Andrew Chadwick will be speaking at a roundtable debate, Building an Effective Social Media Campaign, organized by the Hansard Society and the Comparing Online Democracy and Elections (CODE) project at the University of Manchester. The November 2nd event will take place at Portcullis House in Westminster and coincides with Parliament Week.
2011-10-18: Visiting Speaker: Colin Davis "Social influence in televised election debates: a potential distortion of democracy"
Professor Colin Davis (Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway) "Social influence in televised election debates: a potential distortion of democracy"
October 18, 2011.
Room: FW101.
Time: 5.15pm.
All Welcome.
2011-10-15: O'Loughlin Keynote Address at ISA South
Ben O'Loughlin and Alister Miskimmon will give the keynote address at the ISA-South 2011 Conference. The conference will take place October 13-15, 2011 at the Elon University; Elon, North Carolina, USA. The theme of this year’s conference is the exploration of political communication and international studies, broadly conceived. Ben and Alister will talk about their Strategic Narratives research programme.
They will also participate on a roundtable with Fritz Mayer, Harvard University, where Ben will talk about the narratives of crisis around Iran's nuclear programme, and Alister will discuss Germany's attempts to narrate a role for itself in world politics since the end of the Cold War.
See the ISA-South 2011 conference page for more details. ISA South is a regional body of the International Studies Association (ISA).
2011-07-28 Can social media help predict events?
Ben O'Loughlin will address the relationship between social media monitoring techniques and the emergence and prediction of events at the following conference this Thursday. From the Arab Spring to the News International scandal it is clear that international events can catch policymakers off guard. Can analysis of our tweets and user comments help spot an event before it breaks? And if this is possible, what are the ethical consequences?
Mediating Diplomacy:
Strategies, Challenges, Methodologies
An International Workshop
The Open University, Camden Town
28 July 2011
1-5pm
PROGRAMME
1400-1415 Welcome and Introduction
Marie Gillespie and Hugh Mackay Public Diplomacy or Intercultural Dialogue?
1415-1515
Nick Cull The Future Landscape of Public Diplomacy
Annabelle Sreberny The Hubris of Public Diplomacy
1515-1615
Ali Fisher Networked Audiences: New Rules of Engagement
Ben O’Loughlin Can Social Media Monitoring Predict Events?
1645 -1700 DISCUSSION
1700-1900 RECEPTION
2011-08-25: NPCU at ECPR 2011: Reykjavik
Andrew Chadwick and Ben O'Loughlin will each present papers at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland, 25-27 August. Their panels are in the section, Internet and Politics: Bridging Current Research and Outlining Future Directions, chaired by Andrea Calderaro (European University Institute) and Anastasia Kavada (University of Westminster). Here are the details.
2011-07-13 Simon Collister talk on hybrid media and Egypt uprisings
On 13 July 2011 the NPCU's Simon Collister will present at the event 'New Communications and Demonstrations' at the University of Leicester. Simon's talk is titled, Re-assembling the media: hybrid assemblages and political activism during the Egyptian uprising.
For the event programme and details on how to register, click here.
2011-07-15 Responding to Extremisms: Media Roles & Responsibilities
'Responding to extremisms: media roles and responsibilities', Bournemouth University, 15 July 2011 .
Ben O'Loughlin is an invited speaker at this one-day conference at The Media School, Bournemouth University.
The oxygen of publicity or the right to a platform? How are different forms of extremism covered in our national media, and does this serve to marginalise or legitimise extremist groups? What are the media strategies of these groups, and what potential do social media have to change their prospects? What are or should be the relations between media professionals and police and security services, community organisations and other stakeholders? How will the media influence the success or otherwise of the soon to be revised PREVENT strategy?
These and other questions will be discussed at this one-day event to be held in Bournemouth University's Executive Business Centre, organised by the University's Media School. There is no charge for registration; refreshments and lunch will be provided. Register here.
The conference will bring together academics, journalists and others professionally involved in responding to violent or potentially violent extremisms. Confirmed speakers so far include academics Professor Nigel Copsey (Teesside University) on the BNP, Professor Jonathan Githens-Mazer (University of Exeter) on jihadism, and Professor Andrew Hoskins (University of Glasgow) and Dr. Ben O'Loughlin (Royal Holloway University) on how extremist messages are presented in mainstream media. Inspector Alan Jenkins (Dorset Police) will talk about the EDL; Valentina Soria (Royal United Services Institute) will discuss Wikileaks, and Mark Gill (Woodnewton Associates) will review relevant public opinion data. Speakers offering journalist points of view will include Stephen Jukes (Dean of the Media School at Bournemouth University, former Reuters Head of Global News), and Gavin Rees (European Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma). The conference is linked to the development of a web-based resource for people working in this area, the Containing Extremism Research Briefing.
2011-02-17 Twenty20 Cricket as a Media Event? One day workshop
Nick Anstead (LSE) and Ben O’Loughlin will tomorrow present at an event, Twenty20 and the Future of Cricket at Royal Holloway, University of London. Their paper, entitled, ‘Media, identity, and the co-escalation of political and cricket controversies’, examines how media framing of Twenty20 cricket provides a framework for players, administrators and audiences to think through the political controversies associated with two shifts in balances of power. The first shift is one of format, from test match cricket to T20 as ‘the future of cricket’. The second is one of power, as the game’s administration gravitates from England and Australia to the emerging geopolitical power that is India. Based on analysis of Indian, UK and Australian media, they ask whether each nation’s media frame T20 as a different kind of media event (in Dayan and Katz’s terms) – of potential sporting contest, political conquest, or tradition-affirming coronation – and how this impedes or enables a sense of shared destiny among cricket-playing nations.
With the Cricket World Cup beginning in India on Saturday, this should be a lively and timely discussion of globalisation, sport and media. Thanks to Chris Rumford for organising the event.
2011-03-30: Andrew Chadwick Speaking at the Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster
Full details on the CAMRI site.
2011-02-09 Jamie Bartlett from Demos speaks on conspiracy theories in terrorist groups
This week the NPCU welcomes Jamie Bartlett from Demos to present on the topic: ‘The radicalising multiplier: the role of conspiracy theories in terrorist groups’.
The seminar will begin at 5.15 in room Founders West 101. All welcome.
Jamie Bartlett currently heads the Violence and Extremism Programme at Demos. Jamie has recently completed a major ESRC/Public Safety Canada funded project on the relationship between non-violent and violent extremism entitled ‘The Edge of Violence’ based on two years of in-depth field research across Europe and Canada. He is also currently working on projects related to mosque governance, mentoring programmes, binge drinking, conspiracy theories and North African migration. He advises a number of international government agencies and related groups in relation to terrorism and extremism. He is a regular commentator on issues related to terrorism and radicalisation on print and broadcast media.
His latest Guardian article on conspiracies is here.