Two Leicester professors are having their book published after almost a decade of hard work

By Katie McKenna

After almost a decade of hard work, a De Montfort University professor finally has his book on the verge of being published.

Dr Paul Smith, a 48-year-old associate professor working at De Montfort University, is finally on the verge of having his media textbook published following several years of continuous work.

The book was co-authored by Dr Vincent Campbell of the University of Leicester.

“I suppose in a sense it was like a collaboration between DMU and the University of Leicester,” Dr Smith said.

“The idea came to us in a car ride about 7 or 8 years ago. We were complaining about how the textbooks back then were so old-fashioned – refusing to acknowledge recent media developments and choosing to focus on the old media instead.”

The theme of the soon-to-be-published book is how the rise of the internet has changed the shape of media – giving special attention to every major media industry.

‘We had the idea on the back-burner and worked casually on it for years – up until our publisher started to ask where the book was!

“I put a lot of work into it during the summer this year.

“I have two boys – 12 and 15. I wish I could’ve been able to spend more time with them.

“We had a family holiday planned two weeks before the deadline and we still had one more chapter to finish. My wife insisted that I wasn’t allowed to work on holiday!”

Finally, work on the book was finished and the deadline was met.

When asked about his goals with the book, Dr Smith said: “Partly, we wanted to create a book that asked interesting questions about the current state of media. But we also wanted it to be a valuable resource for all students, even if many don’t even have the opportunity to read it.”

He is already moving onto his next project, focusing on his other passion – sports media.

The British Media Industry – An Introduction is set to be released in early 2023.