Lesley Henderson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3603534 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lesley Henderson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lesley |
| FAMILY NAME | Henderson |
| SIGNATURE | HENDERSON L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Brunel University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0317-2890 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 90 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
EastEnders and the environment
The BBC flagship continuing drama EastEnders (1985-) is widely accepted as an exemplar of the 'entertainment-education' approach, embodying a strong public service ideology and rooted in Reithian values. In this paper, I explore the definitional role of the programme in addressing environmental issues in the digital age and argue that this is a novel opportunity to examine the limits and possibilities of the genre to engage with anthropogenic cri…
Drinking and Dropping’
Nigeria is reported as having released up to 0.34 million tonnes of plastic debris into the ocean in 2010 and ranked as the ninth country in the world for pollution of the marine environment. It is a postcolonial, oil rich country where plastic is cheap and widely available. Currently there is no government policy regulating single-use plastic products. Previous studies have identified university student residential areas as ‘hot spots’ for plast…
The media and public health
In this editorial, we examine what we see as the critical issues facing media research in emerging public health debates and call for a research agenda that takes account of media production, underpinned by political sciences
Flood disasters in the United Kingdom and India
Reports of flooding are becoming more frequent in the UK media, and evidence from the UK Environment Agency indicates that ‘living with flooding’ will become commonplace rather than exceptional. This study is the first to adopt a critical discourse analysis approach to compare UK newspaper reporting of floods in the developed and developing world. We present our analysis of major flood incidents in Northern England and Chennai, India, in 2015. Ou…
Popular television and public mental health
This paper explores how tensions and power differentials within public mental health interact with the practices of media production in entertainment television. I present the findings of a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with story consultants from mental health organisations and Senior Executives, Producers and script-writers from UK television series (n = 14). Story advisors welcome the opportunity to reach larger and yo…
Doctors in space (ships)
There has been considerable interest in images of medicine in popular science fiction and in representations of doctors in television fiction. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to doctors administering space medicine in science fiction. This article redresses this gap. We analyse the evolving figure of 'the doctor' in different popular science fiction television series. Building upon debates within Medical Sociology, Cultural Studies an…
News for Everyone? Perspectives of Young People and Journalists on Political Reporting in UK Television’
Numerous studies have focused on young people and the extent to which they are politically (dis)connected; but we know far less about how ‘young people’ are perceived by journalists and editors who ‘make’ political news. This article reflects on a qualitative study involving focus groups with young adults aged 16–24 years (n = 80) and interviews with television news journalists and editors (n = 26). Young people perceived television news as overl…
Simon Cross, Mediating Madness
Television News and the Symbolic Criminalisation of Young People
This essay combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of six UK television news programmes. It seeks to analyse the representation of young people within broadcast news provision at a time when media representations, political discourse and policy making generally appear to be invoking young people as something of a folk devil or a locus for moral panics. The quantitative analysis examines the frequency with which young people appear as main …
Social Issues in Television Fiction
Social Issues in Television Fiction
Orchestrating a science ‘event’
June 2000 saw the triumphal announcement of the completion of the human genome \n‘working draft’. This attracted extensive, peak and vivid coverage. While several studies have \nexplored media coverage of the announcement, there has been little discussion of the production \nprocess: the overall aims, values and structures which underpinned this staged event. This \narticle redresses this gap and draws on ten interviews with UK journalists and th…
Envisaging the embryo in stem cell research
How is the embryo defined, envisaged, imagined? Who speaks on its behalf, and how? Based on a study of UK press and TV news reporting, this paper identifies the rhetorical strategies used to assert competing ethical positions around embryonic stem cell research. We show how both sides in the dispute mobilise metaphors and use personification to recruit support; and how they promote different ideas about the embryo's significance, size, and social…
The human drama of genetics
This paper examines media coverage of 'breast cancer genetics', and explores its implications for public understanding. We present a content analysis of coverage in British newspapers and look at a variety of popular forms, including women's magazines, television soap opera and radio drama. Genetic/inherited risk receives a great deal of coverage across a wide range of media formats and outlets. Much of this attention has focused on individuals f…
Envisaging the embryo in stem cell research
How is the embryo defined, envisaged, imagined? Who speaks on its behalf, and how? Based on a study of UK press and TV news reporting, this paper identifies the rhetorical strategies used to assert competing ethical positions around embryonic stem cell research. We show how both sides in the dispute mobilise metaphors and use personification to recruit support; and how they promote different ideas about the embryo's significance, size, and social…
The human drama of genetics
This paper examines media coverage of 'breast cancer genetics', and explores its implications for public understanding. We present a content analysis of coverage in British newspapers and look at a variety of popular forms, including women's magazines, television soap opera and radio drama. Genetic/inherited risk receives a great deal of coverage across a wide range of media formats and outlets. Much of this attention has focused on individuals f…
Television News and the Symbolic Criminalisation of Young People
This essay combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of six UK television news programmes. It seeks to analyse the representation of young people within broadcast news provision at a time when media representations, political discourse and policy making generally appear to be invoking young people as something of a folk devil or a locus for moral panics. The quantitative analysis examines the frequency with which young people appear as main …
Flood disasters in the United Kingdom and India
Reports of flooding are becoming more frequent in the UK media, and evidence from the UK Environment Agency indicates that ‘living with flooding’ will become commonplace rather than exceptional. This study is the first to adopt a critical discourse analysis approach to compare UK newspaper reporting of floods in the developed and developing world. We present our analysis of major flood incidents in Northern England and Chennai, India, in 2015. Ou…
News for Everyone? Perspectives of Young People and Journalists on Political Reporting in UK Television’
Numerous studies have focused on young people and the extent to which they are politically (dis)connected; but we know far less about how ‘young people’ are perceived by journalists and editors who ‘make’ political news. This article reflects on a qualitative study involving focus groups with young adults aged 16–24 years (n = 80) and interviews with television news journalists and editors (n = 26). Young people perceived television news as overl…
The human drama of genetics
This paper examines media coverage of 'breast cancer genetics', and explores its implications for public understanding. We present a content analysis of coverage in British newspapers and look at a variety of popular forms, including women's magazines, television soap opera and radio drama. Genetic/inherited risk receives a great deal of coverage across a wide range of media formats and outlets. Much of this attention has focused on individuals f…
Envisaging the embryo in stem cell research
How is the embryo defined, envisaged, imagined? Who speaks on its behalf, and how? Based on a study of UK press and TV news reporting, this paper identifies the rhetorical strategies used to assert competing ethical positions around embryonic stem cell research. We show how both sides in the dispute mobilise metaphors and use personification to recruit support; and how they promote different ideas about the embryo's significance, size, and social…
Social Issues in Television Fiction
Social Issues in Television Fiction
Orchestrating a science ‘event’
June 2000 saw the triumphal announcement of the completion of the human genome \n‘working draft’. This attracted extensive, peak and vivid coverage. While several studies have \nexplored media coverage of the announcement, there has been little discussion of the production \nprocess: the overall aims, values and structures which underpinned this staged event. This \narticle redresses this gap and draws on ten interviews with UK journalists and th…
Television News and the Symbolic Criminalisation of Young People
This essay combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of six UK television news programmes. It seeks to analyse the representation of young people within broadcast news provision at a time when media representations, political discourse and policy making generally appear to be invoking young people as something of a folk devil or a locus for moral panics. The quantitative analysis examines the frequency with which young people appear as main …
Simon Cross, Mediating Madness
News for Everyone? Perspectives of Young People and Journalists on Political Reporting in UK Television’
Numerous studies have focused on young people and the extent to which they are politically (dis)connected; but we know far less about how ‘young people’ are perceived by journalists and editors who ‘make’ political news. This article reflects on a qualitative study involving focus groups with young adults aged 16–24 years (n = 80) and interviews with television news journalists and editors (n = 26). Young people perceived television news as overl…
Doctors in space (ships)
There has been considerable interest in images of medicine in popular science fiction and in representations of doctors in television fiction. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to doctors administering space medicine in science fiction. This article redresses this gap. We analyse the evolving figure of 'the doctor' in different popular science fiction television series. Building upon debates within Medical Sociology, Cultural Studies an…
Popular television and public mental health
This paper explores how tensions and power differentials within public mental health interact with the practices of media production in entertainment television. I present the findings of a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with story consultants from mental health organisations and Senior Executives, Producers and script-writers from UK television series (n = 14). Story advisors welcome the opportunity to reach larger and yo…
The media and public health
In this editorial, we examine what we see as the critical issues facing media research in emerging public health debates and call for a research agenda that takes account of media production, underpinned by political sciences
Flood disasters in the United Kingdom and India
Reports of flooding are becoming more frequent in the UK media, and evidence from the UK Environment Agency indicates that ‘living with flooding’ will become commonplace rather than exceptional. This study is the first to adopt a critical discourse analysis approach to compare UK newspaper reporting of floods in the developed and developing world. We present our analysis of major flood incidents in Northern England and Chennai, India, in 2015. Ou…
Drinking and Dropping’
Nigeria is reported as having released up to 0.34 million tonnes of plastic debris into the ocean in 2010 and ranked as the ninth country in the world for pollution of the marine environment. It is a postcolonial, oil rich country where plastic is cheap and widely available. Currently there is no government policy regulating single-use plastic products. Previous studies have identified university student residential areas as ‘hot spots’ for plast…
EastEnders and the environment
The BBC flagship continuing drama EastEnders (1985-) is widely accepted as an exemplar of the 'entertainment-education' approach, embodying a strong public service ideology and rooted in Reithian values. In this paper, I explore the definitional role of the programme in addressing environmental issues in the digital age and argue that this is a novel opportunity to examine the limits and possibilities of the genre to engage with anthropogenic cri…
Sociology (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Media studies (7 works) · Media Studies and Communication (6 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Law (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Psychology (4 works)