Emily Coleman

Dr Emily Coleman is a Research Fellow at King’s College London, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries. Her research focuses on documentary production, cultural industries, and media ethics, supported by grants from the AHRC and ESRC. Previously, she spent 15 years in TV production, working for major networks like BBC, ITV, and Sky. She is writing a book exploring documentary contributors’ experiences and their implications for media practices.

Emily teaches documentary theory, production practices, and creative labor topics, while mentoring underrepresented students. She organizes panels at international conferences, including ICA and Visible Evidence, and serves on the Advisory Board for the ReCARE TV project addressing duty of care in media. Her work critiques ethical gaps in media production, highlighted in her 2024 commentary on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dance scandal.

Education:

• PhD in Media & Communication, University of Leeds
• MA in Media, Culture & Education, UCL
• BA in Broadcasting Studies, University of Leeds

Research Focus:

• Ethics of documentary contributor treatment
• Duty of care in factual TV/film
• Structural dynamics of cultural industries

Key Publications: Recent articles include analyses of participant wellbeing in factual TV (Media, Culture and Society, 2023) and documentary relationships (European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2023). Upcoming works include a book on documentary contributors and a chapter in The Ethics of Documentary Film (2025).