About Me

richard-berry-2

I am neither the French actor, nor am I the Mayor of Albuquerque and it should be obvious (because he’s dead) that I am not the one who wrote Louie Louie. I’m also not one of the other Richard Berry’s for whom I often get emails (hello if that’s you.) 

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Radio at the University of Sunderland, which I joined in 1997. I teach across a range of radio and audio modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. This includes practical production skills, live broadcasting, commercial production and compliance. I also teach multiplatform radio concepts across the curriculum. I currently lead the BA Broadcast Media Production programme, a role which involves supporting a programme of over 100 students and a small team of personal tutors. The role involves supporting students, managing paperwork and liaising with colleagues and external examiners. In 2007 I prepared a community radio licence to Ofcom, which we were awarded and successfully put the station on-air as Spark FM in 2009. In 2013 I took responsibility for the station on behalf of the faculty and now work with a successful team of volunteers to manage the station and a team of around 100 presenters, producers and content creators.

I have external examining experience with tenures spent at Goldsmith’s College,  Staffordshire University, Thames Valley University (Now UWL), the University of Westminster, Lincoln University and the University of South Wales. In 2014 I was elected to the Council of the Community Media Association, the representative body for community media in the UK (I stood away in 2017). I still believe in the power of radio, especially in community radio and how it can build skills, confidence, creativity and communication.

My research interests are around how technology interfaces with radio. I’ve written and spoken about Digital Radio, Podcasting, Visualisation and how the internet works with radio to enhance, develop and progress the medium. I have spoken at conferences in the UK, USA and Europe and published work in books and journals (see my research page)

Qualifications held:
BA Documentary Communication (1993) University of Humberside
MA Radio (1994) Goldsmith’s College, London
PG Certificate in Education (1999) University of Sunderland
PhD by previously published work (2023) University of Sunderland

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy