Chris Atton
Encyclopedia
Christopher Frank Atton is Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University. His work focuses on Alternative Media
where his contribution has concentrated on the notion of alternative media not as an essentialised political position but as a set of socio-cultural processes that redraw the boundaries of expert culture and media power. His research interests include popular music
, the creative economy, and teaching and learning in higher education
. Atton has also written on censorship
and media ethics
.
Latin texts before training as a librarian in Leeds in 1985. After several years working in public and college libraries, he was appointed Science Librarian at Edinburgh Napier University in 1992. He was made a Fellow of the Library Association (UK) in 1995 and received the American Library Association
's Jackie Eubanks Memorial Award 'in recognition of outstanding achievements in promoting alternative media in libraries' in 1998. Following posts as Lecturer and Reader, Atton was conferred with Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
in 2007 and appointed Professor in the School of Arts and Creative Industries in October 2008. He was appointed to membership of the Arts and Humanities Research Council
's Peer Review College in 2010.
Selected articles
Edited volumes
Other
A full list of book chapters, encyclopaedia entries, peer reviewed articles, keynote addresses, public lectures, conference and other items is held at the Edinburgh Napier University Repository.
Alternative media
Alternative media are media which provide alternative information to the mainstream media in a given context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or government-owned...
where his contribution has concentrated on the notion of alternative media not as an essentialised political position but as a set of socio-cultural processes that redraw the boundaries of expert culture and media power. His research interests include popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, the creative economy, and teaching and learning in higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
. Atton has also written on censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and media ethics
Media ethics
Media ethics is the subdivision of applied ethics dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of media, including broadcast media, film, theatre, the arts, print media and the internet...
.
Education
Atton was awarded his PhD in 1999 with a study of the British alternative press; he also holds an MA (Hons) in Latin Studies from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester.Academic career
Atton started academic life as a translator of RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Latin texts before training as a librarian in Leeds in 1985. After several years working in public and college libraries, he was appointed Science Librarian at Edinburgh Napier University in 1992. He was made a Fellow of the Library Association (UK) in 1995 and received the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
's Jackie Eubanks Memorial Award 'in recognition of outstanding achievements in promoting alternative media in libraries' in 1998. Following posts as Lecturer and Reader, Atton was conferred with Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
Higher Education Academy
The Higher Education Academy is an independent organisation in the United Kingdom that supports higher education institutions with strategies for the development of research and evaluation to improve the learning experience for students.-History:...
in 2007 and appointed Professor in the School of Arts and Creative Industries in October 2008. He was appointed to membership of the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Established in April 2005 as successor to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Arts and Humanities Research Council is a British Research Council and non-departmental public body that provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the...
's Peer Review College in 2010.
Scholarship
Books- Alternative Journalism (Sage, 2008, with James F. Hamilton)
- An Alternative Internet (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)
- Alternative Media (Sage, 2002)
- Alternative Literature (Gower, 1996)
- The Kabbalistic Diagrams of Rosenroth (Christian Knorr von RosenrothChristian Knorr von RosenrothChristian Knorr von Rosenroth was a German Hebraist born at Alt-Raudten, today Stara Rudna in Silesia. After having completed his studies in the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, he traveled through Holland, France, and England.On his return he settled at Sulzbach and devoted himself to the...
) (Hermetic Research Trust, 1987) (co-translator: Stephen Dziklewicz)
Selected articles
- 'Popular Music Fanzines: Genre, Aesthetics and the “Democratic Conversation”', Popular Music and Society 33(4), 2010: 517-531
- 'Writing about Listening: Alternative Discourses in Rock Journalism', Popular Music 28(1), 2009: 53-67
- 'Current Issues in Alternative Media Research', Sociology Compass 1(1), 2007: 17-27
- 'Far-right Media on the Internet: Culture, Discourse and Power', New Media and Society 8(4), 2006: 573-587
- 'News Cultures and New Social Movements: Radical Journalism and the Mainstream Media', Journalism Studies 3(4), November 2002: 491-505
- 'Living in the Past?: Value Discourses in Progressive Rock Fanzines', Popular Music 20 (1), January 2001: 29-46
- 'A Re-assessment of the Alternative Press', Media, Culture and Society 21(1), January 1999: 51-76
- 'The librarian as ethnographer: notes towards a strategy for the exploitation of cultural collections', Collection Building 17(4), 1998: 154-158
- 'Anarchy on the Internet: Obstacles and Opportunities for Alternative Electronic Publishing', Anarchist Studies 4(2), October 1996: 115-132
- 'The Consideratio Brevis of Philip à Gabella', The Hermetic Journal, 1989: 79-97 (translator)
Edited volumes
- Journalism: Theory, Practice, Criticism: ‘New Media and Journalism Practice in Africa’, 12(3), August 2011 (co-editor: Hayes Mabweazara)
- Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture: 'News and the Net: Convergences and Divergences', 3(1), June 2006
- Media, Culture and Society; 'Alternative Media', 25(5), September 2003 (co-editor: Nick Couldry)
- Journalism: Theory, Practice, Criticism: 'What is "Alternative Journalism?', 4(3), August 2003
Other
A full list of book chapters, encyclopaedia entries, peer reviewed articles, keynote addresses, public lectures, conference and other items is held at the Edinburgh Napier University Repository.