My first paper is entitled ‘Watching over the watchers? Ethical dilemmas in qualitative studies of sousveillance on YouTube. Drawing on my previous work on ‘The Battle of Stokes Croft‘ and the union flag protests, I critique the notion that unaware participants are ‘fair game’ in online research. The abstract can be read in full here.
My second paper, co-authored with Suay Özkula, draws on our systematic review of empirical Digital Activism research between 2011 and 2018. We focus on how activists and social movements within the so-called Global South are represented within the field. The abstract can be read in full here.
If you are at the conference this week please do say hi – looks like a great programme!
I am delighted to share a preprint copy of my entry in the forthcoming Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication, to be published in 2025.
In ‘Belief Echoes’, I explore how and why people continue to believe false information even when it has been debunked or factchecked. I draw on examples from my own research on Northern Ireland and the COVID-19 pandemic to show how there is often a small proportion of the population who continue to remain within epistemic bunkers revolving around misinformation and half-truths.
Many thanks to the editors (Alessandro Nai, Max Grömping, and Dominique Wirz) for all their work bringing together the 430+ entries (from 570+ authors) in the Encyclopedia. I look forward to reading the final version when it’s out early next year.
The preprint version of my entry can be read here.
Suay Melisa Özkula and I were honoured to receive an award at the annual International Communication Association (ICA) conference in Australia today. Our paper ‘Where is the Global South? A Systematic Review of Regional Visibilities in Digital Activism Research’ received the Top Faculty Paper from the ICA’s Activism, Communication and Social Justice Interest Group.
Best Faculty Paper Award, ICA ACSJ 2024
Many thanks to the reviewers and the ACSJ team (Rasha, Hanan and Betty) for the award.
If you are at #ICA24 you can see Suay present our paper as part of the Digital Activism and Social Justice panel on Monday (3:00 PM – 4:15 PM; Surfer’s Paradise 1 Star L3).
Suay picking up our award at the ACSJ Business Meeting!
The abstract for the paper can be read below:
Where is the Global South? A Systematic Review of Regional Visibilities in Digital Activism Research
Recent scholarship has problematised the dominance of the Global North within communication research and called for de-westernisation to incorporate more cosmopolitan perspectives (Badr & Ganter, 2021; Bosch, 2022; Waisbord, 2022). While some scholars argue that a ‘decolonial turn’ in digital media research is occurring (Couldry &Mejia, 2021), it remains unclear whether this is also the case in digital activism (abbreviated: DA) research. Extant scholarship suggests that ‘Western’ social media platforms and activism from Global North countries are over-represented within the field (e.g., Mahl et al., 2022; Ruess et al., 2021) including in research methods applied in these (Bosch, 2022; Schoon et al., 2020). This has, for example, been problematised within African (Moyo & Mutsvairo, 2018, Wasserman, 2018) and Latin-American contexts (Gómez-Cruz, et al., 2023; Medrado & Rega, 2023).
Other studies have drawn attention to the western-centric nature of information and communication technologies, as demonstrated by the countries from which their providers or designers originate (Arora, 2019). Much of this critical research has framed these digitally mediated exploitations as a manifestation of ‘data colonialism’, a concept describing how user data are processed at scale to produce economic value (Couldry & Mejias, 2021, 2019). In the same vein, cognate theories of databased geographies’ (Arora, 2019), ‘technocolonialism’ (Madianou, 2022), and ‘neocolonial media culture’ (Bosch, 2022, p. 299) illustrate how the growth of “big data” has often been linked to the exploitation of those residing in the Global South as knowledge about those regions is typically produced through the lens and paradigms of the Global North.
The evolution of ‘digital methods’ should theoretically create more opportunities for DA research on the Global South. These are typically software-based methods that draw on natively digital objects, methods, and data (Rogers, 2019; Venturini et al., 2018). However, it remains to be seen whether their use correlates with more representative DA research. The often prohibitive cost of these software packages, as well as their configuration for the study of “Western” social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram, suggest that they may primarily intended for privileged Global North researchers.
While previous meta-analyses and systematic reviews have explored either the relationship between ICTs and political engagement (e.g. Ruess et al., 2021; Boulianne et al., 2023) or the platforms being studied in DA research (anonymised), there has been no research to date exploring the geographic foci of empirical DA research, including in relation to digital methods specifically. This paper sets out to address this gap by presenting the results of a systematic review of DA research published between 2011 and 2018 (N=315). Specifically, it explores the representation of Global South and semi-periphery case studies in DA journal articles, the methods and platforms that feature in this body of research, and where the author(s) were based at the time of publication.
Yesterday I participated in a segment on BBC Radio Ulster Talkback about the misinformation and the 2024 UK General Election. Presented by William Crawley, I joinedClaire Graham and Orna Young and to discuss how best to identify misinformation circulated via online platforms, how easy it is to do so, and the potential use of deepfake technologies to alter speeches made by politicians.
Deconstructing societal threats during times of deep mediatization, Routledge, 2023.
A few weeks ago we had the long overdue launch event for (De)constructing Societal Threats During Times of Deep Mediatization. Organised by the IAMCR Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication Working Group, we were delighted to be joined by three of the authors (Minos, Olivia and Gregory) for a discussion of their respective chapters. The video can be viewed below:
Recording of book launch event, 16 April 2024
Thanks to our presenters and attendees for the great debate. A description of the book is below.
De)constructing Societal Threats During Times of Deep Mediatization
This book explores how both elite and non-elite actors frame societal threats such as the refugee crisis and COVID-19 using both digital and traditional media. It also explores ways in which the framing of these issues as threatening can be challenged using these platforms.
People typically experience societal threats such as war and terrorism through the media they consume, both on and offline. Much of the research in this area to date focuses on either how political and media elites present these issues to citizens, or audience responses to these frames. This book takes a different approach by focusing on how issues such as the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic are both constructed and deconstructed in an era of hybrid media. It draws on a range of traditional and innovative research methodologies to explore how these issues are framed as ‘threats’ within deeply mediatized societies, ranging from content analysis of newspaper coverage of the Macedonian name dispute in Greece to investigating conspiratorial communities on YouTube using Systemic Functional Linguistics. In doing so, this book enriches our understanding of not only how civil and uncivil actors frame these issues, but also their impact on societal resilience towards future crises.
(De)constructing Societal Threats During Times of Deep Mediatization will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Communication Studies, Media Studies, Journalism, Cultural Studies, Research Methods, Sociology and Politics.
The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Communication Review. Many thanks to our authors for their excellent contributions, which are listed below:
1. Framing the Macedonian name dispute in Greece: Nationalistic journalism and the existential threat Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis
2. The “ultimate empathy machine” as technocratic solutionism? Audience reception of the distant refugee crisis through virtual reality Zhe Xu and Mengrong Zhang
3. A systemic functional linguistics approach to analysing white supremacist and conspiratorial Ddscourse on YouTube Olivia Inwood and Michele Zappavigna
4. Internet regulation and crisis-related resilience: From Covid-19 to existential risks Gregory Asmolov
Deconstructing societal threats during times of deep mediatization, Routledge, 2023.
A reminder that we are having an online launch event for our edited volume on societal threats and mediatization next week. Details below.
Please join the authors for a launch event to mark the publication of the book ‘Deconstructing societal threats during times of deep mediatization.
This book explores how both elite and non-elite actors frame societal threats such as the refugee crisis and COVID-19 using both digital and traditional media. It also explores ways in which the framing of these issues as threatening can be challenged using these platforms.
People typically experience societal threats such as war and terrorism through the media they consume, both on and offline. Much of the research in this area to date focuses on either how political and media elites present these issues to citizens, or audience responses to these frames. This book takes a different approach by focusing on how issues such as the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic are both constructed and deconstructed in an era of hybrid media. It draws on a range of traditional and innovative research methodologies to explore how these issues are framed as ‘threats’ within deeply mediatized societies, ranging from content analysis of newspaper coverage of the Macedonian name dispute in Greece to investigating conspiratorial communities on YouTube using Systemic Functional Linguistics. In doing so, this book enriches our understanding of not only how civil and uncivil actors frame these issues, but also their impact on societal resilience towards future crises.
(De)constructing Societal Threats During Times of Deep Mediatization will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Communication Studies, Media Studies, Journalism, Cultural Studies, Research Methods, Sociology and Politics.
The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Communication Review. Many thanks to our authors for their excellent contributions, which are listed below:
1. Framing the Macedonian name dispute in Greece: Nationalistic journalism and the existential threat Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis
2. The “ultimate empathy machine” as technocratic solutionism? Audience reception of the distant refugee crisis through virtual reality Zhe Xu and Mengrong Zhang
3. A systemic functional linguistics approach to analysing white supremacist and conspiratorial Ddscourse on YouTube Olivia Inwood and Michele Zappavigna
4. Internet regulation and crisis-related resilience: From Covid-19 to existential risks Gregory Asmolov
This month the paperback version of Digital Contention in a Divided Society (featuring a new afterword) is published. It can be preordered on the Manchester University Press website here.
I will be having a book launch event in Glasgow on 24 April. Hosted by Dave Scott (Nil by Mouth), there will be a Q&A session followed by a drinks reception.
Date & Time: Wednesday 24th April 18:00 -19:30
Venue:237 Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow, 11 Chapel Lane, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Join Paul Reilly (University of Glasgow) and host, Dave Scott (Nil by Mouth), to celebrate the paperback launch of Paul’s book, Digital contention in a divided society: Social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland.
They will discuss the role of social media in protests and civil unrest in Northern Ireland, followed by a Q&A session. There will be a drinks reception afterwards.
How are platforms such as Facebook and Twitter used by citizens to frame contentious parades and protests in ‘post-conflict’ Northern Ireland? What do these contentious episodes tell us about the potential of information and communication technologies to promote positive intergroup contact in the deeply divided society? These issues are addressed in what is the first in-depth qualitative exploration of how social media were used during the union flag protests (December 2012-March 2013), the Ardoyne parade disputes (July 2014 and 2015), and the ‘Brexit riots’ in April 2021. The book focuses on the extent to which affective publics, mobilised and connected via expressions of solidarity on social media, appear to escalate or de-escalate sectarian tensions caused by these hybrid media events. It also explores whether citizen activity on these online platforms has the potential to contribute to peacebuilding in Northern Ireland.
This month the paperback version of Digital Contention in a Divided Society (featuring a new afterword) is published. It can be preordered on the Manchester University Press website here.
I am delighted to be back in Leicester for a book talk on 24 April, hosted by John Coster (Documentary Media Centre). There is no need to register for this free event. Details are below:
Join Paul Reilly (University of Glasgow) and host, John Coster (Doc Media Centre), to celebrate the paperback launch of Paul’s book, Digital contention in a divided society: Social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland.
About the book
How are platforms such as Facebook and Twitter used by citizens to frame contentious parades and protests in ‘post-conflict’ Northern Ireland? What do these contentious episodes tell us about the potential of information and communication technologies to promote positive intergroup contact in the deeply divided society? These issues are addressed in what is the first in-depth qualitative exploration of how social media were used during the union flag protests (December 2012-March 2013), the Ardoyne parade disputes (July 2014 and 2015), and the ‘Brexit riots’ in April 2021. The book focuses on the extent to which affective publics, mobilised and connected via expressions of solidarity on social media, appear to escalate or de-escalate sectarian tensions caused by these hybrid media events. It also explores whether citizen activity on these online platforms has the potential to contribute to peacebuilding in Northern Ireland.
Virpi Salojärvi (University of Helsinki/University of Vassa) and I are pleased to announce the publication of our co-edited book (De)constructing societal threats during times of deep mediatization today. A description of the book can be found below:
This book explores how both elite and non-elite actors frame societal threats such as the refugee crisis and COVID-19 using both digital and traditional media. It also explores ways in which the framing of these issues as threatening can be challenged using these platforms.
People typically experience societal threats such as war and terrorism through the media they consume, both on and offline. Much of the research in this area to date focuses on either how political and media elites present these issues to citizens, or audience responses to these frames. This book takes a different approach by focusing on how issues such as the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic are both constructed and deconstructed in an era of hybrid media. It draws on a range of traditional and innovative research methodologies to explore how these issues are framed as ‘threats’ within deeply mediatized societies, ranging from content analysis of newspaper coverage of the Macedonian name dispute in Greece to investigating conspiratorial communities on YouTube using Systemic Functional Linguistics. In doing so, this book enriches our understanding of not only how civil and uncivil actors frame these issues, but also their impact on societal resilience towards future crises.
(De)constructing Societal Threats During Times of Deep Mediatization will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Communication Studies, Media Studies, Journalism, Cultural Studies, Research Methods, Sociology and Politics.
The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Communication Review. Many thanks to our authors for their excellent contributions, which are listed below:
1. Framing the Macedonian name dispute in Greece: Nationalistic journalism and the existential threat Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis
2. The “ultimate empathy machine” as technocratic solutionism? Audience reception of the distant refugee crisis through virtual reality Zhe Xu and Mengrong Zhang
3. A systemic functional linguistics approach to analysing white supremacist and conspiratorial Ddscourse on YouTube Olivia Inwood and Michele Zappavigna
4. Internet regulation and crisis-related resilience: From Covid-19 to existential risks Gregory Asmolov
Dr Paul Reilly 