' and how local newspapers are renegotiating news values in the age of pageview-driven journalism. In: Gulyas A & Baines D (eds.) Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism. Routledge Media and Cultural Studies Companions. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 312-320. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Local-Media-and-Journalism/Gulyas-Baines/p/book/9780815375364?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9fX9koik_gIVlWDmCh0A3Qa2EAAYASAAEgIV7fD_BwE
Website Content
Pluralism or partisanship? Calibrating punditry on BBC2's Politics Live
Morrison J (2019) Pluralism or partisanship? Calibrating punditry on BBC2's Politics Live. electionanalysis.uk [Blog post] 16.12.2019. https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2019/section-7-news-and-journalism/pluralism-or-partisanship-calibrating-punditry-on-bbc2s-politics-live/
Article
Morrison J (2019) Re-framing free movement in the countdown to Brexit? Shifting UK press portrayals of EU migrants in the wake of the referendum. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 21 (3), pp. 594-611. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148119851385
Monograph
Scroungers: Moral Panics and Media Myths
Morrison J (2019) Scroungers PDF. London: Zed Books (Bloomsbury). https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/scroungers-9781786992130/
Book Chapter
Morrison JG (2018) Online News Audiences as Co-Authors? The Extent and Limits of Collaborative Citizen-Professional Journalism on Newspaper Comment Threads. In: Visnovsky J & Radosinska J (eds.) London: InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77098
Article
Finishing the "Unfinished" Story: Online newspaper discussion threads as journalistic texts
Morrison J (2017) Finishing the "Unfinished" Story: Online newspaper discussion threads as journalistic texts. Digital Journalism, 5 (2), pp. 213-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2016.1165129
Article
Morrison J (2017) Chilling at the grassroots? The impact of the Leveson Inquiry on journalist-source relations and the reporting of the powerful at local level. Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies, 6 (1), pp. 17-35. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms.6.1.17_1
Other
Invisible enemies, wars without winners: When 'khaki elections' fail
Morrison J (2017) Invisible enemies, wars without winners: When 'khaki elections' fail. electionanalysis.uk [electionanalysis.uk] 12.06.2017. https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-4-parties-and-the-campaign/invisible-enemies-wars-without-winners-when-khaki-elections-fail/
Monograph
Familiar Strangers, Juvenile Panic and the British Press: The Decline of Social Trust
Morrison J (2016) Familiar Strangers, Juvenile Panic and the British Press: The Decline of Social Trust. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137529954
Conference Paper (published)
Morrison J (2016) Framing families:'deserving'versus 'undeserving'households and neighbourhoods as glimpsed through juvenile panic stories in the online press. In: , Brighton and Hove, 21.03.2016-23.03.2016. London: Political Studies Association. https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2016/Framing%20Families%20conference%20paper.pdf
Other
Break-point for Brexit? How UKIP's image of 'hate' set race discourse reeling back decades.
Morrison J (2016) Break-point for Brexit? How UKIP's image of 'hate' set race discourse reeling back decades.. electionanalysis.uk [Blog post] 27.06.2016. https://www.referendumanalysis.uk/eu-referendum-analysis-2016/section-5-campaign-and-political-communication/break-point-for-brexit-how-ukips-image-of-hate-set-race-discourse-reeling-back-decades/
Website Content
Blot on the landscape: How Brighton and Hove kept the progressive dream alive.
Morrison J (2015) Blot on the landscape: How Brighton and Hove kept the progressive dream alive.. electionanalysis.uk [Blog post] 11.05.2015. https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/section-4-the-nations/blot-on-the-landscape-how-brighton-and-hove-kept-the-progressive-dream-alive/
Book Chapter
Armchair auditing and the great town hall transparency swindle.
Morrison J (2014) Armchair auditing and the great town hall transparency swindle.. In: Charles A (ed.) The End of Journalism 2.0. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 153-171. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0353-0563-0
Book Chapter
Morrison J (2013) Claims-makers versus counter claims-makers: new sites of civic conflict in the construction and contestation of moral panic narratives through online newspapers and user-generated content. In: The Media, Political Participation and Empowerment. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 142-157. https://www.routledge.com/The-Media-Political-Participation-and-Empowerment/Scullion-Gerodimos-Jackson-Lilleker/p/book/9781138830394#
Book Chapter
Morrison J (2011) Spin, smoke-filled rooms, and the decline of council reporting by local newspapers: the slow demise of town hall transparency.. In: Charles A & Stewart G (eds.) The End of Journalism: News in the 21st Century. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 193-210. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0353-0150-2
I am currently Programme Director for the MSc International Journalism and Module Coordinator for the International Journalism and Investigative Research Project modules. I also teach on the BA Journalism Studies module Contemporary Journalism Practice and the MSc Digital Media module Media Audiences
