Impact case study database

BU researchers, with the Omega Research Foundation, produced a report based on Feigenbaum’s research [R1], commissioned by the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on the use of tear gas by police against peaceful demonstrators in member states between 2006 and 2016 [E1a]. Recommendations 2 and 9 [E1a] were adapted for inclusion in points 7.2 and 7.3 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE’s Resolution 2116: Urgent need to prevent human rights violations during peaceful protests [E1b].

The report was passed to the CoE’s European Committee for Democracy through Law (Venice Committee), influencing the revised Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (3rd ed.) 2019 [E1c]. The Committee’s Co-Secretary said, “I shared [the report] … the colleagues from the Venice Commission were pleased to receive it as they are in the process of revising their guidelines on peaceful assembly” [E2].

Feigenbaum has worked with journalists reporting for more than 50 different media outlets in more than 25 countries, garnering a media reach of over 2,000,000 since 2016.

In 2019, Feigenbaum produced a guide for reporting on the use of tear gas and LLWs in Hong Kong, used by over 25 journalists. The guide was repurposed in 2020 for the Black Lives Matter protests, hosted by Columbia University’s Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma; a resource centre and think tank for journalists who cover violence, conflict and tragedy around the world. As of 8 December 2020, it had been viewed over 600 times.

[Text removed for publication] said, “Anna's research has directly informed, and indeed started, stories my team has produced on the use of tear gas, less lethal munitions and anti-protest equipment. In 2019, Anna analysed video evidence we collected of police overreach in Hong Kong, which became a series of stories … [that] drew attention to police abuses” [E3a]. [Text removed for publication] [E3b, E3c].

Speaking more broadly, [text removed for publication] said, “Anna's research and her commentary on the use of tear gas has educated journalists and editors who are covering instances where its use is questionable. It has created an understanding that scrutiny of police forces who use tear gas is a valid reporting target” [E3a].

According to Amnesty International (AI), “the use and often misuse of law enforcement equipment in the context of policing public assembly has emerged as a key issue for Amnesty International’s research and advocacy work […] Bournemouth University's work on this area is crucial for furthering our understanding of the effects of tear gas, tracking its trade and combatting its misuse” [E4]. In 2019 and 2020, Feigenbaum consulted with project leads to help conceptualise the scope and design for Tear Gas: An Investigation – a new AI digital storytelling platform and advocacy campaign around the use of tear gas on peaceful protesters. It has received 12,834 unique page views since its launch in June 2020 [E5].

From collaborating with Feigenbaum since 2011, [text removed for publication] has acquired skills in data visualisation and communication strategy that have improved its communications, benefitting the NGOs and practitioners they work with [E6]. “We sent these [infographics] out to … people defending human rights quite frequently to help them to understand the different types of projectiles that have been used” [E6].

Beginning in 2015, Feigenbaum led the development of RiotID; a civic media project designed to help civilians and journalists in protest situations to identify LLWs, comprising infographics, training materials, lesson plans and a board game, available in eight languages. RiotID has been used at workshops in the United Kingdom, the United States, Palestine, Brazil and South Korea by over 100 human rights monitors, field medics and journalists, who reported an increase in skills and knowledge relating to monitoring and recording [as demonstrated by E7]. The RiotID website, launched in June 2019, has seen over 10,000 visitors.

[Text removed for publication] describes how RiotID “has been a really useful project in terms of communicating information and building relationships with people who are involved in protests in various countries ... [RiotID has] encouraged us to record information more accurately and safely” [E6].

In a 2015 article titled The Unlikely Connection Between the Whitney Museum and Riot Gear [E8a], arts magazine Hyperallergic cited Feigenbaum’s arguments that the corporate producers of these weapons must be exposed and held accountable for their misuse [first published in E9, then R1]. A resulting public campaign in 2018 led to the resignation of Warren B. Kanders, CEO of LLW supplier Safariland, from the Whitney Museum board in July 2019 [E8b, E8c]. The campaign involved over 1,000 participants and included direct action protests in the museum and outside Kanders’ home.

Also involved in this campaign was Forensic Architecture, a research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of London, who responded to an invitation to participate in the 2019 Whitney Biennale with the research project Triple-Chaser - a statement on Kanders’ involvement in the tear gas industry [E10a].

On Feigenbaum’s book [R1], Forensic Architecture says: “[it] was foundational to our thinking on the [Triple-Chaser] project in those early stages, as were the calls and discussions that we had with Anna during the early stages of our research, around January 2019. […] her research did not only inform further academic work, but also action in the world, which ultimately led to the resignation of Warren B. Kanders from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art” [E10b].

Overall, Oliver’s research findings led to a number of significant instrumental and financial impacts in the UK with Ofcom (the UK’s communications services regulator), leading media, communications and management consultancies; and outside the UK with government agencies and businesses in the Middle East, Pakistan and Liberia. As a result of his research, Oliver also joined Ofcom’s expert group to measure the BBC’s performance under Public Purpose 3 (Distinctiveness).

Oliver’s research [R1, R2, R3] provided insight into how Sky Plc had adapted its media strategy and managed the digital transition. It provided evidence that enabled Ofcom to gain “a unique insight into their strategic approach” and the reasons behind Sky Plc’s growth strategy [E1].

Previously, Ofcom had been concerned that Sky Plc were moving towards a monopoly position in the pay-TV market, but the research findings enabled Ofcom to “think differently about their ‘growth strategy’ and presented them in a different light”. Ofcom used Oliver’s findings to conclude that Sky Plc’s entry into new markets (broadband, Wi-Fi, fixed and mobile telephony) had “contributed to increased levels of competition in those sectors”, which resulted in a policy decision “not to implement more demanding regulatory measures on Sky” [E1].

The findings also provided Ofcom with an opportunity to “consider the extent of their remit as a communications regulator, and the potential areas where they could use their expertise in the future”. The findings were used to inform strategic discussions on its - ultimately successful - remit on the UK’s “regulation of the internet” [E1].

The Hackett Group is a global management consultancy offering consultancy on digital transformation and firm performance to 97% of the US Dow Jones Industrial Index firms and 59% of the UK’s FTSE 100 firms. Oliver’s research into strategic digital transformation [R1, R2, R4] provided “an innovative approach that integrated strategy, firm resource allocation and key performance indicators” [E2], which directly influenced the strategic approach to the development of a new digital strategy and analytics service to improve the economic competitiveness of its clients. In particular, the research changed the company’s “strategic approach, particularly in terms of targeting CEOs as well as CFOs with this new consultancy service” [E2].

The Hackett Group successfully launched its new consultancy service in 2016, which resulted in significant revenue and profits from consulting fees. The direct economic impact of the research has also resulted in multi-million-pound investments made by its clients (Tesco, John Lewis and Unilever) into resources and new jobs in digital strategy and analytics departments [E2].

The findings from the scenario planning research resulted in instrumental and financial impact outcomes for the international media and communications agency, Bell Pottinger.

Bell Pottinger used Oliver’s research into strategic media transformations and scenario planning [R2, R5, R6] and Oliver’s CPD training on scenario planning in its senior communicators development programme, and wider consultancy projects, for a range of government agencies in the Middle East. Oliver was involved in client briefings, and subsequent Bell Pottinger engagements with government agencies were “based directly” on his scenario planning research [E3].

Oliver’s research findings [R6] provided clients with a structured and creative approach that resulted in them changing their “ingrained behaviours” [E3] and developing adaptive strategies, whilst operating in uncertain working conditions. A former partner at Bell Pottinger stated that Oliver’s scenario planning approach resulted in the firm providing “better client advice and more appropriate strategic responses” [E3] and had been used “to launch a new business” (Special Project Partners Ltd.), which provides “strategic communication consultancy services to government agencies and multinational firms worldwide” [E3].

In 2017, the use of scenario planning contributed to Bell Pottinger generating more than GBP3,500,000 in revenue from consulting fees, whilst its clients made significant investment in new communication resources [E3]. The scenario planning research findings were also used to develop flexible strategic responses for a political party in Pakistan and an agri-business in Liberia [E3].

Over 800,000 people die by suicide worldwide every year, making it the 15th leading cause of death ( World Health Organisation 2016, Ritchie and Roser 2019). In 2018, 6,507 people died in the UK, leaving 39,000- 880,000 people bereaved by suicide [R5].

Luce’s research has shown that sensational, irresponsible and unethical reporting of suicide impacts suicide rates [R1, R2]. Luce’s research has prompted a shift from poor-quality suicide coverage towards a more ethical approach across multimedia platforms [R1, R3, R4]. The research has contributed to the de-escalation of a suicide cluster in Dorset and the [text removed for publication] [R1, R4].

“[text removed for publication]”— Public Health England, South West Region [E1].

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reporting guidelines were originally created in 2008, in relation to print articles. The changing reporting environment and new research – including Luce’s systematic review of the Bridgend coverage [R3] – prompted an update in 2017 to include multimedia content [E2].

This update was carried out by the World Media Task Force for the Prevention of Suicide, of which Luce is a member. Luce led the work to update the recommendations for multimedia platforms [E2, p. vi, E3, p2], using the universally applicable ethical rules for responsible reporting identified in [R3, R4, R5]. According to the WHO, 15,000 journalists downloaded the guidelines in 2018 [E4]. Luce co-created an accompanying Suicide Reporting Toolkit [E5], embedding the WHO guidelines. As a result:

• WHO guidelines were adopted by Press Council of India in 2019 and embedded within Section 30(a) of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 in India [E6],

• [Text removed for publication] [E1].

• WHO guidelines and Suicide Reporting Toolkit were adopted by training organisations and resource centres, including the Ethical Journalism Network (UK) and The Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma (USA) [E3].

"… this work by Dr Luce has not only moved the dial in terms of tackling some of the stigma, but offers a practical clear set of guidelines for journalists and those at all levels of our industry.” — Ethical Journalism Network [E3].

The Responsible Suicide Reporting (RSR) model [R3, R4, R5] has been successfully applied to user-generated content in online communities, as well as in de-escalating a suicide cluster in Dorset. Lessons learnt from problematic historic print reporting is enabling safer, more ethical discourse on blogs, chat rooms and social media:

• Luce applied her responsible reporting rules to a 2018 collaboration on new Australian guidelines for young people. Luce’s contribution to #chatsafe is referenced on p. 3 of the guidelines. #chatsafe helps young people communicate safely about suicide online [E7].

• The #chatsafe guidelines have been adopted and embedded into Facebook’s safety centre and have been downloaded more than 30,000 times [E8].

Orygen explains Luce’s contribution to their guidelines: “Luce used her expertise to contribute to the guideline development, which included recommendations such as avoiding posting and sharing of images and graphic video content. She also provided advice around the importance of language relating to suicide, especially in terms of replacing stigmatizing language with more neutral terms.” [E8]

• [Text removed for publication] [E1].

“[Text removed for publication].”— Public Health England, South West Region [E1].

The research has also influenced policy, as demonstrated by work with Public Health England and the Welsh Assembly Government:

• In September 2019, Luce led the initial identification of a cluster of railway suicides in Dorset, triggering the creation of the Suicide Response Team. Luce’s research, [R2, R3, R4, R5] served as the foundation for the communication strategy that de-escalated media and community contagion and [text removed for publication] [E1].

• In 2018, Luce provided expert testimony before the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee of the Welsh Assembly Government as part of their investigations into high levels of suicide in Wales [E9: sections 231 to 239]. Three of Luce’s recommendations were adopted and implemented into the Welsh Suicide Prevention Strategy: Investigating media monitoring [E10, recommendation 27]; engaging with universities to deliver adequate guideline training [E10, recommendation 28]; and action to protect young people online [E10, recommendation 29].

Combined, Luce’s research has saved and protected lives by enabling more responsible and ethical suicide discourse across traditional, online and social media platforms. The overall impact has been realised worldwide, including the UK, USA, India and Australia.

The research findings outlined above have influenced the ways in which Paralympic sport is presented, in particular encouraging more representative coverage of disabled people in the build-up to and during the Tokyo 2020 Games, which are now due to take place in 2021.

The findings of this project were disseminated through a) a project report for non-academic stakeholders [R5], b) meetings with Channel 4, Para GB and UK Sport to discuss emergent findings, and c) an exhibition featuring artistic interpretations of the research data held in London in July 2019 [E1, E2]. The exhibition was attended by representatives from: Paralympics GB, UK Sport, Sport England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as well as executives from Channel 4.

Channel 4, who will broadcast the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in 2021, have made it clear that BU research will “underpin… future coverage of the Paralympics” [E3] and that the coverage will “embrace a wider spectrum of disabilities within para-sport coverage”, implementing our recommendations [R1, R2].

A film from the opening night of the exhibition [E2] was used by Channel 4 “as a provocation at the first meeting of the creative team”, resulting in “a key change of emphasis in the marketing for Tokyo 2020 - as a result of the research - [which] was a shift in how we will focus on elements of the athletes lives, as sports people and humans” [E3]. This move away from their portrayal of Paralympians as ‘superhuman’, draws directly on BU’s research which showed that this labelling was particularly problematic amongst disabled audiences [R4]. Based on the team’s recommendations [R5], Channel 4 have “engaged in dialogue with disability advocates, policy makers and disability rights groups with regard to how disabled people would like to be represented”, in order to shape coverage of Tokyo 2020 [E3].

Paralympics GB, the governing body for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the Paralympics, state that the “insights provided from the data … have framed the decisions we have made for Tokyo in 2021 and beyond” [E4]. In particular, the research has:

• “Informed the development of our new corporate strategy to focus more on athlete voice, which we identified as enabling the organisation to enhance its authenticity and credibility and allow Paralympics GB athletes to talk about wider social issues” [E4].

• “Supported our desire to incorporate a wider range of disabilities (beyond those that are most visible) in this marketing campaign and utilise the athlete’s voice to drive social change” [E4].

• Encouraged Paralympics GB to showcase “a wider range of sports, impairments and diversity – particularly with regards to BAME athletes” during Tokyo 2020 coverage [E4].

• Directly informed Paralympics GB’s marketing strategy for the 2021 Paralympics, [E4], drawing on project data which highlights the young and female audience for the Games [R5].

• Encouraged Paralympics GB to focus their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Tokyo 2020 around “increased public awareness of Paralympics GB athletes” and an improvement in “positive attitudes to disabled people” [E4].

In February 2019 BU collaborated with UK Sport to develop the UK Sport Public Attitudes Survey, focusing on public attitudes towards para-sport, the Paralympics, and media coverage of such events. The research team’s analysis of the initial results has helped shape UK Sport’s approach to para-sport events, enabling them to “explore territory that we had never specifically entered into before and enhanced our knowledge accordingly” [E5].

Silk, Jackson and Pullen later presented their broader research findings to a UK Sport all-staff session in February 2020, which:

• “Informed the ways [UK Sport] communicate regarding issues of para-sport … In particular, it is supporting our attempts to encourage the media to cover a broader spectrum of disabilities and parasport events” [E5]. This draws on our research highlighting a need for a broader representation of disabilities / events, as some disabled audiences feel current coverage does not represent them effectively [R1, R2, R4].

• “Helped to shape our communications strategy for the Tokyo Paralympic Games, … particularly in the audience demographics that we will seek to engage” [E5]. Specifically, UK Sport will now target a younger, female audience; drawing on BU’s finding that para-sport is more popular amongst these groups [R5].

• Supported UK Sport to “make a stronger case for increased funding from government” for para-sports [E5], drawing on the team’s evidence for both the popularity and progressive impact of watching para-sport [R5].

• Made “an invaluable contribution to a proposed new induction programme for those coming into Paralympic sport and to the enhanced support being developed for disabled athletes transitioning out of sport” [E5].

• Influenced diversity and inclusion (D&I) policy, particularly from our finding that there was a lack of racial and ethnic diversity across featured para-athletes during the Rio 2016 coverage [R5]. “The research has landed at a particularly opportune moment in UK Sport’s development in that, building on the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement, we have recently restated our commitment to the whole area of diversity and inclusion – i.e. to tackling racism in British sport; to implementing a far more ambitious internal D&I plan; and to driving forward D&I within our new strategy” [E5].

Sreedharan and Thorsen’s research identified post-disaster development and training as key priorities for Nepali journalists. Our interventions to address these needs had the following impacts:

Kamana Group, one of Nepal’s biggest media houses, with a daily audience reach totalling 850,000 people [E1], adopted a disaster-specific editorial policy across all its publications. To our knowledge, this is the world’s first editorial policy of this nature, and is a direct response to BU’s research recommendations [R4, R2]. According to Kamana Group, the policy has “without doubt enriched our work environment, not only providing staff members a new confidence and clarity on what the organisation expects of them, but also what they can expect of the organisation. [T]he policy has made me aware of the specific needs of our journalists during disasters and my own responsibilities as CEO and Publisher” [E1]. It also brought changes to “how we are approaching the pandemic situation and, importantly, in the mental preparedness of our journalists” [E1].

BU research [R4, R2] strengthened UNESCO’s planning on disaster journalism capacity-building and “contributed to [the] climate-change recommendations and policy-level lobbying that UNESCO is engaged in with the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology” [E2].

BU research [R4, R2] specifically recommended that news organisations be involved in national disaster management planning. These organisations have now been included in the Disaster Risk Reduction National Strategic Plan of Action 2018-30 (published in 2019) for the first time as ‘supporting agencies’ (p. 65). Contributors and key stakeholders in this report participated in the launch and briefing dinners associated with BU outputs [R4, R2, E3].

BU research [R5] made a “valuable contribution” to policy research in Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, providing “rich insights”, and influencing “thinking on gender mainstreaming and women empowerment in the media industry” [E4].

BU research prompted the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), the umbrella organisation of media professionals in Nepal (13,000 members), to make disaster journalism a strategic priority [R4, E3], supported by new safety guidance on Covid-19 [R5, E3], for which the FNJ President drew on BU research in his “capacity as member of Nepal’s national Disaster Risk Disaster Committee” [E3].

Working Women Journalists (WWJ) is the national organisation of women journalists in Nepal, with 650 members working in print, broadcast, community radio, and digital media. WWJ based its capacity-building activities for 2020/2021 around BU research [R1, R2, R4, R5, R6], so far producing training workshops, community events, and news outputs, which directly allowed more than 60 journalists to “access professional medical help [and brought] relief for our members… during the terrible time of Covid-19” [E5].

Centre for Investigative Journalism in Nepal (CIJ), part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, was persuaded by BU that disaster-specific investigations “are critical in strengthening disaster resilience in a nation such as Nepal” [E6]. Following BU recommendations, the CIJ investigated the impact of Covid-19 on Nepali society [R1, R4], since published in 15 news outlets in English and Nepali to an estimated audience of 3,600,000 [E6].

Nepal Press Institute (NPI) is the national industry training body for journalists in Nepal. BU research impacted NPI’s lobbying of the government for Covid-19 support for journalists [R5, E7]; being instrumental in NPI “adapting [their] training delivery and curriculum to meet the present pandemic climate”, with 76 journalists to date trained in disaster reporting [R4, E7].

Disaster Journalism Network (DJN) was established in 2020 by six community news organisations, in direct response to BU recommendations to bolster disaster resilience by creating collaborative networks [R4, R2]. To our knowledge, this is the world’s first ‘multi-room collaborative to strengthen disaster journalism’. Through its activities and journalism, the DJN “helped with the physical safety of 40 journalists [and helped] more than a dozen community members to have their voices heard by politicians” [E8].

Tribhuvan University (TU) is the Central University of Nepal, 12th largest in the world in student enrolment (600,000 students, 60 campuses, 1,084 affiliated colleges). After observing the impact on students of participating in www.aftershocknepal.com, TU is “currently revising [their] UG journalism curriculum to include disaster journalism lessons” [R5, R4, R2, E9].

Kantipur City College has initiated curriculum changes to its courses, based on BU research [R5, R4, E10]. “KCC has incorporated [disaster journalism] in different subjects including Media Theories, Public Communication, Media Management, non-credit courses and other academic activities as seminar and workshops” [E10].

The findings of Jenkins’ and Denegri-Knott’s research, and the results of The Engagement Zone study informed and transformed advertising in the TfL network and OOH advertising and improved consumers’ travel experiences.

As a result of the study underpinned by research by Jenkins [R1, R2] and Denegri-Knott [R3, R4, R5], Exterion Media secured a contract to manage TfL’s advertising real estate, worth GBP2,000,000,000 over eight years. This is the world’s largest OOH advertising contract [E1]. According to Exterion’s Head of Research: “The findings from the research were used to inform Exterion Media’s bid for the Transport for London’s advertising contract” [E2]. The success of the project contributed to Global buying Exterion Media in 2018 [E3] and is worth GBP150,000,000 per year to the outdoor media owner [E4]. For the Director of COG, “if the project had not been carried out, it is plausible that the contract would not have been awarded” [E5].

Additionally, insights generated have equipped the sale of advertising in a challenging market for ad sales in the UK and enabled Exterion “to charge higher prices for advertising on new digital screens, and to justify investment in further infrastructure to deliver full motion video on platforms across the network” [E5]. The improvements in infrastructure have increased advertising revenues with income generated from commercial advertising from GBP114,900,000 in 2015/2016 to GBP154,000,000 in 2019/20, which has all been invested back into the transport network [E6]. This transformation is estimated to help maximise revenues for TfL to GBP1,100,000,000 by 2023 [E7].

Based on the mapping out of imagination needs (information-inspiration) across the passenger journey enabled by BU’s approach, advertisers have improved their campaign effectiveness by format, location and time. For example, in March and April 2017, Fujifilm and John Lewis ran campaigns on the iconic digital screens at Canary Wharf. Exterion Media measured the impact of the campaigns over a period of two weeks. 80% of respondents recalled the Fujifilm campaign (average OOH recall ranges from 40-67%), while over 72% of commuters who recalled the John Lewis ads said that the ads made them want to engage with the John Lewis brand (compared to 56% for any other advertisements). During these two weeks, 62% of all commuters at this site interacted with the John Lewis brand either in-store or online [E8]. Iconic digital screens, particularly at Canary Wharf, have proved successful for numerous brands. In 2019 Fujifilm ran a campaign designed to broaden perceptions of the company and promote Fujifilm as a healthcare technology brand. In March-April 2019, Exterion Media measured the impact of the campaign through interviews; results showed that 80% of respondents recalled the campaign, of whom 79% would interact with the brand over the following 4 weeks [E8].

Findings gathered by the Engagement Zone study underpinned the digital transformation of advertising in TfL, with insights measuring the relative effectiveness of digital and classic formats guiding the upgrading of digital displays and the expansion of digital footprint [E2]. The Media Research Manager at Exterion Media confirms that “evidence of differing need states at different journey times can now be exploited as digital ads allow for time-relevant creative to be shown” [E5]. This change offers greater flexibility and agility that allows advertisers to create more contextual and relevant campaigns for consumers via tailored content based on real time updates. The Managing Director of Exterion Media confirms that this makes OOH advertising more impactful and accountable [E1, E2]. In accounting for different mindsets during passengers’ journeys, the ‘consumer imagination’ approach [R1, R2, R3, R5] has enabled updates to TfL’s advertising estate. This led to decluttering of advertising space across TfL stations and innovative formats including large digital displays - D12 premium landscape displays in locations with best sight lines and DX3 next generation cross track projections with high quality displays.

Digital infrastructure and decluttering resulting from the transformation of the advertising estate continues to contribute to creating a more attractive environment, benefitting up to 1,300,000,000 TfL users each year. Passengers also benefit from more enjoyable, relevant, personalised and ‘audience led’ advertising made possible as a result of insights generated by the research. Investments in the network, resulting from greater advertising revenue resulting from changes shaped by this research, will also lead to improvements to travel journeys and environment [E1, E9]. For Exterion Media’s Research Director, “the research demonstrates that almost all Tube travellers are favourable to London Underground advertising” and that this finding “was also able to provide Exterion with proof that advertising on London Underground is more engaging than online video advertising and as engaging as TV advertising” [E2].

The engagement results of the study will be used by Exterion Media as a new metric for measuring OOH advertising [E2]. Hello London has changed the OOH advertising industry’s focus from media assets to audience engagement, and is building on the findings of this research in executing a complete digitalisation of OOH advertising to leverage data collection, analysis, implementation and evaluation [E10].