Interfacing with Industry

There is too little public debate in our discipline field about the academic interface with industry. This chapter suggests there are three main drivers for engagement with industry: the motivations of media industries scholars themselves and the different means of activating them; institutional “nudges,” or stronger mandates, for interfacing with industry; and a pedagogical ethics that supports engagement beyond the academy. The chapter breaks down the motivations of media industry scholars into six different but mostly complementary positions, or “personae,” scholars can adopt as they engage outside the academy and gives a few examples of each: the public communicator; the advocate; the independent expert; the researcher in collaboration with, and funded by, industry; the immersive researcher; and governance and leadership roles.