It is often remarked that politicians’ private lives are becoming feature of political communicat... more It is often remarked that politicians’ private lives are becoming feature of political communication in many advanced industrial democracies. However, there have so far been no genuinely comparative studies examining the personalised nature of political communication. Intimate Politics provides for the first time a systematic comparative analysis of such developments in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources it assesses the extent to which the private lives of politicians have become a feature of political communication in each democracy. The book provides a comprehensive account of the shifting boundaries between the public and private and whether any developments are universal or more advanced in some democracies than others, and seeks to explain why this might be. Intimate Politics will be of great value for students and scholars of communication and media studies and political science and is required reading for anyone who wants a fuller understanding of the transformation of mediated politics in advanced industrial democracies.
This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online commun... more This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online communities. By using the concepts of boundary and identity, it explores the formation of two online punk communities in China, created by those who are interested in punk music originating from the Anglo-American countries. Drawing on data from participant observation and 10 in-depth interviews, this article first reviews literature on Internet culture in China, online community, boundary and identity. It then focuses on the differing practices of the two online punk communities. A discussion is subsequently provided, of how boundaries are constructed in the online communities through exclusion enabled by the technological platform. An analysis of how the members identify themselves with online communities and form punk subculture encouraged by the boundaries of their respective communities is then presented towards the end of the article. It is through this process, that the members empower themselves in their relationships with their surrounding society.
Aslib Proceedings New Information Perspectives, 2006
Purpose-In light of the phenomenon of blogging in the 2004 US presidential campaign, this article... more Purpose-In light of the phenomenon of blogging in the 2004 US presidential campaign, this article examines blogging during the 2005 British general election campaign. The article seeks to establish how widespread blogging was, the extent of bloggers' partisanship, what issues blogs were concerned with, what the purpose of the messages posted by the bloggers were, and what if any impact blogs had beyond the immediate community of users. Design/methodology/approach-These questions were addressed through a content analysis of over 300 blogs and 1,300 posted messages, by additional searches of the Lexis-Nexis newspaper archive, and via the use of Internet poll data on blogging. Findings-The research showed that blogging in the UK is in its infancy. There were few bloggers posting messages about the campaign and few people accessed blogs regularly. Most of the comments posted focused on campaign issues and were observational. While some of the bloggers exhibited an overt partisan identity, most did not. There was also some evidence of partisan networks, with blogs of a particular partisan/ideological position hyperlinking to others with a similar outlook. However, unlike the 2004 US presidential election campaign, blogs had no impact on the campaign news agenda. Research limitations/implications-Despite extensive research it is difficult to ascertain whether the sample of blogs examined in the research represented the entirety of the election campaign blogosphere. Nevertheless, the findings provide important insights into the evolving online election communication environment in the UK. Originality/value-The study is the first to systematically examine the blogging about the general election campaigns in the UK.
Although political communications are'notoriously difficult to define wi... more Although political communications are'notoriously difficult to define with any precision'(McNair, 1995: 3) one broad working definition offered by Wolton (1990: 12),'as the space in which contradictory discourse is exchanged between three actors with the legitimate right to express themselves in public on politics, namely politicians, journalists and public opinion by means of opinion polls' is a useful starting point. This illustrates the fact that politicians and media coincide in the construction of political communications. ...
Since the mid-2000s, Britain's political communication environment has undergone rapid change. Du... more Since the mid-2000s, Britain's political communication environment has undergone rapid change. During the 2010 election campaign, television continued its dominance as the most important medium through which the British public acquires its political information, as Britain's first ever live televised party leaders' debates received saturation coverage for almost the entire campaign. But over the previous half-decade the growing mainstream popularity of the internet has started to undermine some broadcast-era assumptions regarding strategic news management, both in government, and on the campaign trail. This new, hybrid, environment, one characterised by a complex intermingling of the "old", the "new", and the "renewed" creates particular uncertainty for "old" news media, established politicians, and political parties. The old media environment, dominated by media and political elites working in traditional television, radio, and newspapers, remains significant for British politics, but politics is increasingly mediated online. The internet is creating a more open, fluid political opportunity structure-one that increasingly enables the British public to exert its influence and hold politicians and media to account. The origins of this current hybridity can be traced back over the last couple of decades, but since the mid-2000s, the pace of change has quickened, and the stage on which the drama of British politics unfolds is in the process of being redesigned, partly by political and media elites, and partly by ordinary citizens. This paper provides an overview of this changing political communication environment and its consequences for British politics. The first part draws on the latest data to illustrate key developments in new media usage in Britain. Part two explores the way in which news, so central to an informed citizenry, is changing. Part three examines the parties' news management strategies and how they have sought to use a blend of old and new media to boost their popularity. The paper then moves on to explore the role of media during the momentous 2010 general election campaign.
The transition from low- to high-choice media environments has had far-reaching implications for ... more The transition from low- to high-choice media environments has had far-reaching implications for citizens’ media use and its relationship with political knowledge. However, there is still a lack of comparative research on how citizens combine the usage of different media and how that is related to political knowledge. To fill this void, we use a unique cross-national survey about the online and offline media use habits of more than 28,000 individuals in 17 European countries. Our aim is to (i) profile different types of news consumers and (ii) understand how each user profile is linked to political knowledge acquisition. Our results show that five user profiles – news minimalists, social media news users, traditionalists, online news seekers, and hyper news consumers – can be identified, although the prevalence of these profiles varies across countries. Findings further show that both traditional and online-based news diets are correlated with higher political knowledge. However, on...
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2017
During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fund... more During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fundamentally. These changes have major ramifications for the political information environments and the extent to which they aid people in becoming informed citizens. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to review research on key changes and trends in political information environments and assess their democratic implications. We will focus on advanced postindustrial democracies and six concerns that are all closely linked to the dissemination and acquisition of political knowledge: (1) declining supply of political information, (2) declining quality of news, (3) increasing media concentration and declining diversity of news, (4) increasing fragmentation and polarization, (5) increasing relativism and (6) increasing inequality in political knowledge.
Livre: Intimate politics: the rise of the celebrity politician and the decline of privacy (paperb... more Livre: Intimate politics: the rise of the celebrity politician and the decline of privacy (paperback) STANYER James.
It is often remarked that politicians’ private lives are becoming feature of political communicat... more It is often remarked that politicians’ private lives are becoming feature of political communication in many advanced industrial democracies. However, there have so far been no genuinely comparative studies examining the personalised nature of political communication. Intimate Politics provides for the first time a systematic comparative analysis of such developments in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources it assesses the extent to which the private lives of politicians have become a feature of political communication in each democracy. The book provides a comprehensive account of the shifting boundaries between the public and private and whether any developments are universal or more advanced in some democracies than others, and seeks to explain why this might be. Intimate Politics will be of great value for students and scholars of communication and media studies and political science and is required reading for anyone who wants a fuller understanding of the transformation of mediated politics in advanced industrial democracies.
This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online commun... more This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online communities. By using the concepts of boundary and identity, it explores the formation of two online punk communities in China, created by those who are interested in punk music originating from the Anglo-American countries. Drawing on data from participant observation and 10 in-depth interviews, this article first reviews literature on Internet culture in China, online community, boundary and identity. It then focuses on the differing practices of the two online punk communities. A discussion is subsequently provided, of how boundaries are constructed in the online communities through exclusion enabled by the technological platform. An analysis of how the members identify themselves with online communities and form punk subculture encouraged by the boundaries of their respective communities is then presented towards the end of the article. It is through this process, that the members empower themselves in their relationships with their surrounding society.
Aslib Proceedings New Information Perspectives, 2006
Purpose-In light of the phenomenon of blogging in the 2004 US presidential campaign, this article... more Purpose-In light of the phenomenon of blogging in the 2004 US presidential campaign, this article examines blogging during the 2005 British general election campaign. The article seeks to establish how widespread blogging was, the extent of bloggers' partisanship, what issues blogs were concerned with, what the purpose of the messages posted by the bloggers were, and what if any impact blogs had beyond the immediate community of users. Design/methodology/approach-These questions were addressed through a content analysis of over 300 blogs and 1,300 posted messages, by additional searches of the Lexis-Nexis newspaper archive, and via the use of Internet poll data on blogging. Findings-The research showed that blogging in the UK is in its infancy. There were few bloggers posting messages about the campaign and few people accessed blogs regularly. Most of the comments posted focused on campaign issues and were observational. While some of the bloggers exhibited an overt partisan identity, most did not. There was also some evidence of partisan networks, with blogs of a particular partisan/ideological position hyperlinking to others with a similar outlook. However, unlike the 2004 US presidential election campaign, blogs had no impact on the campaign news agenda. Research limitations/implications-Despite extensive research it is difficult to ascertain whether the sample of blogs examined in the research represented the entirety of the election campaign blogosphere. Nevertheless, the findings provide important insights into the evolving online election communication environment in the UK. Originality/value-The study is the first to systematically examine the blogging about the general election campaigns in the UK.
Although political communications are'notoriously difficult to define wi... more Although political communications are'notoriously difficult to define with any precision'(McNair, 1995: 3) one broad working definition offered by Wolton (1990: 12),'as the space in which contradictory discourse is exchanged between three actors with the legitimate right to express themselves in public on politics, namely politicians, journalists and public opinion by means of opinion polls' is a useful starting point. This illustrates the fact that politicians and media coincide in the construction of political communications. ...
Since the mid-2000s, Britain's political communication environment has undergone rapid change. Du... more Since the mid-2000s, Britain's political communication environment has undergone rapid change. During the 2010 election campaign, television continued its dominance as the most important medium through which the British public acquires its political information, as Britain's first ever live televised party leaders' debates received saturation coverage for almost the entire campaign. But over the previous half-decade the growing mainstream popularity of the internet has started to undermine some broadcast-era assumptions regarding strategic news management, both in government, and on the campaign trail. This new, hybrid, environment, one characterised by a complex intermingling of the "old", the "new", and the "renewed" creates particular uncertainty for "old" news media, established politicians, and political parties. The old media environment, dominated by media and political elites working in traditional television, radio, and newspapers, remains significant for British politics, but politics is increasingly mediated online. The internet is creating a more open, fluid political opportunity structure-one that increasingly enables the British public to exert its influence and hold politicians and media to account. The origins of this current hybridity can be traced back over the last couple of decades, but since the mid-2000s, the pace of change has quickened, and the stage on which the drama of British politics unfolds is in the process of being redesigned, partly by political and media elites, and partly by ordinary citizens. This paper provides an overview of this changing political communication environment and its consequences for British politics. The first part draws on the latest data to illustrate key developments in new media usage in Britain. Part two explores the way in which news, so central to an informed citizenry, is changing. Part three examines the parties' news management strategies and how they have sought to use a blend of old and new media to boost their popularity. The paper then moves on to explore the role of media during the momentous 2010 general election campaign.
The transition from low- to high-choice media environments has had far-reaching implications for ... more The transition from low- to high-choice media environments has had far-reaching implications for citizens’ media use and its relationship with political knowledge. However, there is still a lack of comparative research on how citizens combine the usage of different media and how that is related to political knowledge. To fill this void, we use a unique cross-national survey about the online and offline media use habits of more than 28,000 individuals in 17 European countries. Our aim is to (i) profile different types of news consumers and (ii) understand how each user profile is linked to political knowledge acquisition. Our results show that five user profiles – news minimalists, social media news users, traditionalists, online news seekers, and hyper news consumers – can be identified, although the prevalence of these profiles varies across countries. Findings further show that both traditional and online-based news diets are correlated with higher political knowledge. However, on...
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2017
During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fund... more During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fundamentally. These changes have major ramifications for the political information environments and the extent to which they aid people in becoming informed citizens. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to review research on key changes and trends in political information environments and assess their democratic implications. We will focus on advanced postindustrial democracies and six concerns that are all closely linked to the dissemination and acquisition of political knowledge: (1) declining supply of political information, (2) declining quality of news, (3) increasing media concentration and declining diversity of news, (4) increasing fragmentation and polarization, (5) increasing relativism and (6) increasing inequality in political knowledge.
Livre: Intimate politics: the rise of the celebrity politician and the decline of privacy (paperb... more Livre: Intimate politics: the rise of the celebrity politician and the decline of privacy (paperback) STANYER James.
Resumo Garantir que os paridos pol��ticos recebam uma cobertura compreens��vel favor��vel por par... more Resumo Garantir que os paridos pol��ticos recebam uma cobertura compreens��vel favor��vel por parte dos media �� uma actividade a tempo inteiro que se estende para al��m dos per��odos de campanha eleitoral. Na era da campanha permanente as confer��ncias anuais de Outono nos principais partidos pol��ticos brit��nicos representam uma oportunidade de obter visibilidade. A cobertura intensiva destes eventos pelos media fornece aos partidos uma plataforma para ���venderem��� a sua imagem e ideias a uma audi��ncia de dimens��o ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 14616700220145632, Dec 9, 2010
Based on an analysis of the British annual party political conferences, it focuses on the promine... more Based on an analysis of the British annual party political conferences, it focuses on the prominence given to internal party debates and the way in which such discussions are packaged and contextualised. It argues that news-hungry broadcasters, in a competitive news environment, are not prepared to report any debate but increasingly focus their attention on debates that contain con ict. At the party conferences the level of discord is the main deciding factor in whether a debate receives coverage and how visible that coverage is. The article shows, in addition, that in pursuit of rancour the news broadcasters also seek to bypass attempts at conference management and explore differences of opinion exhibited at meetings on the fringe of the conferences-which the party leadership would prefer to go unseen. These con ict-laden debates are then given prominent coverage and held up as evidence of hidden party divisions by journalists. The article concludes that the image of conference debates presented by television news is a highly mediated one. It is shaped by news values and constructed by journalists increasingly eager to reveal what they see as the "true" state of party unity behind the "spin".
Uploads
Books by James Stanyer
Papers by James Stanyer