POLIS - Research - Department of Media and Communications

StockWell Communications and POLIS Launch Research Prize

Polis is pleased to announce a new student research prize in conjunction with StockWell Communications, a leading London-based strategic communications firm.

The Polis/StockWell Communications Research Prize, worth £1000, will be awarded for the best research proposal on the topic of 'Corporate Reputation, Media and Society'.

The research prize will be open to any LSE post-grad student, who must submit a 500-1000 word proposal on the topic. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity for a paid internship with StockWell during which they will develop their proposal into a final research paper to be published by both Polis and StockWell.

Further details, including the judging panel, dates and deadlines can be found on the 'Scholarships' section of our website, as well as the StockWell website.

Transitional Libyan Media: Free at Last?

Polis fellow Fatima el Issawi delves into the post-Gaddafi Libyan media sector in this report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Despite the re-opened media sector and the liberation of journalists, the reality in Libya is an industry that has fallen prey to the country's tumultuous situation and is still far from free.

Fatima discusses in detail both the problems and the required changes to allow for a truly objective media system in Libya in the full report, Transitional Libyan Media: Free at Last.

Polis Events

We're continuing in the new year with even more exciting speakers and events at Polis. Check out the upcoming events below, and see an entire list of Polis events on the Events section of our website.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or join the Polis mailing list for regular events updates.

RECAP: Polis Journalism Conference

This year's Polis Journalism Conference was a huge success! The house was packed and the sessions were filled with lively debates on hot topics in trust and the media.

If you weren't lucky enough to be able to attend on April 5th, we have video and audio recordings, as well as reflective comment on the day's sessions.

Reports, blog posts and commentary on many of the sessions can be found on the Polis blog.

All recorded audio and video sessions can be found on the LSE website and on the LSE YouTube Channel. BBC seesions can be found on the BBC College of Journalism's YouTube channel.

Take a look at our Facebook page for photos from the day's events.

Lastly, check out the schedule from April 5th's conference, as well as speaker biographies. Thank you to all speakers, participants and volunteers for making the day such a success. Until next year!

Transitional Libyan Media: Free at Last?

Polis fellow Fatima el Issawi delves into the post-Gaddafi Libyan media sector in this report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Despite the re-opened media sector and the liberation of journalists, the reality in Libya is an industry that has fallen prey to the country's tumultuous situation and is still far from free.

Fatima discusses in detail both the problems and the required changes to allow for a truly objective media system in Libya in the full report, Transitional Libyan Media: Free at Last.

Report: What Good is Twitter?

EBU Fellow Nadja Hahn recently spent time at Polis researching the value of social media for public service journalism. Hahn, an experienced business journalist with Austria’s public service broadcaster ORF, makes radio news content that informs the listeners on the critical economic stories of our times. She had dabbled in social media before embarking on this project but is limited in what she can do professionally by Austrian regulations. In her paper, Hahn notes the benefits of social media for journalism, but the reasons she sets out are not because it makes journalism easier, speedier or sexier. The case she sets out is that it improves the public service value of the journalism.

You can view a full copy of the report here.

New Research: The Euro Crisis in the Press

Over the past four years, the European sovereign debt crisis has significantly affected the fortunes of many European citizens, but to what extent do they share an understanding of Europe, the crisis and its solutions?

An interdisciplinary group of researchers from the LSE, led by Max Hänska of the Media and Communications Department, has launched a comparative research project to study how the French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish press reported the crisis since 2008. The project aims to examine the influence that national reporting has on European monetary policy, the project of European integration, and the balance between national and European identities.

For more details about the study and some preliminary findings, click here. Email m.t.hanska-ahy@lse.ac.uk for further information about the project.

What does the Trump triumph mean for journalism, politics and social media?
There’s been a wonderful arc to the blame narrative in the wake of Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the Presidential election. I’m talking here mainly about the reaction of liberal or progressive mainstream media. Supporters of Trump or more radical alternative media have a more simple explanation: ‘the best (or most evil) man won!’ First off it was ‘we the mainstream media […]
A journey of disruption with Discovery Communications
By LSE MSc student Christine Sweeney I strongly recommend that you approach your career with the same kind of fearlessness and willingness to take risks… especially in a hugely disruptive industry like media. Michelle Russo, Executive Vice President for Global Communications knows a thing or two about leading a global company through disruption, as well as taking that approach to her […]
As Trump takes power, what can journalists, politicians and the public learn?
Can we stop talking about ‘the media’? We’re all in this together. Post-Trump, post-Truth, post-Brexit. It really is time to end this worshipping at a broken shrine. As a journalist, I would secretly love the professional news industry to have the power that idealists, cynics and bystanders ascribe to ‘the mainstream media’. But it ain’t so. The politicians and public […]
Tweeting the election: Journalistic voice, bias, and “knowing where the line is”
Svenja Ottovordemgentschenfelde is a Fellow at Tow Center for Digital Journalism and a PhD candidate in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE Something unusual recently made the news: Business Insider reported that BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith sent a memo to staff, reminding them to refrain from bias on social media in their coverage leading up to the U.S. […]
Beyond Free Basics: Facebook, data bundles and Zambia’s social media internet
LSE’s Dr Wendy Willems argues that mobile data bundles are crucial to the growing power of social media platforms in Zambia, increasingly creating a ‘social media internet’. They also pose a number of political challenges to mobile operators and governments on the continent. While calling features on Facebook and WhatsApp threaten the revenue base of mobile operators, the political affordances of […]

Podcasts of Polis Talks and Lectures

We now have podcasts of all of this year's Media Agenda Talks, as well as other Polis lectures, available online! Click the links below for a listen.

2013

April 5th: Polis Journalism Conference (Multiple sessions)

January 21st: Chrystia Freeland, 'Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich'

2012

November 20th: Giles Hedger, 'The Elves and the Shoemaker'

November 13th: Charles Arthur, 'Digital Wars: Apple, Google, Microsoft and the Battle for the Internet'

November 6th: Ruth Mackensie, 'What has art got to do with sport?'

October 30th: Claire Enders, 'Ethics and Regulation'

October 23rd: Ben Page, 'Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics'

October 16th: Phillip Collins, 'What Makes a Great Speech?'

October 11th: David Aaronovtich, 'The Right to Offend'

October 9th: Mark Hockaday, 'BBC News: Why good journalism Matters in the Digital Age