James Dennis, researcher at CICANT, presented findings on political communication and young people at the Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association's Media and Politics Group & Technology, Information and Policy Group on January 9th, exploring why disadvantaged young adults are disengaged from politics and how this might change.
His research, titled "Rupture and Renew: Transforming Political Communication for Marginalised Young People," tackles a serious democratic problem: young adults experiencing inequality are among the least likely to vote and most likely to avoid news. The study shows these young people feel unrepresented by both political parties and traditional news outlets.
Based on 47 interviews with journalists and "newsfluencers" (14), political party representatives (15), and young adults experiencing inequality in England (18), the research revealed potential solutions from three key groups. Journalists want to adopt social media-style storytelling, particularly vertical video formats that mirror content on social platforms, though they pointed to difficult working conditions in the media sector as a barrier. Newsfluencers—including content creators, influencers, and citizen journalists—argue they provide authentic representation and should be recognised as legitimate political actors, while calling for greater training, financial, and structural support. As to political party staff and elected representatives, they stated that they want to create genuine policy-shaping opportunities for young citizens, but noted that the electoral reality in England, where older generations vote in higher numbers, makes this difficult.
Dennis concluded by examining the overlaps, tensions, and systemic obstacles that these proposed solutions face.
The conference, held at Bournemouth University, brought together 44 scholars from nine countries, including the UK, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, the USA, and Canada, to discuss journalism, political communication, media policy, and digital culture.
