Barrie Gunter (1954-)was born to an English mother and Welsh father and was brought up mainly in Lincolnshire in east England. In the 1970s, he attended what was then the University College of North Wales in Bangor to study psychology as an undergraduate, before taking a master's degree in social psychology at the London School of Economics and a PhD in psychology at the [then] North East London Polytechnic.
After finishing his education he worked for the first 15 years of his career in the UK's commercial broadcasting sector as an audience research specialist for two different regulatory organisations (first the Independent Broadcasting Authority and then the Independent Television Commission). There he developed his lasting enthusiasm and affection for British television. As a psychologist he was particularly interested in finding out about why people liked some TV shows more than others and how viewers' television experiences could shape their knowledge and beliefs about the world and influence their social behaviour. These interests have underpinned most of what he has written about as an author.
In 1994, he moved into the academic world as Professor of Journalism Studies where he joined Donald Trelford, ex-editor of The Observer newspapers as a founder member of the new Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield. In 2005, he moved to the University of Leicester to take up the post of Professor of Mass Communication and Director of the Centre for Mass Communication Research. In 2006, he re-launched this unit as the Department of Media and Communication which over the next six years became the fastest growing academic department in its subject area in the UK.
He has published many books about media topics and also some on business and management issues and psychological topics. Much of what he writes about still focuses on the subject that is closest to his heart - television.
