Trump, Brexit and Corbyn: Social Media, Authenticity and Post-Truth Politics

On the 4th of May, City, University of London, hosted the following event, organised by Professor Petros Iosifidis (City, University of London) & Professor Mark Wheeler (London Metropolitan University).

During the first two decades of the Twenty-First Century, the Internet emerged from being an add-on to the television based campaigns in western liberal democracies to becoming an essential component within the wider communication of politics. In some respects, the traditional forms of political advertising and alternative forms of elite-public relations have created more plural relations with the electorate through the employment of party websites, candidate blogs and the incorporation of social networks such as Facebook, You Tube and Twitter. However, the social media platforms have been seen to more significantly reconfigure interactive communications between apparently ‘anti-establishment’ interests and the public to establish new forms of participation. This interdisciplinary conference will consider how politicians have employed the social media to affect major changes in recent US Presidential campaigns, UK General Elections and the EU Referendum.

Speakers included:

Darren G. Lilleker (Bournemouth University) and Duje Bonacci (University of Zagreb)
Andrew Chadwick (Loughborough University), Cristian Vaccari and Ben O’Loughlin
Stephen Coleman and Julie Firmstone (University of Leeds)
Dr Jen Birks (University of Nottingham)
Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (Cardiff University JOMEC)
Chris Rojek (City, University of London)
Professor Dominic Wring (Loughborough University),
James Mills (Parliament)

The event will form the basis of a Special Edition of the International Journal of Digital Television (to be renamed Journal of Digital Media & Policy) https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=175

The event was funded by the PSA (Political Studies Association) and supported by the PSA Media and Politics Group, the Department of Sociology, the Jeremy Tunstall Global Media group at City and the School of Social Sciences at London Metropolitan University.