Schedule

Click and scroll below to discover the programme of events for the conference International Public and Political Communications in Times of Crises and Uncertainty.

Off

Monday 22 March

10-11am

Keynote address 

The challenge and opportunities of public and political communication in the 21st century

Alastair Campbell
Former New Labour campaign strategist


11am-12 noon

Guest lecture 1  

Tackling disinformation, 'fake-news' and conspiracy theories 

Shayan Sardarizahdeh
BBC Dinsinformation Unit


2pm

Guest lecture 2 

Cambridge Analytica and the Digital Influence Industry

Emma L Briant
Bard College, New York, and author of Propaganda and Counterterrorism: Strategies for Global Change

Tuesday 23 March

9-11am

Student workshop on speechwriting and political performance 

Philip Collins
Tony Blair’s chief speechwriter and director of speechwriting and political communications


Asynchronous screening/activity

Screening/streaming 

Katharina Gellein Viken & Charles Kriel’s People You May Know (2021)

Wednesday 24 March

Discussion groups

  9-10:30am

Group A

Lucy Birge


 

Xiaoyu Xu: 'Is there a feminization trend for voters in public sphere?'

Yiqun Wang: 'Exploring online reactions of Chinese and UK students to images related to the #MeToo movement in 2020'

Christos Kranakis: 'Media Framing and The Uprise of the Far-right Parties in Europe'

Lucas Jonathan Mentken: 'Political campaigning in less than 280 words: Comparing political leaders’ use of Twitter ahead of the 2019 UK and 2020 US election'

Jacob Mouritsen: 'Sorry, not sorry: Are politicians actually sorry, when they apologise?'

Group B

Pawel Surowiec

Rosie Bell: 'Framing rebellion: environmental protest through the dual filter of mainstream news and social media'

Alexandra Stuart: 'The representation of abortion and US print media impact on public opinion'

Shuang Zhang: 'Trump’s attempts to incite his supporters to question election results in Twitter'

Rochelle Blakeman: 'Censorship through "soft power": Examining subtle attempts by political groups to control political discourse'

Songjun Yang: 'The Covid-19 Pandemic: How does the government use social media to refute rumours effectively during an emergency'
   
  11am-12:30pm

Group C

Sara McConnell 

Bryony Hiscock: 'An analysis of the linguistic tools used by the British press to describe Syrian refugees'

Yile Wang: 'An analysis of the changing public opinion on Chinese social media and its influence during Covid-19'

Nojoud Shraim: 'Hasbara 2.0 propaganda and the international public opinion'

Leyi OuYang: 'Turning former president of America Donald Trump into internet memes: the political and apolitical aspects of Chinese netizens’ attention'

Qianwen Wu: 'Reflecting on the relationship between the government, the public, and Twitter through Covid-19'

Group D

Pawel Surowiec

Xiaolin Du: 'Comparing images of female politicians in the media, specifically Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May'

He Gong: 'Expressing prejudice and strengthening political positions: A framing analysis of the discourse of the US mainstream media of China's Covid-19 epidemic'

Li Yao: 'Personal characteristics of candidates affecting voter support in election activities'

Yingshi Huang: 'The 2019 Hong Kong protest in Apple Daily and People's Daily in Beijing: A framing and discursive analysis'

Thursday 25 March

Discussion groups

9-10:30am

Group E

Jared Ahmad



 

Miao Wang: 'Is "Slacktivism" spreading on Chinese social media?: Chinese youth identities and political expression on social media'

Hang Dai: 'Researching the strategy of grassroots environmental NGOs on China's mainstream social media platforms'

Sihua Wang: 'Weibo's reinforcement of patriotic sentiments among users during the 2019 Hong Kong protests'

Anqi Hu: 'Research on the public communication strategy of government and MNEs facing with the business restriction crisis: a case study on Huawei'

Group F

Dmitry Chernobrov




 

Ying Liu: 'An evaluation of e-government in the digital age: The case of China and the UK'

Hongyi Feng: 'The impact of rising cyber-activism and political polarization on the 2020 American presidential election'

Zhe Jia: 'The impact of social media on the 2020 US elections'

Luke Dunford: 'Electoral campaigning and technology'

Group G

Sara McConnell


 

Qianyi Zheng: 'The era no one spared: Post-truth politics in non-democratic societies'

Wanyue Ni: 'The social communication of politics behind entertainment programs'

Mengyu Tan: 'The representation of climate change in British and Chinese news media'

Siqi Chen: 'Eye of the beholder: Exploring the portrayal of China’s image through China-related NHK documentaries'

Elena Mikail: 'The permanent five, their veto right and the hindering role of the United Nations'

11am-12:30pm

Group H

Dmitry Chernobrov




 

Yancen Liu: 'Research on the content creation and communication effect of political issues on short video platforms'

Zhang Yuan: 'What about the influence of Facebook and Twitter on the Arab Spring?'

Luyao Sun: 'A study of the effectiveness of the UK government's use of social media to promote pandemic prevention'

Ningxin Zhao: tbc

Group I

Sara McConnell


 

Jing Ouyang: 'Emotional expression and identity construction of fan nationalism: A case study of Chinese mainland youth on overseas social media platforms during the Hong Kong amendment event'

Laurie Sutcliffe: 'A threat to democratic norms? Analysing the extent to which micro targeting polarises and undermines liberal democracy'

Qian Wei: 'Differences in political engagement on social media between male and female students during the 2020 US election'

Jiahi Li: 'How does the influence of public opinion caused by social sentiment affect the stock market?'

Duncan Hu: 'The impact of visual differences in politicians on electoral outcomes: an example from the 2016 and 2020 US elections'

Friday 26 March

9-10:30am 

Group J

Jared Ahmad


 

Fatmah Almahmeed: 'Twitter, a tool for mobilisation? The role of Twitter activism in framing the 2019 anti-government protest in Kuwait'

Imogen Craggs: 'International media representations of SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) allegations in Nigeria since 2017'

Eugenie Mikail: 'Political penetration methods: Hezbollah’s silent goals and salient actions'

Maya el-Eid: 'The role of social media in political movements during the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings'

Group K

Sara McConnell 

Wenlu Xing: tbc

Ying Liu: tbc

Yuka Sueyoshi: 'Is it time to redefine YouTube as a political/public communication tool?'

Liang Kaiyue: 'Social media's impact on the Chinese government's ability to deal with public health emergencies'

International Public and Political Communications in Times of Crises and Uncertainty

Overviewº¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ the guest speakers

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.