New blog to be developed. This blog will be used for discussion of contemporary issues raised in our latest publications. 

 

Bad News for Labour cover

There has been an extraordinary media output on the issue of Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party and antisemitism. Accusations about the Labour party make headlines on a daily basis. Claims that it is ‘institutionally racist’ under Corbyn’s leadership are now common place. In the three years after he became Labour leader there were over five thousand news stories and articles in the national press alone. 

 

The book examines the impact of this coverage on public beliefs about the Labour Party. A poll especially commissioned from Survation shows that on average the public believes that 34% of Labour members have been reported for antisemitism. A key question for the authors is how could so many people come to believe this when the actual figure was far less than one per cent. Shrouded in confusion, hyped by the media, the cool analysis of evidence has been lost.

 

This new study analyses the reality of antisemitism, how it has come to be misunderstood in public debate and the best way to fight all forms of racism.

 

 Reviews

 

'The essays in this book provide evidence and arguments that are deeply troubling for all concerned, and demand careful attention.'

Peter Golding, Emeritus Professor, Northumbria University

 

'At last! Here is a book that rigorously examines the facts behind the allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party. The reality is more shocking, and more surprising, than the headlines in the press would have you believe. Here is the evidence - read it. Then learn the lessons suggested here.'

Ken Loach

 

‘What the careful research reported in this book reveals is a successful disinformation campaign. Anyone who cares for facts needs to read it.’

Colin Leys, honorary professor at Goldsmiths University of London

 

‘Reading this timely book convinces me that the media campaign against antisemitism in the Labour Party is similar to the media onslaught on the ‘loony left’ in the 1980s. Both campaigns connected to some disturbing truths: and both inflated and weaponised these truths for political purposes.’

Professor James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London

 

'This compelling, thoughtful text is essential reading for everyone on the left wanting to confront antisemitism. It provides a benchmark for future research and strategy when tackling this explosive issue of our time.'

Lynne Segal, Birkbeck University of London

 

The book is available on this link from 20 September 2019. 

 

Mental Health, AIDS and Suicide

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Category: Media Group Topics
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From Message Received (GUMG ed. Greg Philo, Longman, 1999)


Media and Mental Illness (Greg Philo)

This chapter reports on new research by the Glasgow Media Group on press and television treatment of mental health issues. It looks at the negative impact that such coverage can have on popular understanding, and examines possible strategies for achieving a more positive response from media in this area. The research included a content analysis of press and television output, plus a series of focus group interviews to analyse the processes by which audiences received and understood messages in this area (for a more detailed account of the sample and methods seePhilo, 1996). The results show clearly that ill-informed beliefs on, for example, the association of schizophrenia with violence can be traced directly to media accounts.
 
Audience Responses to Suicide in a Television Drama (Greg Philo and Lesley Henderson)

This chapter examines audience responses to a paracetamol overdose in a story from the BBC’s drama programme Casualty. Focus groups were used to understand the conditions under which such stories are likely to have an impact on audience beliefs and behaviour. Research was undertaken as part of a major study of television impacts on health issues.

See also: Keith Hawton et al. (1999) 'Effects of a drug overdose in a television drama on presentations to hospital for self poisoning: time series and questionnaire study' British Medical Journal, 318: 972-977 (10 April).


Why Go to Casualty? Health Fears and Fictional Television (Greg Philo and Lesley Henderson)

Philo and Henderson examine attitudes to accidental injury and decisions made to attend A&E departments. This was part of our programme of research on health issues and on whether audience attitudes were affected by watching television. In practice we found that beliefs about casualty department in hospital where most likely to be influenced by direct experience rather than television images. This provides an interesting point of contrast with images of mental health. In that case television and other fiction images were so alarming to audiences that they apparently had the power to overwhelm knowledge drawn from direct experience.

From Getting the Message (GUMG ed. John Eldridge, Routledge, 1995)

Negotiating HIV/AIDS Information: Agendas, Media Strategies and the News (David Miller and Kevin Williams)

In this chapter Miller and Williams show that processes of media construction are an arena of contest and negotiation in which official sources cannot always take it for granted that they can set the agenda.

Getting the Message (GUMG ed. John Eldridge, Routledge, 1995)

AIDS and the British Press (Peter Beharrell)

This chapter examines the range of responses to AIDS in the British press. It shows how mainstream media reporting of AIDS was not uniform but instead drew upon a number of competing perspectives.