Management in the Media

January 2025

Welcome to Management in the Media, our monthly selection of some of the University of Bath School of Management research and expert comment in the world’s media. AI, DeepSeek, Meta, terrorism, retail, Big Tobacco, Formula 1, and gender pay gaps all feature this month.

Following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's announcement on an AI strategy for the UK, Professor David Ellis spoke to BBC Somerset on how we might use AI now and in the future. David was also interviewed by BBC Points West (watch from 10.33) for his expert views in a piece about the ban on mobile phones by Kingswood School in Bath.

Dr Olivia Brown talked to BBC Radio Bristol on people's use of mobile phones and Meta's controversial decision to scale back its fact-checking activities for Facebook and Instagram and to change to a 'community-based approach' ahead of Donald Trump's second term as U.S. President. "I don't think we can detach this shift from the political climate." Liv highlighted concerns about a likely increase in inflammatory discourse on gender and LGBTQ rights, among other areas.??

Liv later in January spoke to BBC Radio Scotland, BBC 5Live and LBC News in the wake of the UK government's statements on the Southport killings, addressing the particular challenges for authorities and the Prevent scheme posed by terrorism without clear ideologies and the difficulty of setting guidelines to tackle it.??

And she spoke to BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Bristol on the shortcomings of AI and China's DeepSeek AI app, amid the concerns around the reliability and content of the answers. She noted that Google in America would give different results from in China, for example, but pointed to the likely higher level of political influence on DeepSeek.

Spain's influential El Pais national newspaper, with an audience of over 30 million people, the Manchester Evening News and MSN South Africa picked up Dr Lukasz Piwek 's expert comments on the DeepSeek app.??

Lukasz concluded that "It challenges assumptions about the?massive spending?required for AI innovation and serves as a wake-up call for the industry, signalling a broader shift in global competition and collaboration in AI development.".??

The comment was requested and distributed by Science Media Centre, a partner in media work for us, which has numerous School and University of Bath academics on its contact lists. Read it in full here.

In the wake of the UK government’s announcements on how to stimulate economic growth, Professor Phil Tomlinson joined forces with David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics, University of Birmingham, to gave this expert assessment to The Conversation on the chances of success, noting that more would have to be done to address the impact of Brexit on trade.

Research into the effect of in-store music by Professor Jens Nordf?lt and Dr Carl-Philip Ahlbom featured in the Financial Times and Telegraph and outlets in Italy and Peru in an in-depth article on how supermarkets are cashing in with in-store radio, with Tesco, M&S and Iceland among those extolling the benefits of playing music and promotional messages.??

Carl-Philip was quoted as saying "The key to good physical retailing is to try to keep shoppers in [store] as long as possible because?.?.?. you’re more likely to put something into your basket. So I think that’s why they’re doing it."?

The Telegraph quoted Jens as saying "the clear uplift in sales” suggested in-store music was a worthy investment given the relatively modest investments required, costing around ￡12,000 to install the sound system per store.?

We issued a well-received press release on this research back in 2023, which continues to attract media attention. It cropped up in the Daily Mail at the start of December and in several outlets in Italy.??

Bath Business News flagged the release of a new eight-episode podcast series from the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) - ?Deadly Industry: Challenging Big Tobacco, which includes an episode from Dr J Robert Branston on the industry's 'staggering' profits.?

MSN US, with its audience of more than 130 million people, picked up the press release on Dr Emily Godwin's research into the darker side of memes, and their role in spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.?

VOXPol, the international research network on online extremism and terrorism, published Dr Darja Wischerath’s blog on her recent research on online conspiracy narratives and violence.

The formal launch of the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour, which includes multiple academics from the School of Management, attracted some specialist media interest, with the press release picked up by Bioengineer.org, myscience.org. and scienmag.com.

Dr Joanna Syrda's research from 2019 on the gender earnings gap continues to enjoy a long media shelf life, cited in a January story in the influential Hindustan Times which drew on a debate in Reddit feeds.?

Professor Andrew Graves took to the airwaves in the first week of 2025, answering BBC Radio Bristol listener questions about why the top echelon of motor racing is called 'Formula 1' and what it actually means. Spoiler alert: the formula is essentially a set of rules which defines what car can be developed, and 1 denotes the top class of motorsport.??

Andrew also spoke to BBC Radio Wiltshire on Dyson's plans to relocate all of its staff working in the West of England to its Malmesbury headquarters, including 180 currently working in its Bristol office.?

For more University of Bath news stories visit our Media Centre or follow on BlueSky @uniofbathnews.bsky.social??