Spotlight on media industry bullying

National "Ban Bullying" day has been marked by the start of an academic study of the problem in the media industry.

Announced by the University of Ulster, the three year research programme will investigate the prevalence and scope of workplace bullying across all sectors within the media industries.

The University of Ulster has an international reputation as a Centre of Excellence for delivering groundbreaking research, and this project reflects the University's commitment to carrying out innovative research.

Commenting on the project, Dr Emily Boyle, head of the university's Business and Management Research Graduate School, said: "We recognise that bullying is a legitimate workplace issue in the audiovisual sector, yet little is known about the real extent of the problem or the key issues which surround it. This is an innovative research project, from which we hope to gain a comprehensive picture of the size, scale, and nature of the problem with specific reference to this industry".

Jan Martin who will carry out the research added: "Workplace bullying is a highly complex and poorly understood phenomenon. The core remit of this research project will be to ascertain the scale of the problem across various sectors of the media industry, and to provide a detailed analysis of the key issues from the perspective of both the employer and the employee.

"Anecdotal evidence clearly shows that a bullying problem exists across all sectors of the industry, but before the problem can be tackled, we need to gather robust evidence of the exact scale and nature of the problem. This research will be key to finding these answers - however any research is only as good as the quality of the information which participants provide. Surveys and case studies will form the cornerstone of the research and I would urge people within the industry to come forward with their stories and experiences".

This research takes place at a time when workplace bullying has reached almost epidemic proportions across Britain's workplaces - with 93% of human resources managers conceding that it happens within their organisations.

It has been estimated that workplace bullying costs UK employers a staggering £12billion per year, and that 18m working days are lost each year as a direct result of workplace bullying.

It is not known what percentage of these figures apply to the media industry, however, with one in four of all UK employees reporting that they have been bullied at work within the past five years it is clearly an issue that every industry should address as a matter of priority.

For further information, please contact Jan Martin at [email protected].