Addressing the Quality of Broadcast Coverage of Politics in Britain

As an American living in the UK, who is not a journalist, I’ve long looked at broadcast journalism in Britain as a model for the US to emulate. Over time, however, my confidence in the UK’s coverage has declined. Rather than simply complain, let me offer a few observations and suggestions. Most recently, after weeks of … Continue reading Addressing the Quality of Broadcast Coverage of Politics in Britain

Managing the Shift to Next Generation Television

Columbia University’s Professor Eli Noam was in Oxford yesterday, 17 October 2019, speaking at Green Templeton College about two of his most recent books, entitled ‘Managing Media and Digital Organizations’ and ‘Digital and Media Management’: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319712871. The title of his talk was ‘Does Digital Management Exist? Challenges for the Next Generation of TV’. Several departments collaborated … Continue reading Managing the Shift to Next Generation Television

The Politics of Language

The language of day-to-day politics in the news and in legislative bodies, such as the UK parliament, has been so vitriolic, such as around the Brexit debate from 2016, that many have been stopped listening. It can be toxic to some, while energising to others. I should add that I would single out no one, … Continue reading The Politics of Language

Society and the Internet, 2nd Edition

It is such a pleasure to see the publication today of the second edition of Society and the Internet by Oxford University Press. My co-editor, Mark Graham, and I worked long and hard to assemble a wonderful set of authors to build on the first edition. The success of the original volume led to this … Continue reading Society and the Internet, 2nd Edition

The Internecine Politics Undermining the Civility of Political Discourse?

Brexit has spawned a form of internecine politics in the UK that is a lose-lose for all - the politicians, parties, and the nations, and very likely, the public interest. Conservatives have referred to 'blue on blue' attacks on one's own party members, but not as in military parlance, accidental. These are really intentional efforts … Continue reading The Internecine Politics Undermining the Civility of Political Discourse?

Society and the Internet’s 2nd Edition

The 2nd Edition of Society and the Internet should be out in July 2019. You can access information about the book from OUP here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/society-and-the-internet-9780198843504?lang=en&cc=de With the academic year fast approaching, we are hoping that the book will be useful for many courses around Internet studies, new media, and media and society. If you are teaching in this … Continue reading Society and the Internet’s 2nd Edition

Nominate an Early Career Research to Become a TPRC Junior Fellow

The TPRC is seeking to select up to 6 TPRC Junior Fellows – early-career researchers engaged in research on the Internet, telecommunication and media policy in the digital age. Please nominate individuals whom you think might make outstanding fellows. Those who have wond student paper awards at the TPRC conference as well as those who … Continue reading Nominate an Early Career Research to Become a TPRC Junior Fellow

The Chatham House Rule Should be the Exception

Can We Make the Chatham House Rule the Exception? It is common to debate the definition and correct implementation of the Chatham House Rule. My issue is with its over-use. It should be used in exceptional cases, rather than being routinized as a norm for managing communication about meetings. To be clear, the Chatham House … Continue reading The Chatham House Rule Should be the Exception

Notes to Pundits of the Trump-Russia Stories: If you were my students …

Sorry if this sounds patronizing, as you are stellar journalists and politicians, but if you were my students, writing a paper for a college class, what would I say? I would definitely give you points for effort, and creativity, but would mark your work down on its analytical precision. Happy for you to come in … Continue reading Notes to Pundits of the Trump-Russia Stories: If you were my students …

Should Tweeting Politicians be able to Block Users?

An interesting debate has been opened up by lawyers who have argued that President Trump should not block Twitter users from posting on Twitter. I assume this issue concerns his account @realDonaldTrump (32M followers) but the same issue would arise over his newer and official account as President @realDonaldTrump (almost 19M followers). Apparently, the President … Continue reading Should Tweeting Politicians be able to Block Users?