Mrs Hannah Thompson-Radford

Senior Lecturer in Sports Communication and Journalism

Media

h.j.thompson-radford@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 103A
First Floor
Digital Technium
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

ResearchGate

ResearcherID

About

Hannah Thompson-Radford is a Senior Lecturer in Sports Communication and Journalism. She is both a scholar and a freelance reporter, content creator and commentator on women’s sport, predominantly cricket.

She holds a BA in English and Sport Science, an MA in Global Media and Cultural Industries and an MSc in Social Science Research Methods. Her research interests intersect with sports sociology and media and communication schools with an overall emphasis on gender.

Hannah’s ESRC funded PhD theorises the (in)visibility of women’s sport, and more specifically, she examines how elite female cricketers perceive media (in)visibility as well as their attitudes towards social media. Central to her work are the voices of elite female athletes both past and present, meaning that her research is about, developed in conjunction with, and for the benefit of, women in sport. Hannah has also published on pregnancy and motherhood in sport, focusing, for example, on Serena Williams’ social media use.

External to her research, Hannah is a social media freelancer and has worked on major events such as the Winter Olympics, Cricket World Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Davis Cup and Formula E events. Additionally, she has covered FA WSL and Championship and has worked as a media officer for Leicester City Women FC and as a media manager for Loughborough Lightning cricket in the former Kia Super League as well as managing and assisting with Lightning netball and rugby franchises.

She currently freelances for BBC Sport on cricket, and her work also regularly features regularly on platforms such as The Cricketer, The Independent, The Official England Cricket match programme and Yahoo Sports. Hannah also commentates on ECB regional women’s cricket competitions for The Blaze and Western Storm livestreams. She has also worked as a content creator in The Hundred working with Trent Rockets.

Areas Of Expertise

Gender, sport and media
Sport communications
Qualitative research methods

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Hannah’s teaching is both theoretical and practical predominantly focussing on how sport stakeholders utilise digital media and media relations.

Research

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

This module will focus on introducing what it is to be human from a broad humanities and social science perspective. It will offer the opportunity to engage with key ideas, theory and literature within these disciplines. It will therefore prepare students for further academic work in the humanities and social sciences and initiate the development of critical thinking and creative abilities.
MS-114 Delivering and Decoding the News

This is a theory and practice module. This first half is dedicated to the study of journalism and the role it plays in our lives and in wider society. It will explore the normative theories of journalism and contemporary practices so that we can consider what journalism should be, and how it has developed and evolved over time. Once students are familiar with the theoretical underpinning of journalism and what constitutes best practice we will then explore the fundamental elements of news operations to enable students to produce their own journalism texts. This part of the module will focus on the study and practice of news values, the conventions of news writing, news gathering, interviewing and ethical considerations in news reporting. The module starts with a series of lectures and later incorporates workshops for the practical section of the module. Sessions are designed to incorporate discussions and evaluation of current news events and their coverage.
MS-237 Pop Culture and Alternative News Genres

Much research in journalism studies is preoccupied with the democratic role of news reporting. While this scholarly approach offers insights into the civic responsibilities of news it often neglects the views of news audiences and marginalizes journalism genres that fall outside of the fourth estate principles. This module begins by examining the democratic value of news but branches out to consider the wider diet of information that audiences require from contemporary journalism. Areas of analysis will include alternative news sources like TV satire and popular genres of journalism such as lifestyle, celebrity, travel, fashion and sport. By introducing students to different forms of journalism practice and scholarship the module will highlight the key debates in journalism that move beyond the political and democratic nexus. Furthermore, students will develop a deeper understanding of news reception and how this speaks to audience satisfaction, learning, identity and emotion.
MS-243 Pitch Perfect: Sports Commentary and Punditry

Whether spoken or written, describing the action of any sporting endeavour is a form of spontaneous composition. Much like the players, commentators and live-blog ticker writers have put in hundreds and probably thousands of hours of reporting boot camp before they find themselves as the authoritative narrator of any major sporting event. The ability to report at this level, in a manner which appears effortless, almost casual, is the direct result of deliberate practice. Through practice, commentators have learned to convey the action that is taking place on the pitch as it happens with accuracy, clarity and concision, three essential qualities of sports storytelling. Like the players, commentators understand their audiences' expectations. They know that they need to fulfil the key purpose of effortless sports commentary - to give an objective, fluent, accurate interpretation of what is happening on the track, pitch, court or field. By studying some key commentary theories, and through listening to the insights given by professional sports commentators, students will gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to embark on the art of sport interpretation and narration.
MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

An innovative practice-based alternative to a Masters dissertation. Students are encouraged to develop projects across more than one area of media practice and to do so with dual supervision that embraces both theory and practice. Work produced should be at a professional level, accompanied by a reflective essay and presentation exploring the contextual, theoretical and practical issues raised by the project.
MS-M11 MA Project and Dissertation Preparation

This core module comprehensively prepares students for their Master¿s project or dissertation, which is an integral part of the requirements for the degree. It incorporates several key themes and issues across the communications, media practice and PR industries. It is a challenging, and stimulating module ¿ both for professional practitioners and those new to communications and media practice. The module encourages students to unite theory and practice in productive ways. It introduces students to a number of important research and project management methods essential for undertaking a successful project or dissertation.
MS-M15 Sports Communication - Journalism and Promotion

This module offers a comprehensive guide to to the practices, techniques and skills used in the sports communication industry. It will allow students to focus on current critical themes and debates in sports journalism and promotion, and through theoretical analysis and the application of theory in practice, will provide students with the opportunity to develop a digital, multi-media portfolio of written work. Students will in turn learn the theories and practices that can be used to develop and promote a personal sports communicator's brand to the relevant industry sectors. The module will appeal to students new to journalism and promotional practice, but who are ambitious to deepen their understanding of best practices that could allow them to engage with the emerging and fast-changing sports communication mediascape.
MS-M19 All to play for: Inside Sporting Integrity

The aim of this module is to provide students with the ability to critically evaluate sport from an ethical perspective. They will be presented with a range of key ethical issues in the area of sport from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Student will examine the emergence and development of sport from amateur to professional, gamesmanship, doping, gambling, politics, and many more contemporary issues. The key thread running throughout the module will be the power of the media to shape the debates around sporting integrity and how sporting authorities respond.

Mrs Hannah Thompson-Radford

Email address

Twitter Account

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Career Highlights

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

MS-114 Delivering and Decoding the News

MS-237 Pop Culture and Alternative News Genres

MS-243 Pitch Perfect: Sports Commentary and Punditry

MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

MS-M11 MA Project and Dissertation Preparation

MS-M15 Sports Communication - Journalism and Promotion

MS-M19 All to play for: Inside Sporting Integrity