About the centre

Over the past ten years the Centre for the Study of Journalism and History has established itself as a forum for interdisciplinary research on journalism and history.

A copy of The Daily Mirror from 1906. Suffragettes are on the front page.
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We have organised more than ten international conferences, bringing together experts from over 20 countries to set up dialogues about using journalism both as a source for understanding the past and for clarifying ideas about the public sphere, language and discourse.

We are particularly interested in developing robust methodologies for exploiting digital archives of journalism content.

Current members have attracted almost one million pounds in external funding. Recent published work includes Tabloid Century by Bingham and Conboy (2015); the Routledge Companion to British Media History edited by Conboy and Steel (2018); The Cato Street Conspiracy edited by McElligott and Conboy (2020) and Letters to the Editor edited by Kavanagh and Steel (2020).

We have a thriving postgraduate research community with a rich set of digital and physical resources, and we encourage applications and expressions of interest in any area of relevance to our current research projects.

Beyond the academy, we are regular contributors to media discussion and welcome enquiries from producers and journalists. Please see below for our email addresses.

Aims

  • to be at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into the journalism of the past and to provide a focal point for scholarly debates in this field
  • to set up dialogues about using journalism both as a source for understanding the past and for clarifying ideas about the public sphere, language and discourse
  • to provide a focus for methodological conversations about the exploitation of digital resources
  • to engage more broadly in social and media debates about the relationship between history and journalism.

Spotlight on: Marsh's Library

Marsh's Library is one of the centre's linked institutions.

Marsh’s Library is a beautifully-preserved library of the Enlightenment located right in the heart of Dublin. It houses important collections of European books and manuscripts from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. There are around 30,000 printed volumes, and 300 manuscripts.

When it opened in 1707 it was the first public library in Ireland. The interior of the library has remained largely unchanged over the past 300 years, and visitors come from all over the world to admire the architecture and soak up the atmosphere.

Marsh's is an active research library which teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in book history and print culture and welcomes visiting scholars from across the globe. The catalogue of holdings is available at marshlibrary.ie

Enquiries

For information, or to join our mailing list, contact the directors of the centre, Prof Martin Conboy (m.conboy@sheffield.ac.uk) or Prof Adrian Bingham (adrian.bingham@sheffield.ac.uk). We welcome enquiries about supervision for postgraduate research on journalism and history.

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