Tag Archives: Glasgow University Media Group

Cost of living crisis book launch- 24 June

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Book launch event, 24 June 2026

The launch event for Bad News on the Cost of Living Crisis will be held in a few weeks’ time. It will be jointly sponsored by the Glasgow University Media Group and Red Pepper Magazine.

Please see below for details on the speakers and venue. Details on how to register can be found here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/redpepper/2233237

GUMG and RPM invite you to join them for the launch of a new book, Bad News on the Cost of Living Crisis and to discuss questions of media power, resistance, and the future of journalism in a rapidly evolving digital media landscape with special guest Laura Webster. 

Both the book and magazine will be available for purchase at the event – to ensure you get a copy of the Red Pepper issue, you can purchase in advance for a discounted rate when registering for the event!

Join us from 5:30pm in the Reading Room, Glasgow University Union – the discussion will run between 6:00 and 7:30pm, with drinks and further conversation in the Reading Room bar afterwards. 

Chair: 

  • Darcy White is a co-editor of Red Pepper Media and Emeritus Fellow of Visual Culture (Sheffield Hallam University).

Panellists: 

  • Laura Webster is the Editor of The National.
  • Catherine Happer is a Professor of Media Sociology (University of Glasgow) and Director of The Glasgow University Media Group.
  • Lluis De Nadal is a Lecturer in Media, Culture & Society (University of Glasgow) and a researcher at The Glasgow University Media Group.
  • Paula Lacey is a co-editor of Red Pepper Media and a PhD candidate in Sociology (University of Cambridge)

Location

Reading Room, Glasgow University Union (GUU), University Avenue, G12 8LX

Bad news on the cost of living crisis published

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I am a contributor to a Glasgow University Media Group book published last week. Bad news on the cost of living crisis explores media representations and audience responses to the COLC in the United Kingdom over the past few years.

The blurb of the book is below:

In this book, the Glasgow University Media Group bring their innovative and forensic three-dimensional methodological approach to understanding the role of media in shaping Britain’s cost of living crisis.  In the context of neoliberal austerity, welfare cuts and the corporate capture of media platforms, it provides evidence of an increasing disconnect between the narratives promoted by the mainstream media and the interests, priorities and lived experiences of audiences – whilst charting the parallel emergence of new models of trust which leave them vulnerable to bad faith actors promoting disinformation online.

Big thanks to GUMG colleagues Alison Eldridge, Catherine Happer, Gavin Hawkton, Isaac Hoff, Lluis de Nadal Alsina, Cairsti Russell and Yu Sun for their hard work in bringing this to fruition. I would also like to thank the Palgrave team (especially Richard Woolley) and the reviewers for their assistance in publishing this important work.

The book can now be ordered here.

I will share details of the book launch and other promotional activities in due course.

Presentations at MeCCSA 2025

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This week I was at Edinburgh Napier University to attend the annual MeCCSA conference. The theme this year was ‘Identity and Belonging’, with a specific focus on how identities are mediated and mediate themselves.

First, I was part of a Glasgow University Media Group panel on the Cost of Living Crisis. I presented an overview of the key findings with Cairsti Russell and Gavin Hawkton (unfortunately Catherine Happer was unable to join us due to ill-health).

Key themes included the debate over the use of the word ‘crisis’. There was also a focus on the impact of austerity and cuts in public services on low-income households. Our results suggest that media coverage of the COLC prioritised business perspectives over those of civil society. Citizens are increasingly attracted to alternative news sources. The slides from the session can be viewed below:

These findings are from the GUMG’s forthcoming book ‘Bad News for the Cost of Living Crisis’. The book, edited by Catherine Happer, Alison Eldridge and me, will be published with Palgrave Pivot in December 2025.

My second paper was on my ongoing research on social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland. I drew on my book Digital Contention in a Divided Society and article on #Brexitriots in my presentation. It explored hashtags as affective ritualised responses to contentious events in Northern Ireland. I examined who was behind these discursive formations online, and who benefited from this activity. The slides can be viewed below:

Thanks to everyone who attended the sessions. asked questions, and provided important feedback on the work.