The media has traditionally been seen as the ‘fourth pillar’ of democracy, performing vital roles as an information provider and as a check and balance. The British media coverage of the Brexit referendum and the ongoing withdrawal process has often been sensationalist, partisan, and uncritical – leading to criticism from some quarters for the apparent failure of journalism and the spreading of ‘fake news’.

Recently, critical voices scrutinising the role the media plays in shaping public opinion about the EU have started to gain traction, asking such questions as:

• Has media coverage of the European Union changed significantly since the referendum result?
• Has the Government been given a free pass on Brexit by certain sections of the media?
• How has the media shaped the political agenda in post-referendum Britain?
• Do we need to rethink the role of traditional media in contemporary society?

This townhall event will explore the media coverage of Brexit, determine common tropes and framings and stimulate discussion about the place of the media in Britain today.

This event is hosted by the International Relations and European Politics postgraduate group (IREP).

Speaker profiles

We are delighted to welcome Inaki Garcia-Blanco, Senior lecturer in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, Neema Begum, Research Associate at University of Manchester, Denny Pencheva, Assistant Teacher at University of Bristol, and William Kedjanyi elections, politics, and policy analyst at Star Sports.