Digitial Media and Political Communication

The rise of digital media has impacted processes of political communication across the world, within and between countries. The transformation is also the result of the ways established institutions including political parties and news organisations have changed, and the ways citizens are now engaging with politics and media. The trends towards automation has pervaded political communication process, while political actors find it immensely difficult to govern digital infrastructure. There are blurring of boundaries between journalists and citizens, while political campaigns have been taken to new heights utilising digital infrastructure. The rise of populism in the US, Europe and Asia has also been partially attributed to digital media. The module is designed not only to introduce students to political communication – an interdisciplinary field of study, drawing on concepts from communication, political science, sociology, psychology, history, and more, but to also understand contemporary challenges and opportunities in the field.