Bethany Usher is an award winning newspaper and magazine journalist who writes about the past, present and future of journalism and popular culture in relation to politics, crime, celebrity culture and music. She regularly provides commentary on these topics to broadcast and online outlets.

Following a rapid rise from the regional to the national press, she became disillusioned about some of the unethical practices she encountered, quit and now argues and campaigns for change to codes of practice and newsroom norms. Her ideas for “What’s to be done” to working cultures are summarised in the final chapters of books Journalism and Celebrity (2020) and Journalism and Crime.

As a life-long fan of David Bowie, Bethany also writes and speaks at public events about how he used news media as part of his artistic performance, particularly within interviews. In 2022 she was invited to speak alongside original Spider from Mars Woody Woodsmansey at the inaugural David Bowie World fan Convention. She writes for David Bowie Glamour Magazine and also has produced chapters for David Bowie: Critical Issues and for the forthcoming Handbook of David Bowie.

Bethany is Director of Education for the School of Art and Culture at Newcastle University, which draws on her experience as a pedagogical designer and facilitator of designing curricula across the Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. She has lead and facilitated the development of more than a dozen programmes both in-house and as a H.E. consultant.

She can be reached at bethany.usher@newcastle.ac.uk or via LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram.