Kate Wright

Professor Kate Wright

Small Group Project 2015-16

The Future of IRIN

Consideration of the influence of foundation funding on international news is, at the moment, limited to theoretical critique or brief critical discussions of anecdotal examples. As Browne (2010:890) puts it, ‘there has not, as yet, been any comprehensive content analysis of the work produced by foundation-funded journalists and it would be unfair to jump to critical conclusions via anecdote’. Feldman’s (2007:445) conclusion that, ‘the funded left has moved towards the mainstream as it has increased its dependence on foundations’, for example, is no more than an assertion drawn from data showing a general increase in foundation funding for media organisations over time. Existing studies are also focussed almost exclusively on the influence of US foundations on US media.

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Areas of interest

Journalism Digital Media Artificial Intelligence Politics International Relations Political Economy Diplomacy Media Governance

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FG1

Biography

Kate Wright is Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Edinburgh. Her research explores how journalism, digital media, and AI intersect with politics and IR. She specialises in comparative studies, focusing on political economy, public diplomacy, media governance, and journalism production practice. These interests arose from her previous experience of producing Scottish, UK, and international news for the BBC, as well as investigative documentaries.

Her research publications have won several awards, including from the International Studies Association, the International Communication Association, and the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association. Her work is regularly featured in quality media, including ABC (Australia), Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair.

She is the founder of the 80-strong interdisciplinary research cluster in Media and Communications at Edinburgh Futures Institute, a Fellow of the Generative AI Laboratory, and a research associate of the Centre for Governance and Human Rights at the University of Cambridge. She also sits on the editorial boards of two of the 'top five' communications journals, Digital Journalism and the International Journal of Press/Politics, and served on an expert research assessment panel for the Observatory on Information and Democracy, which advises policymakers in 50 countries.

Biographical details correct as of 21.05.26