Lecturer
Communications, Media and Culture Department of Journalism Studies, Pathfoot Building, Room A27 University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland UK
Fellow HEA
Higher Education Academy
Steven's research interests sit at the intersection between journalism studies, political communication and social theory. Harkins has published a monograph and a series of book chapters and journal articles on media representations of poverty and inequality.
Poor News: Media Discourses of Poverty in Times of Austerity was described in a review as providing ‘great insight to researchers interested in ethical journalism, public opinion on poverty and the British media landscape’. His other publications in this area have focussed on journalism ethics and media representations of the ‘underclass’. Harkins is also a reviewer for a range of journals including the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies, Poverty, Journal of Contemporary European Studies and PeerJ.
Steven founded the Communication of Inequalities Research Network in November 2023 as a forum to engage more deeply in the issues of representing inequality in the news media and to work with partners beyond academia to better understand the problems and seek solutions to these. He has also published research on environmental communications with a focus on conservation and climate change.
Book Chapter
Place, Pluralism and the Media Who Tells Us About Political Affairs? Steven Harkins
Harkins S (2024) Place, Pluralism and the Media Who Tells Us About Political Affairs? Steven Harkins. In: An Introduction to UK Politics: Place, Pluralism, and Identities. 1st ed. London: Sage, pp. 183-201.
Book Chapter
Climate Obstruction in Scotland: the politics of oil and gas
Dinan W, Esteves V & Harkins S (2024) Climate Obstruction in Scotland: the politics of oil and gas. In: Brulle RJ, Roberts JT & Spencer MC (eds.) Climate Obstruction Across Europe. New York, NY 10016, United States of America: OUP, pp. 57 - 79. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197762042.001.0001
Book Chapter
Online climate denialism: Eco-systems and echo chambers
Dinan W, Bernardi C, Esteves V & Harkins S (2022) Online climate denialism: Eco-systems and echo chambers. In: Hansen A & Cox R (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Environment and Communication. 2nd Edition ed. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Environment-and-Communication/Hansen-Cox/p/book/9780367634483
Book Chapter
Journalistic deontology in news coverage of poverty in the digital age
Harkins S & Lugo-Ocando J (2021) Journalistic deontology in news coverage of poverty in the digital age. In: Miladi N (ed.) Global Media Ethics and the Digital Revolution. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003203551
Article
News selection and framing: the media as a stakeholder in human-carnivore coexistence
Arbieu U, Chapron G, Astaras C, Bunnefeld N, Harkins S, Iliopoulos Y, Mehring M, Reinhardt I & Mueller T (2021) News selection and framing: the media as a stakeholder in human-carnivore coexistence. Environmental Research Letters, 16 (6), Art. No.: 064075. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac05ef
Newspaper Article
Why is climate change still not top of the news agenda?
Harkins S (2019) Why is climate change still not top of the news agenda?. The Conversation. 19.09.2019.
Book Chapter
Harkins S & Lugo-Ocando J (2017) How Malthusian ideology crept into the newsroom: British tabloids and the coverage of the ‘underclass’. In: Kelsey D, Mueller F, Whittle A & KhosraviNik M (eds.) The Discourse of Financial Crisis and Austerity: Critical analyses of business and economics across disciplines. London: Routledge, pp. 78-93. https://www.routledge.com/The-Discourse-of-Financial-Crisis-and-Austerity-Critical-analyses-of-business/Kelsey-Mueller-Whittle-KhosraviNik/p/book/9780367220495
Monograph
Poor News: Media discourses of poverty in times of austerity
Harkins S & Lugo-Ocando J (2017) Poor News: Media discourses of poverty in times of austerity. Discourse, Power and Society. London: Rowman & Littlefield.
Book Chapter
Managing the social impacts of austerity Britain: The cultural politics of neo-liberal ‘nudging’
Briant E & Harkins S (2017) Managing the social impacts of austerity Britain: The cultural politics of neo-liberal ‘nudging’. In: Berry D (ed.) Cultural Politics in the Age of Austerity. The Cultural Politics of Media and Culture. Routledge, pp. 93-119.
Book Chapter
Harkins S & Lugo-Ocando J (2016) All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others: how and why inequality became invisible in the British press. In: Servaes J & Oyedemi T (eds.) The Praxis of Social Inequality in Media: A Global Perspective. Lexington Books.
Book Chapter
The poverty of ideas in the newsroom
Lugo-Ocando J & Harkins S (2015) The poverty of ideas in the newsroom. In: Blaming the Victim: How Global Journalism Fails Those in Poverty. London: Pluto Press, pp. 36-59. https://www.plutobooks.com/9781783712274/blaming-the-victim/
Article
Harkins S & Lugo-Ocando J (2015) How Malthusian ideology crept into the newsroom: British tabloids and the coverage of the ‘underclass’. Critical Discourse Studies, 13 (1), pp. 78-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2015.1074594
Newspaper Article
Justice should be the driving force for reporting on the refugee crisis
Harkins S (2015) Justice should be the driving force for reporting on the refugee crisis. The Conversation. 18.09.2015. https://theconversation.com/justice-should-be-the-driving-force-for-reporting-on-the-refugee-crisis-47387
Other
Harkins S (2015) One nation and two messages: how Scotland has become a problem for British journalists and the Labour Party. Jackson D (Editor) & Thorsen E (Editor) Political Studies Association. UK Election Analysis 20150: Media, Voters and the Campaign. Early reflections from leading UK academics. Political Studies Association. https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page-files/UK%20Election%20Analysis%202015%20-%20Jackson%20and%20Thorsen%20v1.pdf
Commentary
Rapid Response to Is the obesity epidemic exaggerated? Yes
Harkins S & Miller D (2015) Rapid Response to Is the obesity epidemic exaggerated? Yes. Commentary on: Basham P, Luik J. Is the obesity epidemic exaggerated? Yes BMJ 2008; 336 :244 doi:10.1136/bmj.39458.480764.AD. BMJ. https://www.bmj.com/content/336/7638/244/rr
Article
Teaching about terrorism in the United Kingdom: how it is done and what problems it causes
Miller D, Mills T & Harkins S (2011) Teaching about terrorism in the United Kingdom: how it is done and what problems it causes. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 4 (3), pp. 405-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2011.623416
Article
Harkins S & Jones M (2010) The Stockholm Network. BMJ, 341 (7781), pp. c6413-c6413. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c6413
I teach on a range of modules at the University of Stirling. Since joining the University in 2019 I have coordinated the following modules:
JOUU9A1 Introduction to Journalism Studies JOUU9A2 Ethical issues in journalism JOUU9A5 Contemporary Journalism Practice JOUPP03 Investigative Research JOUPPDP Investigative Research Project JOUU9SJ Journalism and Society JOUU9SJ Journalism and Society (SIM)
I have also contributed teaching to the following modules:
JOUPP02 International Journalism JOUPP08 Journalism Project JOUU9LN Analysing the Language of the News FMSU9A7 Researching the Media and Culture FMSU9A8 Dissertation in Film and Media
