Stephen Ward's Outputs (12)

Fact of Fiction? UK Intelligence Agencies' Representation in the Press (2024)
Journal Article

In recent years, much has been written about the ‘openness’
of modern-day intelligence agencies and the role of the press. It has been argued that openness and wider engagement fits a pattern of manipulation, presenting a soften image of agencies t... Read More about Fact of Fiction? UK Intelligence Agencies' Representation in the Press.

Public Perceptions of UK Intelligence: Still in the Dark? (2022)
Journal Article
Lomas, D. W. B., & Ward, S. (2022). Public Perceptions of UK Intelligence: Still in the Dark?. RUSI Journal, 167(2), 10-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2022.2090426

Opinion polling of public attitudes on the UK’s intelligence agencies reveals that Britons are often still ambivalent around issues of agency activity and powers despite increasing engagement and outreach activity. Drawing parallels with similar poll... Read More about Public Perceptions of UK Intelligence: Still in the Dark?.

From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign (2020)
Journal Article
Wring, D., & Ward, S. (2020). From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign. Parliamentary Affairs, 73(Sup. 1), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa033

From Twitter to the BBC, media platforms were perceived as having had ‘a bad election’. The story of the 2019 media campaign focussed primarily on the negative. There were continual claims of misinformation and deliberate disinformation spread via so... Read More about From bad to worse? The media and the 2019 election campaign.

Turds, traitors and tossers : the abuse of UK MPs via Twitter (2020)
Journal Article

There has been growing public attention around the abuse of MPs online including criminal convictions for violent threats, regular coverage of racist and misogynistic language directed at representatives. Yet, the extent of the problem and patterns o... Read More about Turds, traitors and tossers : the abuse of UK MPs via Twitter.

Hello World: GCHQ, Twitter & Social Media Engagement (2020)
Journal Article

In May 2016, Britain’s signals intelligence agency the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) joined the social media platform Twitter with the message ‘Hello, world’. For an agency once seen as the UK’s ‘most secret’, GCHQ’s moved to social m... Read More about Hello World: GCHQ, Twitter & Social Media Engagement.

A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum (2019)
Journal Article

This paper examines the structure of Twitter communication networks between MPs during the 2016 EU Referendum campaign. In particular, the research examines the impact of Twitter in two dimensions: (1) how far social media might facilitate inter-part... Read More about A tale of three tribes : UK MPs, Twitter and the EU Referendum.

Socially Networked Heterogeneity: The Influence of WhatsApp as a Social Networking Site on Polarisation in Kenya (2019)
Journal Article

Using a cross-sectional survey of two sampled counties in Kenya, this article analyses whether social networking sites reflect social network heterogeneity. It then examines how social network heterogeneity influences polarisation in Kenya. Three typ... Read More about Socially Networked Heterogeneity: The Influence of WhatsApp as a Social Networking Site on Polarisation in Kenya.

Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign (2018)
Journal Article
Ward, S., & Wring, D. (2018). Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign. Parliamentary Affairs, 71(S1), 203-221. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsx057

The 2017 General Election will likely be remembered as the campaign where the once dominant forms of TV and print journalism were challenged by digital platforms. This chapter analyses this development while also acknowledging that social media netwo... Read More about Out with the old in with the new? The media campaign.

Exit velocity : the media election (Review) (2015)
Journal Article
Wring, D., & Ward, S. (2015). Exit velocity : the media election (Review). Parliamentary Affairs, 68(suppl), 224-240. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsv037

The Australian public and politics on-line: Reinforcing or reinventing representation? (2008)
Journal Article
Gibson, R., Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. (2008). The Australian public and politics on-line: Reinforcing or reinventing representation?. Australian Journal of Political Science, 43(1), 111-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361140701842607

Fears for the health of representative politics in advanced industrial
democracies have gained prominence in recent years with observers pointing
to a growing body of evidence that citizens are disengaging from formal
politics. One of the solution... Read More about The Australian public and politics on-line: Reinforcing or reinventing representation?.

UK politics and the internet: the first decade (2006)
Journal Article
Ward, S., & Vedel, T. (2006). UK politics and the internet: the first decade. Parliamentary Affairs, 59(2), 226-235. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsl005

WHEN the tenth anniversary of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was celebrated in 2004, visionaries and sceptics alike turned to reflect on what has been and what will be the reality and impact of the Internet in everyday life.1 Since the early beg... Read More about UK politics and the internet: the first decade.

New parties, new media: Italian party politics and the Internet (2000)
Journal Article
Gibson, R., Newell, J., & Ward, S. (2000). New parties, new media: Italian party politics and the Internet. South European Society and Politics, 5(1), 123-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608740508539595

UK and US-based studies have revealed certain patterns in the way parties use the World Wide Web. These patterns may or may not be repeated elsewhere. This article explores the extent to which Italian parties are exploiting the Web; the impact of the... Read More about New parties, new media: Italian party politics and the Internet.