Impact case study database

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The jazz research team’s knowledge exchange work with Cheltenham Jazz Festival was enabled by BCU’s international reputation for impactful collaborative partnerships with the music industry, including major jazz festivals, venues, and industry bodies. This impact work responded to key challenges facing the sector in the areas of audience engagement, artistic development, and organisational policy. The practical and artistic elements of the research that the team produced, along with the recommendations they made, had a direct influence on decision-making and are core to the solutions that CJF management has devised in response to the above challenges.

CJF’s understanding of its audience was enhanced.

The CHIME mobile application (CHIME app) developed by the BCU team is now central to the CJF’s digital strategy (S01; S04; S09). The data gathered from users in 2016 and 2019 (which included focus groups as well as general users) revealed the CHIME app’s effectiveness as a medium for better understanding the CJF audience (S02). During the 2019 pilot, the CHIME app was made available from the first day of the festival and it was downloaded 512 times (S01). These users engaged with the festival site more actively and navigated the festival programme more effectively. As one user stated during a focus group, “this app has been very good because it’s, not only the schedule, but the map to show me where everything else and the venue list to describe the venues, so it has really been very, very useful indeed for somebody that doesn’t know Cheltenham and hasn’t been to the jazz festival before, it’s superb” (S02). The app also contributed to consolidating the festival’s identity and revealing important new information about its audience. As the Head of Programming at CJF observed, “ we try to foster a sense of community around our festivals, but understanding and quantifying that had proved extremely difficult, particularly during the busy periods before, during and after festivals. Because of the app we were able to measure and observe this for the first time” (S04).

The research influenced CJF’s creative programming

The research team also shaped programming decisions and artistic policies (S04). Musical Encounters was launched by CJF in 2015 to engage a more diverse and younger audience and to push the boundaries of the festival experience. The research team became an integral part of this programming initiative and in 2018 implemented a hackathon methodology to facilitate the commissioning process (S03; S04). This led to the development of “Jazz Puddles”, which was a light and sound installation that was premiered at the festival in 2019 (S04). One of the workshop participants stated that: “ This was an entirely new way of thinking creatively about the commissioning process and it was great to work in collaboration with others to pool ideas rather than submitting bids in competition. We all learned a great deal also seeing the internal mechanisms of how Cheltenham consider awarding new work.” (S08). The success of this event in establishing a model of creative co-commissioning has resulted in a Jerwood Trust-funded 3-year programme with BCU as a key partner in the delivery of the project. CJF’s producer in charge of the Jerwood project, setting out its components, identified the importance of BCU’s involvement: “The programme seeks to equip artists with the skills and contacts they need to develop bold new work. It includes R&D funding, in-depth mentoring and a Creative Lab hosted by the BCU research team, which will enable us to experiment with presenting jazz in unusual spaces and the digital realm.” (S09)

Organisational practice was reshaped by the research at CJF.

The BCU team drew on their research to design the set of initiatives identified above, including Hack the Festival, the KeyChange workshops and the mobile app pilots, that provided the conceptual and practical resources for CJF management to implement change in organisational practice. As the evidence provided shows, these resources enabled the management to think and reflect on their principles and values and provided the tools for them to alter their practices (S04; S09). This extended to greater integration of the festival’s digital systems via the CMS and a deeper understanding of how to engage their audience. The Head of Programming at CJF explains: “ Issues of audience engagement and diversity in programming are perennial problems…Working with BCUs researchers provided us with the space to experiment with solutions that would work for us at a local level whilst also considering the national picture” (S04). The further impact of this change in organisational practice will take effect when the CJF returns to normal operation, currently scheduled for their 2021 season.

Raine’s report on gender equality at jazz festivals has also contributed to the development of CJF’s policies and procedures for training stage management and other artist-facing staff working with female musicians (S04). It is clear from the experiences of women musicians that these changes in training and artist communication have already been effective and have altered the perception of the festival amongst these musicians. A female jazz vocalist, who performed at CJF 2019, reflected on what these changes meant to her: “it was really great to see that the insights developed by the research had been taken on board by the festival – even down to the gender balance pledge being mentioned in their email signature. It was things like this that made the project feel real. Not only that, but the project was very useful to me professionally. I came away from the workshops with some really useful information about how to market and promote myself at future festivals” (S07).

The research informed strategic planning beyond CJF

The Jazz Promotion Network (JPN) – the main industry organisation for jazz in the UK – explicitly cites BCU’s research and knowledge exchange activities as one of the key determinants of their recent strategic planning. Our work has been particularly influential on their current audience development initiatives (S05; S06; S010). The approaches set out in the BCU research formed a key component of a £90,000 application by JPN to Arts Council England. The successful award made in 2020, will enable BCU to work with JPN to extend our work at CJF to promoters across the whole of the UK.

As a JPN board member and Artistic Director of the Manchester Jazz Festival said, “ We have seen from their work with Cheltenham how effective this approach can be, but their involvement with JPN always provides something useful for our wider membership to consider and to enfold into their own planning. For these reasons I was delighted when, in 2020, we were able to formalise our relationship with BCU further when JPN was awarded over £90,000 by Arts Council England to deliver a multi-strand programme of work focussing on developing the jazz workforce across the UK and Ireland. Part of this programme includes a partnership with BCU on a 2-year longitudinal research project looking at current and potential jazz audiences about which I am extremely excited" (S05).

We are also extending our reach outside the UK as the team’s work has been vital to informing debates and policy within the European jazz festival sector. The Communications Manager from the Europe Jazz Network, which represents 156 organisations in 35 countries, has noted, “ it is clear from the evidence of their work at Cheltenham that BCU’s work has provided huge benefits to our member organizations, and it is pleasing to see our members begin to partner with them” (S06).

This work has produced beneficial impact for CJF, its audiences, performers, and the wider Jazz festival sector. Impact was achieved through the research-led, co-development of practical and artistic solutions that addressed challenges related to audience engagement, artistic development, and the development of organisational policy.

The impact demonstrated in this case study builds on research and public engagement activities which have been ongoing since 2014. Working in close collaboration with Check Global lead partner Meedan, the research team succeeded in building a high-impact network of journalism students, activists, archivists, human rights advocates and community organisations across 24 countries in the NAWA region and across the Global South (S01). To date, a total of 7,407 people (S02) have been engaged and trained across the world. Our research has:

1. Improved media literacy skills in five countries across the NAWA region

Since 2014, 2,432 citizen and trainee journalists in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and the Western Sahara took part in a multimedia training programme designed and delivered by BCU researchers and their network of Check partners (S02). Participants received in-person and online training on digital literacy skills, including but not limited to: writing for the web; open-source investigative journalism; fact-checking tools; online advocacy; digital security and ethics. The context in which the training programme was delivered was particularly challenging as it engaged participants either based in conflict countries (Syria and Yemen), or in revolution and/or post-revolution countries (Egypt, Lebanon and the Western Sahara).

One example of a successful pathway intervention that helped to improve skills and enhance journalistic practice is with the Faculty of Media and Documentation at the Lebanese University. In 2016, the research team provided digital literacy skills training to the teaching staff before identifying that a similar intervention in more focused journalism training would be beneficial to their students. The students’ involvement in covering the first ‘CheckCon’ conference, in Beirut in April 2017, developed into a more established Check Media Newsroom, which to date remains active (S03). The students involved in the newsroom were drawn from the East and West Beirut campuses – a division which is a legacy of the Lebanese civil war. The students met and collaborated on a project for the very first time. This represented a significant landmark in their journalism training, as explained by one of the Lebanese Newsroom students: “ Sharing experience and practicing journalistic skills together with my colleagues from another campus was, and still is, a learning process, and an empowering one […] especially that we're all struggling with the same issues in Lebanon, but never got to work with each other, or listen to each other's problems. I have learned a lot from the newsroom, it took me with a tight fist to the field of journalism” (S04).

From 2019, the effectiveness of the Check Media Newsroom was enhanced through its expansion and strengthened expertise. A total of 35 students from 5 Arab countries, including Syria, Yemen, Egypt and Tunis, are currently engaged in the training program, offering them the opportunity to collaborate, for the first time, on pan-Arab projects and investigations. The students receive bi-weekly training support in digital literacy, open-source investigations, digital advocacy and digital security skills, delivered by the BCU team and the project’s network of practicing journalists and civil society activists across the world. This has ensured their journalism training better prepares them for a competitive job market. The success of these interventions is highlighted by a professor at the American University of Cairo, whose students are involved in the newsroom: “Working with the NAWA newsroom has been an enriching experience for them. Our students work mostly with other Egyptians or on occasion with students from Western nations. On this project they were able to collaborate with like-minded students from across the region which has been a good opportunity for transborder cooperation and a learning opportunity for them. I have no doubt that the select group working on this project will become the journalists of the future in a region that is in much need of high calibre professionals” (S04).

1. Created a replicable framework to successfully expand Check in 24 countries across the Global South

The Check project’s three main interventions around journalism training, responding to shared concerns about the effectiveness of citizen journalism and the development of an open-access verification tool, have been expanded into Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Asia. In 2019, and in response to the rising threats of misinformation and discourses around ‘fake news’, BCU and its partner, Meedan, succeeded in securing further funding to expand their work to include new partners in East Africa (Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania), Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica and Venezuela) and Southeast Asia (Philippines) (S01). The Check Global project (2019-2021) collaborates with over 20 organisations across the Global South and supports emerging practices in online journalism, digital literacy skills, disinformation monitoring, and verification of digital media.

Key to Saber and Turner’s knowledge exchange work has been the development of a Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit (S08). This kit is now used by partners in 24 countries as the main evaluation framework for their training and public engagement activities. Many of the partners are small grassroots organisations and this is the first time they have had access to tools to help them systematically collect and analyse their progress. The CEO of Meedan acknowledges that BCU’s contribution has been essential to the project’s expansion: *“Dr Saber’s strategic oversight of Check Global’s programmatic activities, and her team’s work on our monitoring and evaluation frameworks have largely contributed to Meedan’s growth, and to our partners’ ability to properly evaluate their systems and workflows, sustain their organisations and thrive’ (*S09).

1. Preserved the work of citizen photographers and videographers in Syria and ensured this archive is utilised in citizen journalism training to empower the next generation of journalists in the region.

Syrian Archive is a collective of human rights activists and archivists dedicated to curating visual documentations of human rights violations and other crimes committed during the conflict in Syria, with the goal of creating an evidence-based database for reporting, advocacy and accountability purposes.

Interviews with citizen archivists (based inside Syria and the Syrian diaspora) and the collection of hundreds of testimonials record the contributions of the Syrian archivists for their mnemonic, legal and historical value. Without the intervention of the BCU’s team’s research and engagement it is unlikely that this material would have been archived, utilised in the training of new journalists, or preserved as an effective historical document. The Program Director of Syrian Archive has stated that: “2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the revolution in Syria. We have gathered so many images and recordings which attest to what has been happening since 2011. Working with Dr Dima Saber, we have gained valuable expertise in processing and preserving archives so they could be used as legal evidence. We have tried over the years to get the voice of activists and archivists to international institutions, but we have always been ignored. This is the first time that a project enables us to get our voice heard, through making sure archives are preserved, in our own names, so we are recognised as the true witnesses of what is happening in our country” (S06).

With the support of the Check project, Mnemonic (which runs Syrian Archive and Yemeni Archive) have trained 1,005 citizen journalists and media activists since 2018 on open-source verification tools, enhancing skills in the documentation of war crimes and human rights violations in both Yemen and Syria. These interventions have expanded the organisation’s base of volunteers and contributors, alongside improving trainees’ media literacy and archiving skills, so they are better equipped to collect, verify and preserve digital documentations of human rights abuses in their countries. A lead researcher of the Syrian Archive team explains: “For human rights defenders to be able to effectively use the ever-larger amounts of content which documents human rights violations, best practices must scale beyond a select few experts within the open-source investigative community…Our partnership with Meedan and BCU on the Check project has allowed more individuals and organisations from historically excluded communities to feel equipped and empowered to use archival and open-source investigative best practices in a way that reflects their own contexts, building the connections needed to share, adapt and improve them” (S05).

By enabling the production and preservation of crowd-sourced content from Syria, Dr Saber’s ongoing collaboration with Syrian Archive on their Digital Memory project (S07) has ensured the voices of citizen photographers and videographers from the region are available to a global audience. This provides counter-evidence to the claims of despotic regimes, and limited Western media perspective, that dominates media coverage of the Syrian uprising-war. Recent Western mainstream media, academic and civil society circles has focussed on the misuse of social media data, distracting attention from the value of corporate social media platforms such as YouTube to citizen journalists and activist. The archiving of the important work produced, and sharing of this material with the next generation of activist and journalists, creates a new sense of empowerment and agency for citizen journalism. This counters the over emphasis on the role of technologies in understanding how social media are used in political discourse.

In summary, this case study has demonstrated how Saber and Turner’s research-led activities have delivered high-impact interventions across numerous countries in the NAWA region, often in conflict zones. The efficacy of the digital literacy training, verification tools and evaluation techniques developed in close collaboration with a growing network of partners coalescing around their work, has extended that impact to other areas of the Global South throughout the current census period, creating the foundation for legacy and continued impact beyond 2021.

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Barber engages with the people and processes integral to Western popular songwriting. By contextualising and sharing his findings, his work has generated new knowledge that has changed practice for a global audience of songwriters and music fans. The beneficial outcomes of these interventions are evident for three groups in particular:

• Professional songwriters — including guests — have gained new perspectives on their practice.

• Aspiring songwriters have been provided with the tools and inspiration to enhance their techniques and to nurture their careers.

• Music audiences have been given access to new ways of understanding their favourite artists.

Professional songwriters: reflection on songwriting practice

Professional songwriters interviewed by Barber report experiencing the benefit of having the opportunity for self-reflection provided by the podcast. Ivor Novello and Brit Award-winning songwriter, KT Tunstall said, “ The interview took me back to earlier parts of my career and provided a way of considering how I’d developed my approach. When listening to the podcast, I’ve learned a lot from hearing how other writers go about their work. The opportunity to put exciting new techniques into practice in my work is inspiring and encouraging” (S04). In response to a survey designed to explore in detail the motivations of podcast listeners — developed in accordance with host institution research ethics guidelines — 70% of professional songwriters agreed that the podcast had significantly changed how they approached their work (S03). For respondents identifying as female professional songwriters, the podcast positively informed their professional development. 75% indicated that the podcast had significantly changed their approach to songwriting. As one female professional songwriter explained, “ Listening to Sodajerker shifts me out of creative ruts and inspires me” (S03). This is particularly impactful given that female songwriters and producers are often absent from discourses around songwriting, and chronically under-represented in industry statistics. 83% of survey respondents identifying as female professional songwriters agreed that listening to the podcast had made them more aware of the business of popular music as it related to songwriting (S03).

Aspiring songwriters: inspiration, encouragement and new techniques

95% of listener survey respondents who identified as aspiring songwriters indicated they gained an enhanced knowledge of songwriting processes as a result of the podcast (S03). 92% also agreed that they better understood the business of popular music as it related to songwriting (S03). As the founder and CEO of Song Academy — a leading UK organisation engaging young people in songwriting — stated, “ Sodajerker is leading the conversation on the craft of songwriting…Our international community of young songwriters find the podcasts inspirational and informative…Our students tell us they like listening because Sodajerker’s guests are afforded a chance to talk about their music in a way that doesn’t happen in other media venues. This opportunity to access in-depth dialogue about the creative process and to use that knowledge in their own work has helped to transform how our young people approach the songwriting process” (S05). Evidence of the podcast encouraging songwriters to try new techniques in the development of their own work was evident also for the 25.5% of survey respondents who identified as aspiring songwriters over the age of 50. One respondent said, “ I appreciate the kinds of questions asked of the songwriters…the kinds of things that a songwriter would want to know” (S03). This sentiment was also expressed by aspiring female songwriters responding to the survey, with 100% agreeing that Sodajerker had significantly improved their understanding of the songwriting process (S03). This was also evident amongst female attendees of the Songwriting Studies Research Network events, with a female songwriter stating the events provided a space to, “ think about exactly what you’re doing and how you’re doing it and what your thoughts are, and that’s really important to keep moving and evolving” (S06).

Music audiences: enhanced knowledge and new perspectives

The podcast intimately connects the listener to the songwriter and 97% of survey respondents identifying as non-musical fans stated that they often recommended the podcast to friends and other music fans (S03). Through their engagement with the podcast, listeners describe arriving at a greater understanding of the songwriter’s creative practice, and new perspectives on their favourite artists. A respondent identifying as a 26-30 year-old female music fan said, “ it's something different from the same 10 questions every artist is asked on every other podcast, interview, and media appearance. I always learn something new about the artist being interviewed and the songwriting process/industry” (S03). This was echoed by one of the 226 listeners who reviewed the podcast on the Apple store: “ you leave each podcast wanting to go back to your record collection and listen again to the songs you’ve just heard discussed” (S02). The Head of BBC Radio Current Affairs, who commissioned the 2016 Sodajerker BBC World Service radio documentary, The Secrets of Songwriting, said, “ What makes Sodajerker special is a) the team’s incredible depth of research into, and understanding of, music: and b) their single-minded focus on how songwriters create original music” (S07). In reaching a global audience of music fans, Sodajerker has been described by The New Statesman as “ particularly good at developing a good rapport with their guests...interviewees refer to exactly how a song is written…It’s such an obvious-seeming inquiry, yet it never fails to elicit a fascinating response” (S09), and by music journalist and former Esquire, Q and The Word editor, Andrew Harrison, as, “ The Frost/Nixon of tunesmithery” (S08). Harrison said, “ these masterclasses in the art of writing music are so fascinating that even the tone-deaf and unmusical will love them. As a non-musician myself, I can attest to the impact that these conversations have had on my understanding of the creative process” (S08). The podcast has been freely available on demand to a worldwide audience since 2011, leading to 3,254,361 downloads (S01), 226 4/5-star reviews from listeners in 6 countries (S02), and placings in the music podcast charts in 74 countries (S01).

Dr Barber’s work has — and continues to have — a beneficial impact on the understanding of songwriting for a variety of stakeholders. Following his appearance as a guest on the podcast and a subsequent live-on-stage interview with Sodajerker at the 2019 Meltdown Festival — which he curated at The Southbank Centre — Chairman of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, Nile Rodgers, said: “ These are difficult times for songwriters, and to have a resource like the Sodajerker podcast, where knowledge is shared by world-leading professionals and given freely to people around the world, is extremely valuable for the creative development of songwriters. For this reason, we cherish working with Sodajerker. Many organisations have a duty and responsibility to advocate for songwriters, but they are among the very few who actually do that” (S010).