The role of English-language media in non-English language countries is to be investigated by an award-winning journalist, writer and lecturer.
Francis Shennan has been awarded a scholarship by the English-Speaking Union Scotland which will take him to Russia and the Czech Republic to find out if English-language newspapers can do something indigenous language papers cannot.
The scholarship was established by William Thyne III, grandson of the founder of printers William Thyne Ltd.
He was until recently writing business and finance for The Herald, Scotland on Sunday, The Times and The Guardian and is now lecturer in journalism and in media law at Stirling and Strathclyde universities. A winner of one Scottish and three UK Press awards. he is also a doctoral student researching the legal status of journalists.
In a ESU media release, he is quoted, as saying: “My preliminary research suggests that in the Czech Republic there is a special interest in English-language media even where there is a local-language alternative. This suggests English-language media may be able to perform some functions local-language media do not.
“At the same time there appear to be thriving English-language media in Russia, including the Moscow Times and Moscow News. Here the focus will be to see if English-language media can escape any constraints put on the local-language media, and if writing and publishing in English influence their reaction to these constraints.”
