On Thursday 3 March 2016 Ben O'Loughlin will lead a workshop on "New and Innovative Methods in Peace and Conflict Research" at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg. The goal of the workshop is to share with GIGA researchers an idea of how O'Loughlin and colleagues have been researching the media-security nexus through a series of funded projects since 2004. Analysing at this nexus has involved integrating ethnographic audience research, media text analysis, interviews with news producers, government security policymakers and military leaders, and various forms of digital and big data analysis. O'Loughlin will talk about the opportunities and pitfalls of piecing together such a holistic understanding of how media and security have become intertwined since the 2003 Iraq War, the war on terror and the more recent rise of ISIS. Practically, how do you research across a global multilingual media ecology? And politically, how can such research help show how media can be used to promote peace and dialogue rather than inflame anxiety and anger?
March 1, 2016: Just brainwashed? Domestic reception of Russia’s strategic narrative about the West—Joanna Szostek
On March 1, 2016 Joanna Szostek will present findings from her research in Moscow exploring how Russians interpret the strategic narratives about their country's role in the world offered by Putin, Lavrov and other leaders, and how interpretation is mediated by their presentation in Russian media. Are Russians being brainwashed or are things slightly more complicated? Below are full details of the talk and Joanna's project.
Time: 5.15pm
Place: FW101
Full abstract:
Over recent years the Russian state media have become notorious for their emotive and partisan coverage of international news. Russian TV channels convey a narrative originating from the Kremlin, which angrily attributes most global problems to Western ‘interference’, ‘aggression’ and ‘double standards’. Negative views of the USA and Europe have meanwhile intensified among the Russian public, a trend widely blamed on the ‘brainwashing’ effect of Kremlin propaganda. Yet the ‘magic bullet’ theory of media messages being wholly and automatically absorbed by a homogeneous audience has long been discredited by communication scholars. Moreover, the majority of Russians now have internet access and are not obliged to rely on state-controlled media for news – alternative sources are only a click away. How, then, should the relationship between news consumption and views of the West in Russia be understood?
This talk will examine the association between news media ‘repertoires’ and support for the Kremlin’s negative narrative about the West, presenting findings from a survey and interviews conducted among Moscow university students. It will demonstrate that research subjects who used at least one state-aligned news source tended to agree more strongly with the Kremlin’s narrative than those who did not use any state-aligned news sources. However, even students who neither used nor trusted the leading Russian state media expressed agreement with much of the Kremlin’s narrative. It will therefore be argued that direct exposure and blind faith in state propaganda are insufficient explanations for sentiments about the West in Russia.
Joanna is currently in the first phase of research in her new Marie-Sklodowska Curie Global Fellowship examining how narratives from Russia are understood and interpreted in Ukraine. Her project website is here. She was previously a postdoctoral research at University College London and completed her PhD at the University of Oxford.
New article in the Journal of Communication by Cristian Vaccari, Andrew Chadwick, and Ben O'Loughlin
Cristian Vaccari, Andrew Chadwick and Ben O'Loughlin have a new article in the Journal of Communication
Cristian Vaccari, Andrew Chadwick, and Ben O'Loughlin have a new article in the Journal of Communication. Titled "Dual Screening the Political: Media Events, Social Media, and Citizen Engagement," the piece is the first from an ongoing project on dual screening and political media events.
This article recently featured in the Washington Post's Monkey Cage section.
Abstract
Dual screening—the complex bundle of practices that involve integrating, and switching across and between, live broadcast media and social media—is now routine for many citizens during important political media events. But do these practices shape political engagement, and if so, why? We devised a unique research design combining a large-scale Twitter dataset and a custom-built panel survey focusing on the broadcast party leaders' debates held during the 2014 European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom. We find that relatively active, “lean-forward” practices, such as commenting live on social media as the debate unfolded, and engaging with conversations via Twitter hashtags, have the strongest and most consistent positive associations with political engagement.
Read the article on the Journal of Communication website.
New article in the Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics by Andrew Chadwick, James Dennis, and Amy Smith
Andrew Chadwick, James Dennis and Amy Smith have a new article in the new Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics, edited by Axel Bruns, Gunn Enli, Eli Skogerbo, Anders Olof Larsson, and Christian Christensen.
The chapter is entitled "Politics in the Age of Hybrid Media: Power, Systems, and Media Logics."
Andrew Chadwick writes: "With this piece we wanted to write an accessible overview of the hybrid media system approach and introduce readers to some of the very recent research in this area. So if you’re looking for a chapter-length piece for use in your teaching, this might fit the bill."
"In our chapter we discuss how the hybrid media system approach sheds light on recent developments in three centrally important fields of political communication: news and journalism, election campaigning, and engagement and mobilization. We briefly set out some key themes and empirical developments in these three areas. We then review a range of examples from the emerging body of research that draws upon the hybrid media system approach to make sense of today’s increasingly dynamic and volatile political communication environment."
Learn more about the book here.
Download a final pre-typeset version of the chapter here.
Andrew Chadwick is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the New Political Communication Unit at Royal Holloway, University of London. James Dennis is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant and Amy Smith is a PhD candidate in the New Political Communication Unit.
February 24, 2016. O'Loughlin on narratives as a route to global order @SOAS
Ben O'Loughlin presented some of his latest research with Alister Miskimmon on strategic narratives at the Centre for Media Studies research seminar at SOAS on February 24, 2016. Please find the title and details of the talk below.
Strategic Narratives and Power Transition: Communicating our Way to a Peaceful Order?
Historically, the transition of power from one hegemon to another has involved an all-out war in the international system. Britain acquired primacy, challenged then by Germany, who in turn was overcome by the US, and now there is a surge in speculation about a post-US order; power transition theory, that underpins conventionalist realist IR and therefore Western foreign policy, suggests that when the challenger reaches parity in material power, a war to define the rules of the international system takes place before a new order is institutionalized (Organski, 1958; Gilpin, 1981). But the rise of China, the rise of ‘the rest’, and the emergence of digital and network power all suggest we are entering a new kind of power transition. While the economic (GDP) power of China and the EU surpass the US, neither is challenging the US in a systemic war or seeking to assume hegemony. Instead, international order is increasingly based on competition for recognition in the context of plural narratives. This places communication central to how international order is constituted. Every country and city has a soft power and branding strategy. Price writes of a ‘marketplace for loyalties’. Each country that seeks recognition as a major power has an international broadcaster. In short, public and cultural diplomacy have become integral to the negotiation of identity and recognition in this new kind of power transition. The stakes again are high. Previous power transitions resulted in total war. Can the strategic narratives of the major players align today? Will a communication-based competition cultivate the conditions for a conflict-free power transition?
Iconoclash - new article on images and Islamic State
As part of its Iconoclash season of debate, the European Union's National Institute for Cultures has published a commentary by Ben O'Loughlin about Islamic State's use of visual media.
Iconoclash: It's the Clash, Stupid
From 9/11 to the most treasured temple in Palmyra, Islamist destruction reminds us that we have objects and values we hold as untouchable and inviolable. It also makes us question whether we have a strategy to save them. This iconoclash has cycled through the angry pointing cleric clip, the beheading video, the burning man in a cage gif, the vandalism montage, the full-on terrorist attack. It is a clash through the exchange of icons and images, and each ‘side’ in the war on terror has shown trophies of valuable dead people, objects, targets destroyed or being destroyed, a tit-for-tat of shock and awe. We will match your orange Guantanamo jumpsuit with our orange hostage jumpsuit. Yet if we are to properly respond to this iconoclasm, we must understand why it is happening. It is happening in part because of Islamists’ drive to restore pride and dignity and avenge historical humiliation by creating a game of equals. However, this iconoclash is ultimately driven by geopolitical strategy. For Islamic State, the clash is about winning that game on Islamic State’s terms.
New symposium on Strategic Narratives published
Strategic narratives are an ever-more visible phenomenon in international affairs. NATO has a strategic narrative to overcome Russia. President Obama had a narrative about US interests and attention pivoting to Asia but has recently taken steps to 'reassure' Europe that it still cares about it and is part of its story. What difference do these narratives make, and how can we explain how they work?
A new symposium has been published in Critical Studies of Security in which scholars of varying perspectives and approaches present short essays that engage with the book Strategic Narratives published by Miskimmon, O'Loughlin and Roselle. The symposium concludes with a response from the three authors. The symposium shows how narratives are a feature of political life from the grand strategy of great powers down to local politics where people try to make a difference by getting others to see problems in a new way. The debate also makes clear how difficult it is to establish the intention of actors who communicate narratives and the effect of narratives. Persuasion is not easy and power through communication is a murky process.
We hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks go to Laura Shepherd at the University of New South Wales for organising the symposium.
New article on think tanks and influence by Anna Longhini
Chatham House in London was one of the think tanks in Anna's study.
Do think tanks influence government? In a new article (read for free here), Anna Longhini presents research suggesting that we should turn that question around. Comparing the role of foreign policy think tanks in the UK and Italy, Anna finds that the think tanks orient their activities to make the best of the opportunities for influence they face. In the UK, government is relatively open to think tank ideas, holding various open and closed-door briefings to elicit their suggestions. In Italy government is less willing to listen, so think tanks try instead to influence journalists, academics and companies.
Anna was a visiting researcher at the New Political Communication Unit in 2014. She recently completed her PhD at Scuola Normale Superiore (Firenzi).
Talk: James Dennis: '"It’s Better to Light a Candle than to Fantasize about a Sun”: Social Media, Political Participation and Slacktivism in Britain’
Tomorrow (January 12, 2016) newly-minted Newpolcom PhD Dr James Dennis will speak about his research on slacktivism. Poster below. All welcome!
Time: 5.15.
Place: Founders West FW101
Awan speaks in Melbourne and Beijing on Youth Radicalism, Social Media, and Political Disillusionment.
Akil Awan spoke this week at the ‘Democracy in Transition’ conference organised by the University of Melbourne’s School of Government on Understanding Youth Democratic ‘Disconnect’: From Apathy to Political Radicalism and Extremism. His paper focused on explaining that whilst youth political engagement was an integral and essential part of a healthy functioning society, which was not only vital to political socialization and participation, but also crucial to engendering young people’s understanding of their own roles as democratic citizens, it was nevertheless under serious threat. The alternative - the democratic disconnect - could simply result in political apathy and disengagement, which remained a significant problem worldwide, evident from chronically low voter turnouts amongst youth demographics. However, equally problematically, he argued youth can also choose to engage in political radicalism or extremism, ranging from simply espousing extreme views; to actively joining radical groups; and finally to engaging in illegitimate political activity, such as violent protest and even terrorism. His paper sought to address how might we account for this increasingly problematic democratic disconnect amongst young people?
Taking both historical and contemporary case studies, he sought to show how increasing political disenfranchisement and disillusionment with traditional political processes, institutions and structures, was central to understanding young people’s alienation from conventional politics. Perceptions that the issues which concerned them were not being addressed, often resulted in a recourse to protest and demonstrations. Where ‘legitimate’ forms of protest proved unsuccessful, individuals might begin to countenance illegitimate and violent forms of protest, including rioting, public disorder, sabotage, and even terrorism. Consequently, a gravitation towards radicalism could be understood as one of the ways in which young people might seek to air their frustrations and grievances, as well reclaiming political agency.
Awan will also address a related topic in Beijing on Monday 14th December at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Renmin. His talk entitled ‘From Television in the Vietnam War to Islamic State’s Social Media: Exploring the Relationship between Media Technologies & Youth Radicalism’ will address the historical correlation between the rise of certain media technologies and the emergence of youth protest and political radicalism. He will compare the emergence of television during the Vietnam war and the attendant rise of countercultural and protest movements on the radical left, with the use of web 2.0 technologies by political radicals today. The paper will also seek to explain why social media and web 2.0 platforms have emerged as the principle arena for youth political and social engagement over the last decade. Whilst the democratic and egalitarian nature of these platforms means they are largely positive additions, conducive to the ‘levelling’ of hierarchies of knowledge and power, they have inevitably also contributed significantly to the rise and visibility of youth radicalism and extremism. His paper offers suggestions on how governments might deal with these issues.