Research project
Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM)
- Start date: 1 January 2014
- End date: 31 January 2017
- Funder: EU7
- Primary investigator: Professor Katrin Voltmer
- Co-investigators: Professor Katrin Volltmer, Media and Communication Studies, University of Leeds (PI)
Value
€ 2.2 million
Partners and collaborators
University of Belgrade, University of Hamburg, University of Cape Town, University of Oxford, University of Stockholm, Ruhr University Bochum, American University in Cairo
Description
Funded by: European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
‘Media, Conflict and Democratisation’ (MeCoDEM) is an international project that investigates the role of traditional media and ICTs in conflicts that accompany and follow transitions from authoritarian rule to more democratic forms of government. The project was funded for three years and ended on 31 January 2017. Information about publications will be regularly updated. Further, the open source software, Mecodify, for the analysis of Twitter data remains available to external users, and the project’s bibliography can still be used by anybody interested in the relationship between media and democratisation conflicts.
Overall, the project aims to investigate:
- The way in which traditional media portray democratisation conflicts and whether media coverage contributes to the polarisation or moderation of divisions;
- The diffusion of conflict messages through new ICTs;
- The role perceptions, ethics and working practices of journalists in conflict situations;
- The communication behaviour of conflict parties – governments, political leaders, civil society groups – during democratisation conflicts and how communications heightens or ameliorates tensions.