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All Outputs (16)

Fact-checking false claims and propaganda in the age of post-truth politics: the Brexit referendum (2021)
Book Chapter
Birks, J. (2021). Fact-checking false claims and propaganda in the age of post-truth politics: the Brexit referendum. In G. D. Rawnsley, Y. Ma, & K. Pothong (Eds.), Research Handbook of Political Propaganda (398-412). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789906424

This chapter examines the claims that the current age is one of post-truth politics, where politicians not only lie, but do not suffer at the ballot box from being caught out in a lie by the news media. Donald Trump is the paradigmatic case, as a le... Read More about Fact-checking false claims and propaganda in the age of post-truth politics: the Brexit referendum.

Introduction: The new terrain of mediated politics (2021)
Book Chapter
Morrison, J., Birks, J., & Berry, M. (2022). Introduction: The new terrain of mediated politics. In J. Morrison, J. Birks, & M. Berry (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

Evolving journalism norms: objective, interpretive and fact-checking journalism (2021)
Book Chapter
Birks, J. (2021). Evolving journalism norms: objective, interpretive and fact-checking journalism. In The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

This chapter will first query the various constructions of ‘bad’ audience responses to information and argumentation, and suggest an approach that neither expects too much of news audiences (and inevitably finds them wanting) nor patronizes them (and... Read More about Evolving journalism norms: objective, interpretive and fact-checking journalism.

Keep Calm and Carry On: Challenging a Discourse of Necessity and Forbearance in News Reporting of UK “Austerity” Policies (2021)
Book Chapter
Birks, J. (2021). Keep Calm and Carry On: Challenging a Discourse of Necessity and Forbearance in News Reporting of UK “Austerity” Policies. In S. L. Borden (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty. London: Routledge

Severe cuts to public spending in the United Kingdom were ushered in from 2010 by a Conservative-led coalition government that used the 2008 financial crisis to advance a political agenda to roll back much of the social democratic welfare state. The... Read More about Keep Calm and Carry On: Challenging a Discourse of Necessity and Forbearance in News Reporting of UK “Austerity” Policies.

Fact-Checking Journalism and Political Argumentation: A British Perspective (2019)
Book
Birks, J. (2019). Fact-Checking Journalism and Political Argumentation: A British Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30573-4

This timely book examines the role of fact-checking journalism within political policy debates, and its potential contribution to public engagement. Understanding facts not to operate in a political vacuum, the book argues for a wide remit for fact-... Read More about Fact-Checking Journalism and Political Argumentation: A British Perspective.

Introducing the Slave Next Door (2019)
Journal Article
Birks, J., & Gardner, A. (2019). Introducing the Slave Next Door. Anti-Trafficking Review, 2019(13), 66-81. https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201219135

Past studies have indicated that the British public consider human trafficking to be remote from their personal experiences. However, an increase in local press reporting, alongside the emergence of locally co-ordinated anti-modern slavery campaigns,... Read More about Introducing the Slave Next Door.

Tax avoidance as an anti-austerity issue: The progress of a protest issue through the public sphere (2017)
Journal Article
Birks, J. (2017). Tax avoidance as an anti-austerity issue: The progress of a protest issue through the public sphere. European Journal of Communication, 32(4), 296-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323117710898

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Theorists of left and right agree that periods of crisis are fertile times at which to precipitate change. However, protesters on the periphery of the public sphere must overcome barriers, or what Habermas called ‘sluice... Read More about Tax avoidance as an anti-austerity issue: The progress of a protest issue through the public sphere.

‘Moving life stories tell us just why politics matters’: Personal narratives in tabloid anti-austerity campaigns (2016)
Journal Article
Birks, J. (2017). ‘Moving life stories tell us just why politics matters’: Personal narratives in tabloid anti-austerity campaigns. Journalism, 18(10), 1346-1363. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884916671159

This article examines the use of personal narratives in two tabloid newspaper campaigns against a controversial welfare reform popularly known as the ‘bedroom tax’. It aims firstly to evaluate whether the personal narratives operate as political tes... Read More about ‘Moving life stories tell us just why politics matters’: Personal narratives in tabloid anti-austerity campaigns.

The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity (2011)
Journal Article
Birks, J. (2011). The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity. British Politics, 6(2), https://doi.org/10.1057/bp.2011.5

Newspaper campaigns embody newspaper’ most emphatic claims to speak for ‘the people’, and as such are generally regarded as populist. However, they can be oppositional, engaging in dissent of one sort or another, and often assume a certain amount of... Read More about The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity.

Press protest and publics: the agency of publics in newspaper campaigns (2010)
Journal Article
Birks, J. (2010). Press protest and publics: the agency of publics in newspaper campaigns. Discourse and Communication, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481309353285

Campaign advocacy is a common but rarely researched practice in British tabloid journalism. Newspaper campaigns give an account of ‘public opinion’ to politicians, make explicit claims to speak for ‘the public’ and authentically represent them, and... Read More about Press protest and publics: the agency of publics in newspaper campaigns.

The democratic role of campaign journalism: partisan representation and public participation (2009)
Journal Article
Birks, J. (2010). The democratic role of campaign journalism: partisan representation and public participation. Journalism Practice, 4(2), https://doi.org/10.1080/17512780903407437

Campaign journalism is a distinctive but under-researched form of editorialised news reporting that aims to influence politicians rather than inform voters. In this it diverges from liberal norms of social responsibility, but instead campaigning new... Read More about The democratic role of campaign journalism: partisan representation and public participation.