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Ralph's later work has explored the theme of 'professionalisation' in political communication and the extent to which the changes in the communications strategies of governments, political organisations and other political groups can be seen as part of a process of 'professionalisation' or as part of other forces at play in society at large. These are themes that Ralph has written on and they form the main connecting thread of his book The Transformation of Political Communication (Palgrave Macmillan 2008). A part of this study is devoted to changes in the nature and forms of political communication, particularly in the nature and form of party election broadcasts (PEBs). Ralph has created a website which contains examples of early British election broadcasts.

In recent years, Ralph has also explored the ways in which the topic of Turkey's accession to the European Union has been covered in the French, Greek and Turkish press. This work has been carried out with the assistance of colleagues from the Universities of Ankara, Athens and Leicester.

Research on aspects of European political communication have also been central to Ralph's work. He has collaborated on a comparative study of the coverage of the European parliament elections of 2009 (Michaela Maier, Jesper Strömbäck and Lynda Lee Kaid, Political Communication in European Parliamentary Elections, Ashgate 2011) and co-authored a book on the media in Europe (European Media, Polity 2011) with Professor Stylianos Papathanassopoulos (University of Athens).

Ralph's most recent research projects are a study of the television coverage of the 'expenses scandal' in Britain in 2009 and the other a study of Jewish migration to Israel from Arab lands in the years 1949 to 1957.

Party election broadcasts (1951-1959)

One of Ralph Negrine's main interests is the archiving of party election broadcasts (PEBs) from 1951 to 1959.

Party election broadcasts (PEBs) are a form of unmediated political communication. They are made on behalf of the political parties and are then simply transmitted by the broadcasters in the course of the election campaign.

The first television party election broadcast was transmitted in 1951. Although they have changed in style and length, they continue to feature at every British general election.

Why study party election broadcasts?

There are many reasons, including:

• their historical value
• what they contribute to our knowledge of developments in political (broadcast) communication
• understanding different styles of communication, then and now

Why set up an archive?

Before this website was created, it was extremely difficult for anyone to have an opportunity to look at PEBs in full and to be able to explore the nature and content of party election broadcasts with ease and speed.

This archive has made that possible and so opens up a whole new field of analysis for those interested in the early years of political communication.