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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy

@digipol.bsky.social
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News and updates from DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy at University of Liverpool, UK.

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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Emily Harmer @harm365.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Nice the celebrate the publication of Women Politicians Online: The bad, the ugly and the good of digital media by @rosalynd.bsky.social & me at the beginning of the academic year! bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/women-politi... @commmedia.bsky.social
Two women standing in front of some book shelves holding a book.
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
New article co-authored by @craighaslop.bsky.social (among many others) in Journal of Gender Studies! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Beyond the manosphere: a panel discussion exploring the wider phenomenon of male-centred online communities
The manosphere is a loose network of anti-feminist and more broadly reactionary male-centred online spaces, influencers and communities. A range of scholars, activists, practitioners and policy mak...
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
@discodiscourse.bsky.social just published an analysis of a short story by a U.S. neo-Nazi organisation in Language in Society www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Paths to action: Fantasy, ideology and incitement in an extreme-right narrative | Language in Society | Cambridge Core
Paths to action: Fantasy, ideology and incitement in an extreme-right narrative
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
'Cutting through the noise: The legitimacy of the European Convention on Human Rights in the British press' by @katiabalabanova.bsky.social & Gemma Horton 🔗 buff.ly/LEgf1TB @commmedia.bsky.social, @sotauol.bsky.social, @livunihss.bsky.social, @digipol.bskysocial, @sheffielduni.bsky.social
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Humanities & Social Sciences, UoL @livunihss.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
📰 University academics Drs Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova and @richardstupart.com, both from @commmedia.bsky.social, attended the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day in Lusaka, Zambia recently to share their research into journalist safety and press freedom. Read about their work here ➡️
news.liverpool.ac.uk
Liverpool academics present their work at UNESCO World Press Freedom Day - University of Liverpool News
Liverpool academics present their work at UNESCO World Press Freedom Day
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Rosalynd Southern @rosalynd.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Auspicious day to post this so here it is! 'Memes and politics in the UK: from piggate to partygate and beyond' is out now! link.springer.com/book/10.1007... I loved writing this and I hope you'll all love reading it. Check out the cover, description and endorsements here! 📖 Buy it!! 😅
Ros holding the book and smilingCover of book. It's purple with a picture of a woman's hand holding a smartphone with a black and white starburst behind it. The title and author name appear in white writingIn 2015, a story emerged alleging that then-
Prime Minister David Cameron had placed 'a
private part of his anatomy' into the mouth
of a dead pig's head during an initiation
ceremony at the University of Oxford. Upor
this allegation breaking, social media eruptec
with a plethora of memes and iokes about
the incident, which became known as
Piggate'. Although there had been a move
towards iovial talk of politics on social media
prior to this, the episode seemed to distil the
practice and precipitate a new era of near-
constant humorous online reaction to
political events. Considering this context, this
book assesses how memetic practices have
shaped political communication and culture
in the past decade-plus, and the
consequences thereof. It does so from four
perspectives, encompassing a focus or
ordinary citizens, a group of online activists
a key social media satirist and, finally,
focusing on how elites have deployed these
practices

"This landmark book is the first to fully
explain how memes have become a critical
part of UK politics. Through rich and
convincing empirical analysis, Southern
reveals how digital humour is transforming
citizen participation, elite communication,
and the very nature of political discourse. A
must-read for anyone seeking to understand
the evolution of digital political culture and
its profound impact on democracy."

- James Dennis, Researcher at Lusófona
University, Portuga

"From 'shitposts' to 'Karen memes', political
communication is changing and Rosalynd
Southern is a lively guide to the pithy worlo
of memes. A cutting-edge study that
deserves to be read.

- Stephen Coleman, Emeritus Professor of
Political Communication, University of Leeds

UK
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Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Brand new publication co-authored by faculty member @rosalynd.bsky.social! www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
cogitatiopress.com
Experimentation on TikTok, Standardisation on Reels? Party Short-Form Video Use in the 2024 UK General Election | Article | Media and Communication
Rosalynd Southern, Niamh Cashell, Liam McLoughlin, Ploykamol Suwantawit
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Jo(sephine) Lukito @jolukito.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Another comparative study by @harm365.bsky.social & @rosalynd.bsky.social examines how UK women politicians are received by social media audiences using replies. They find platform effects around incivility, insults and gendered othering and offer a generative framework for equity-focused research.
tandfonline.com
Twitter to Yell at Them, Facebook to Ask Questions and Instagram to Show Support? Exploring Platform Effects in Responses to Women Politicians On Social Media
Previous research has shown that women politicians are often subject to more incivility, hate speech, and sexualized abuse on social media. Until now, studies tend to analyze one platform, and ther...
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Dr Liam Mcloughlin ☕ @leelum.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Women are beating men at the ballot box, but we’re far off gender equality in local government. I followed-up my last analysis back in April with the updated @democracyclub.org.uk 2026 Local Election results. 👇👇 leelum.com/politicsmedi...
leelum.com
Women are beating men at the ballot box, but we’re far off gender equality in local government: Gender and the UK 2026 Local Elections - Leelum
In the local elections, women out-polled men. Paradoxically, men remain overly represented. The reason is simple: no single political party managed gender equality in the number of women candidates st...
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Dear colleagues, we are delighted to invite you to our DigiPol research seminar given by DigiPol visiting fellow Tomás Dodds. Wednesday 3.30pm to 5pm School of the Arts Library or email rsouth@liverpool.ac.uk to join online. Abstract below. Please re skeet!
The AI Turn in Journalism

 

Abstract: Unlike previous changes in digital media technologies over the past few decades, this AI “turn” in journalism forces us to rethink journalism’s identity and its relationship with audiences. While AI complicates and challenges some existing professional, social, political, and economic structures, it also offers new ways to realize desired journalistic objectives that were previously considered to be impractical, if not impossible. Drawing on four orienting ideas—adoption and hype, power and dependency, audiences and democratic implications, and education and empowerment—I unpack the implications of this AI turn in journalism and the consequences for the future of the journalistic field.
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
PSA Technology, Internet, & Policy (TIP) @techpolicy.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
💥Upcoming event! 💥"The Politics of Platform Regulation" 🕒 2 Dec @ 3-4:15pm GMT Join us in our discussion w Robert Gorwa @gorwa.ca to talk about his recent book on "how governments shape online content moderation" + strategies to combat harmful content Sign up 👉 www.tickettailor.com/events/techn...
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Emily Harmer @harm365.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Yesterday we launched our SaferPolitics toolkit and training resources which are designed to support politicians and their staff with online safety based on research by @rosalynd.bsky.social & I. Find out more 👇 saferpolitics.org @digipol.bsky.social @commmedia.bsky.social
Front page of saferpolitics.org website
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Cat Mahoney @catmahoney.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
I'm excited to attend the launch event of the Safer Politics Online Safety Tool Kit, headed up by my brilliant colleagues in @commmedia.bsky.social @harm365.bsky.social @rosalynd.bsky.social
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University of Liverpool News @livuninews.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
NEWS I Launched today in the @sotauol.bsky.social library, a vital new online safety resource for political parties and their communications teams. Read more ⬇️ news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/06/09/u... @digipol.bsky.social @livunihss.bsky.social @jocoxfoundation.bsky.social @local.gov.uk
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Craig Haslop, Masculinities and Screen Studies @craighaslop.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Here we go - looking forward to Yannis Tzioumakis inaugural professorial lecture to a packed School of the Arts library! @sotauol.bsky.social
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Antal Wozniak @antalwozniak.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Brilliant initiative and work from my dear colleague Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova (as well as Mark Pogson, @harm365.bsky.social, and @rosalynd.bsky.social)!
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Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
'Beyond the Manosphere: Exploring the Wider Phenomenon of Male-Centred Online Communities' 3rd June 4-6pm (Online) Our @craighaslop.bsky.social will be on this exciting panel exploring the ‘manosphere’. It's free and online! www.eventsforce.net/cugroup/fron...
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
This week, as part of World Press Freedom Day, DigiPol director Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova and team launched the Global Index on Journalists' Safety based on data from the Worlds of Journalism Study and Unesco Data on journalist killings. Read more here- news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/05/08/u...
news.liverpool.ac.uk
University leads global effort to measure journalists’ safety with new international Index - University of Liverpool News
University leads global effort to measure journalists’ safety with new international Index
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Starting now! Kate Gilchrist giving the DigiPol seminar on menopause and advertising. Fascinating so far!
Dr Gilcrist in the school of the arts library - a wood panelled room. There is a projector with slides showing d depictions of menopause in culture and advertising
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Cat Mahoney @catmahoney.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
📢📢 WE ARE RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS📢📢 If you are interested in Dungeons and Dragons or TTRPGs more generally and would like to be involved in research seeking to create accessible and inclusive games and resources for players and GMs then check out this #CFP @commmedia.bsky.social
A poster giving details and scannable QR codes to recruit participants for a research project at the University of Liverpool into the creation of accessible and inclusive spaces and resources for TTRPGs.
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Fab turnout for the Queer Screen Cultures Showcase for LGBTQ+ History Month! Fab work by @garyneedham.bsky.social and Hannah Spaulding for pulling this together 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
Picture from the back of a wood panelled library showing a screening of a film where a man is weightlifting while another person spots himPoster for the screening showcase with a person pulling a red jumper over their head with a white tee underneath. The jumper reads 'how we love is who we are'
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
📣 New artilcle from Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Mark Pogson and colleagues 'Media Capture, Survival of the Corruptest and Journalistic Agency: The Case of Bulgaria' published in International Journal of Press/Politics. Available open access here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Richard Stupart @richardstupart.com · 27/02/2025
After *that*, I'll be a British Academy fellow down in South Africa for a year from September, researching rural journalism in South Africa and making myself generally useful as a colleague to the South African Institute of International Affairs. 3/4
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Richard Stupart @richardstupart.com · 27/02/2025
I've been lucky enough to be awarded a CODESRIA fellowship to visit the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Dar es Salaam in May/June. It's a grand full-circle meet up with Drs Mkoko and Dotto, with whom I was a baby MA student in Media at Rhodes University. 2/4
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Richard Stupart @richardstupart.com · 21/02/2025
We're having a fantastic (hybrid!) panel on media and the war in Ukraine here at Liverpool next Thursday (27 Feb) with a screening of "1% of war" and Q&A with director Denys Khrystov afterwards. Registration is at: bit.ly/liverpoolmed...
Flyer for a hybrid panel event on media and the Ukraine war at Liverpool University on 27 Feb, from 14h30 - 16h30. To sign up, you can go to https://bit.ly/liverpoolmediaukraine

The panel description reads:
How has the war in Ukraine affected the work and structure of media? This panel brings together journalists, scholars and media professionals for a panel discussing how events in Ukraine have altered the media  landscape, the working practices of journalists working in and on the war, and broader struggles over mediating the conflict

JOANNA SZOSTEK
Senior Lecturer in Political and International Studies at the University of Glasgow

OLGA TOKARIUK
Journalist and academy associate in the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House

NINA KURYATA
Ukraine and Defence Editor, Tortoise Media

YAROSLAVA BUKHTA
DPhil researcher on contemporary knowledge production in war at Oxford
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
School of the Arts at University of Liverpool @sotauol.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Celebrate LGBTQ History Month with @commmedia.bsky.social! Enjoy queer films, videos and documentaries, curated by students from the Queer Film, Video, and Documentary module 🌈 📽️ Queer Screen Cultures Showcase 🗓️ Fri 28th Feb 1pm 📍 School Of The Arts Library 🎟️ www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Grab the popcorn 🍿 For LGBTQ history month our Department is hosting a showcase to celebrates Queer Screen Cultures! 🎥 📆 Friday 28th Feb 1-5pm 💸 Free Sign-up req. In show will be a range of queer films, videos, and documentaries curated by our students! www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...
ticketsource.co.uk
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Antal Wozniak @antalwozniak.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Jill Hopke and I have a new research paper (open access) out now in Environmental Communication. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Climate Solutions and Climate Attribution in Extreme Heat Press Coverage: The July 2022 UK Heatwaves
Extreme weather events are short-term and have concrete impacts on local communities. This may make them easier to narrate for media outlets than the increases in global average temperatures. We us...
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Our next seminar is happening this week! Join us in person or online. Details below 👇 @commmedia.bsky.social
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Reposted by DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy
Antal Wozniak @antalwozniak.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Please join us and Dr Travis Coan for our third DigiPol (@digipol.bsky.social) research seminar talk on 12 February, 16:00-17:30 (GMT) at the University of Liverpool in the School of the Arts Library. You can also join online, free tickets are available here: www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...
ticketsource.co.uk
DigiPol Seminar - Dr Travis Coan (University of Exeter) at School Of The Arts Library - University of Liverpool
Tickets are now available for DigiPol Seminar - Dr Travis Coan (University of Exeter) at School Of The Arts Library - University of Liverpool, Liverpool on Wed 12 Feb 2025. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
This is happening this week! Join us in person or online for this on Wednesday! Full details below 👇
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Don't forget to sign up for our DigiPol Seminar next week! Info below 👇
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DigiPol: Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy @digipol.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Join us for our next hybrid DigiPol research seminar 'Going beyond the State: a collaborative model' with Prof Xiaoling Zhang. 🗓️ Weds 5 February, 4.00-5.30pm 📍 School of the Arts Library All welcome! Register: www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...
ticketsource.co.uk
"Digipol: Going beyond the State: a collaborative model" at School Of The Arts Library - First Floor
Tickets are now available for Digipol: Going beyond the State: a collaborative model at School Of The Arts Library - First Floor, Liverpool on Wednesday 5th February 2025 at 4:00PM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!
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Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Make sure to check out the next @digipol.bsky.social Event: "Going beyond the State: a collaborative model" with Professor Xiaoling Zhang. 📆 Weds 5th Feb 4:00-5.30pmPM 🌐SOTA Library, 19 Abercromby Square, University of Liverpool www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...
ticketsource.co.uk
"Digipol: Going beyond the State: a collaborative model" at School Of The Arts Library - First Floor
Tickets are now available for Digipol: Going beyond the State: a collaborative model at School Of The Arts Library - First Floor, Liverpool on Wednesday 5th February 2025 at 4:00PM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!
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Communication & Media at the University of Liverpool @commmedia.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Be careful out there on the snow while you're enjoying how pretty campus is ❤️⛄
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