PhD students from across Europe participated in a one-day symposium on June 5 on the role and distribution of power in media and communications studies. The event, hosted by the London School of Economics’ Media and Communications Department, highlighted current debates surrounding various forms of media, media institutions, mediation practices and communications.
This symposium provided PhD students with an opportunity to engage with questions of either change or continuity in the media and communications landscape. Students explore changing or continuous forms of power in relation to:
- News, journalism and political communication
- Media technologies
- Communications labour and forms of work
- Agency, resistance and forms of protest
- Media regulation, institutions and globalization
- Media, ICTs and development
- Research approaches in media and communications
Students highlighted their PhD research, provocative ideas or engaging questions.
The symposium was geared towards PhD students in the early stages of their research. The emphasis was on thoughtful discussion and engagement with fellow PhD students, along with feedback from leading academics at the LSE Department of Media and Communications.
Keynote speaker Professor Nick Couldry kicked off the one-day symposium with a lecture highlighting the importance of examining power relations in media and communication studies. Professor Couldry urged students to work collaboratively with other scholars to better understand and theorize power relations in the media. He argued media scholars and other academics need to better conceptualize media power.
The event has been kindly supported by the Department of Media and Communications and the LSE’s Teaching and Learning Centre.
The symposium was organized by Alex Free, Brooks DeCillia, Meagan Zurn and Nora Kroeger.