Thursday, January 19 at 3:30pm - Freedom Forum Conference Center, Carroll Hall
For many political journalists and health communicators, exposing themselves to hate, harassment, and credibility attacks online is an unavoidable part of the job. Drawing from interviews, surveys, and content analyses of tweets, this lecture shows how facing negativity everyday can make it harder for these public figures to do their jobs and that women and racial, ethnic, and religious minorities receive different kinds of negativity and develop differing responses. Both the type and intensity of negativity online needs to be considered when developing strategies and policies to reduce online harm.
Dr. Elizabeth Dubois is an Associate Professor and Chair in Politics, Communication, and Technology at the University of Ottawa where she runs the Pol Comm Tech Lab and is a member of the Center for Law, Technology and Society. She is also a Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center at Harvard University and an Affiliate at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina. Her work examines political uses of digital media including media manipulation, citizen engagement, and artificial intelligence. She hosts the Wonks and War Rooms podcast where political communication theory meets on the ground strategy. Find her on Twitter @lizdubois and at www.polcommtech.ca or check out her latest edited book, Citizenship in a Connected Canada.