Alan McKee

Alan McKee is an Australian university professor and internationally acclaimed researcher of sexualised media.^[1]

He has served as the president of the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia and sits on the editorial boards of the academic journals Continuum,^[2] the Australian Journal of Communication,^[3] Social Semiotics^[4] and M/C.^[5]

He originally studied film and television, graduating with a PhD from the University of Glasgow^[6] in 1996. He then emigrated to Australia. He worked at Edith Cowan University and the University of Queensland before moving to the Queensland University of Technology, where is currently a professor in the Creative Industries Faculty.^[7] He has published six academic books and over sixty refereed journal articles and book chapters. These have covered topics such as Children and media, Indigenous Australians and media, Television in Australia, Reality tv, Soap opera, Violence and media, Youth and media, Americanisation, and Gay and Queer representation in the media.

He is best known for his research on Pornography. He was the Chief Investigator of 'Understanding pornography in Australia', the first comprehensive examination of the production and consumption of pornography in Australia. This project presented a wide ranging view of the adult-content industry and its consumers.^[8] This research proved controversial for taking an evidence-led approach to understanding sexually explicit media. For example, rather than beginning from the assumption that the primary effects of exposure to pornography must be negative, the project surveyed over 1,000 consumers of pornography and discovered that, for the vast majority, the effects of exposure to sexually explicit material were felt to be positive.^[9] This research was widely reported in the media internationally.^[10]

He has also worked in media production, most importantly on the television series Big Brother Australia, where he served as Media Expert in the first season; and script writing for the Australian television series The Sideshow, featuring Paul McDermott (comedian)

Bibliography

The Indigenous Public Sphere: The Reporting and Reception of Aboriginal Issues in the Australian Media, Oxford University Press ^[11]

Textual Analysis: A Beginner's Guide ^[12]

Australian Television: A Genealogy of Great Moments, Oxford University Press, 2001 ^[13]

The Public Sphere: An Introduction ^[14]

Beautiful Things in Popular Culture ^[15]

The Porn Report ^[16]

Notes