Saturday 8th of May 2010, from 2pm to 5 pm
London School of Economics, Hong Kong Theatre Clement House

The complexity of media consumption by Arab speakers living in London and belonging to different generations will be discussed in a public event which will take place at the London School of Economics on Saturday 8th of May 2010, between 2 and 5 pm.

The event will bring the findings of a study conducted by a group of researchers based at the Department of Media and Communications, LSE, on the voices of Arab speakers in London.

Some speak very critically about the British mainstream public sphere but cannot see themselves outside it. Others criticise the politics of both their country of origin and of Britain. Some switch on soap operas to see themselves represented. Quite a few become ‘news junkies’ in trying to find the ‘truth’ when flicking between national and satellite television channels.

The study is part of the the project Media & Citizenship: Transnational Television Cultures Reshaping Political Identities in the European Union, funded by the EU. Dr Myria Georgiou is the leader of the UK team which is conducting research in the UK, Spain, and Cyprus. The researchers of the LSE team include Ramy Aly and Ahmad Ayyad.

The presentation of the research findings and will be followed by debates and hands-on activities that aim at recording public’s opinions about news on national and transnational television, the role of transnational television soap operas in their lives and their thoughts and visions about citizenship.

The event is free and open to all. For more information, please contact us at polis@lse.ac.uk.