Jen Birks

My research interests are in the field of mediated political communication, with a particular focus on engaging and representing publics. Most recently I have focused on the effectiveness of fact-checking journalism as a corrective to so-called post-truth politics but moreover to the limitations of journalistic objectivity through attribution to sources. I am also interested in the role of expertise and witness testimony in news reporting.

My new book, Fact-checking Journalism and Political Argumentation, examines the role of fact-checking journalism within mediated policy debates, its reception on social media, and its potential contribution to public engagement

I am also working with the Rights Lab on the local media representation of modern slavery cases and awareness campaigns, and its reception and interpretation by audiences, as part of the initiative to make Nottingham a slavery-free city.

In my previous book, News and Civil Society, I explored the various ways in which the mainstream news media framed various civil society organisations and movements involved in the wave of dissent in 2010-12 as legitimate publics or as uncivil or inauthentic outsiders.

Connectedly, I have a long-standing interest in newspapers’ own campaigning activities on behalf of their readers and wider publics, and the extent to which those readers and publics are accorded agency.