Judith Townend’s doctoral research at the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism, City University London, examines how English defamation and privacy law affect media publication processes.
My research focuses on legal restraints on the media, in particular, the pre-publication process; the interaction between media organisations and privacy/defamation law; and notions of self-censorship and the ‘chilling effect’. Research interests include: injunctions, defamation/privacy law, legal data, open justice, online publishing and blogging, media ethics and accountability. I can be found on Academia.edu here.
Publications
- Barnett, S. and Townend, J. (2014) ‘Plurality, policy and the local: can hyperlocals fill the gap?’, Journalism Practice, 9 September
- Williams A., Barnett S., Harte D. and Townend, J. (2014) The State of UK Hyperlocal Community News: Findings from a survey of practitioners, July
- Barnett, S. and Townend, J. (2014) ‘”And What Good Came Of It At Last?” Press-politician relations post Leveson’ The Political Quarterly, Vol. 85, Issue 2, 159-169, April-June
- Townend, J. (2014) ‘Online chilling effects in England and Wales’, Internet Policy Review, 3 April
- Townend, J. (2014) ‘Layers of consent’, Ethical Space, Vol. 11, No. 3
- Townend, J (2013) ‘Closed Data: Defamation and Privacy Disputes in England & Wales‘, Journal of Media Law, Vol. 5, No. 1, July 2013, 31-44(14)
- Townend, J (2013) ‘Leveson online: A publicly reported inquiry‘, Ethical Space, Vol. 10, No. 1
- Bennett, D and Townend, J, ‘Scandal of selective reporting’ (2012) British Journalism Review Vol. 23, Number 2
- Townend, J (2012), ed. Justice Wide Open. Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism Working Paper series.
- Townend, J (2012), Justice Wide Open (An introduction), Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, May/June 2012
- Bennett, Daniel and Townend, Judith, ‘Press “Omerta”: How Newspapers’ Failure to Report the Phone Hacking Scandal Exposed the Limitations of Media Accountability‘ (2012) published in The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism on Trial, edited by Keeble and Mair (Abramis 2012)
- Townend, J. (2011) ‘Navigating digital publishing law without a ‘night lawyer’: an exploration of informal legal support networks’, Cultural Policy, Criticism and Management Research 5: 27-46.
- Townend, J. (2011) ‘Battle of (t)wits? Using Twitter as a journalistic tool’ in Face the Future: Tools for the Modern Media Age, Arima, edited by John Mair and Richard Lance Keeble
- Townend, J. (2010) ‘The ethics of the ‘blind story’ and ‘fair game’ gossip’, Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, Vol 7, No 1 2010
Conference presentations
- Paper (with Denis Muller), ‘The Get Guido clause? A comparative analysis of online news regulation in the UK and Australia’, Society of Legal Scholars annual conference, Nottingham, 10 September 2014
- Paper (with Steven Barnett), ‘Artisanal news: how can national and transnational media policy help sustain and grow an emerging hyperlocal sector?’, IAMCR annual conference, Hyderabad, 18 July 2014
- Paper, ‘Decentralised media-legal work in Australia and the UK: court suppression orders and injunctions’, IAMCR annual conference, Hyderabad, 16 July 2014
- Panel presentation on local media pluralism, Film and Media 2014, Institute of Education, University of London, 27 June 2014
- Presentation at ‘Justice Open and Shut’ workshop on suppression orders, University Technology Sydney, 4 June 2014
- Paper (with Steven Barnett), ‘“And What Good Came Of It At Last?” Press-politician relations post Leveson’, Political Studies Association annual conference, 15 April 2014
- Presentation at ‘The challenges of citizen journalism: Technology and the law’, Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) seminar at Wolfson College, Oxford, 24 January 2014
- Invited participant, Early Stage Researchers’ Colloquium, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, 21 November 2013
- Paper, ‘Participant consent in the digital era’, Institute of Communication Ethics annual conference, 25 September 2013
- Paper, ‘An uncertain climate: Defamation, privacy and the resolution of disputes outside the courtroom’, Society of Legal Scholars annual conference, 4 September 2013
- Panel presentation, ‘Participant consent in journalistic process: legal and ethical issues in a digital age‘, Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication Working Group session: ‘Emotional and trauma literacy in journalism’s digital age’, IAMCR 2013 Conference, Dublin City University, 27 June 2013
- Panel presentation, ‘Searching for the data: policy-making, legal reform and the media debate’, Law Section session: ‘Media scandal and crisis’, IAMCR 2013 Conference, Dublin City University, 26 June 2013
- Paper, ‘Obstacles to accessing information about defamation and privacy dispute resolution in England & Wales and the effect on the development of post-Leveson reform‘, WG Hart Legal Workshop 2013, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 24 June 2013
- Speaker, ‘Open courts data, open justice… and the right to be forgotten?‘, first joint seminar of the DP Forum and NADPO (The National Association of Data Protection Officers), 4 June 2013
- Paper, ‘Closed data: researching defamation and privacy disputes in England & Wales’, Research Methodologies and Methods stream, SLSA conference 2013
- Poster, ‘Defamation’s “chilling effect”: Mapping the social articulation of a legal concept’, SLSA conference 2013 [PDF]
- Presentations, ‘From News Cycle to News Spirograph‘, Imagine Journalism in Ten Years’ Time, Northampton University, 7 March 2013
- Paper, ‘The right to receive information: broadening the public’s access to media events’, Media policy post-Leveson conference, Bournemouth University, 8 February 2013
- Presentation, ‘Media law for community journalists and bloggers’, Community Journalism Conference, Cardiff University, 16 January 2013
- Paper, ‘The limits of journalism: self-censorship, organisational structures and notions of newsworthiness’, Joint PhD symposium for media, communication and journalism, University of Westminster, 23 November 2012
- Invited participant, Policy Conference – EU Competencies in Respect of Media Pluralism and Media Freedom, Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom, Florence, 29 October 2012
- Paper, ‘Leveson online: A publicly reported inquiry’, Institute of Communication Ethics annual seminar, 25 October 2012
- Speaker, Terrorism & Security Research in the UK: Using and Understanding Legal Resources, Research Training at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, 15 June 2012
- Speaker, After Phone Hacking? Fourth Annual Conference of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University Westminster, in association with the British Journalism Review. London, 30 May 2012
- Panellist, Rebellious Media Conference, London, October 2011
- Participant, Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, July 2011
- Speaker, Face the Future journalism conference, Coventry University, November 2010
- Speaker, Is World Journalism in Crisis? Coventry University, October 2009
- Speaker, Institute of Communication Ethics annual conference, Coventry University, October 2009
Teaching
- Lecturer in department of journalism at City University London (2013-14)
- Visiting lecturer, School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster / Faculty of Laws, University College London
- Guest talks at Northampton University; Kingston University London; Coventry University; University of Lincoln; Southwestern Law School (UCL)
- Social media and community journalism seminars, MA Interactive Journalism, City University London