POLIS is a joint initiative of LSE’s Department of Media and Communications and the London College of Communication, which brings together a broad range of stakeholders with the dual mission to:

• produce outstanding research on the impact of mediation and journalism in our societies
• provide a forum for public debate and policy intervention on key issues of news journalists

POLIS commissions research by students, academics, working journalists and anyone else with an interest in journalism and society. Our current research interests span across citizenship, globalisation and the impact of new technologies. Specific topics include African media development, journalism and public security, reporting terror, free speech in the Balkans and financial journalism. POLIS has outlined its intellectual agenda in detail with a paper outlining the purpose of the unit and its research and teaching aims. Click here for a full description.

The POLIS Research Director is the LSE's Chair in Media & Communications, Professor Lilie Chouliaraki. Professor Chouliaraki's personal research interest is media ethics, and in particular the mediation of suffering. For more on Lilie, click here

Led by Dr Damian Tambini of the LSE Media and Communication Department, POLIS/LSE’s Financial Journalism research project has been set up to look at the ethical and professional issues raised in the new environment of market, regulatory and technological changes. The project will conduct a detailed study of the changing practices of financial journalism, and the changing habits of financial information users (different types of investors). Based on fieldwork research, we plan to compare London, New York and Hong Kong as major financial markets. The project, which has the support of LSE director and POLIS board member Howard Davies, aims to research the following issues:

• What are the patterns of current information use by investors? How are they changing with regard to blogs, global media and new information sources?
  
• What are the emerging business models for financial news and what are their implications?
• What laws and codes apply to financial and business journalism?
• How do journalists in the various media sectors – including online - understand their own legal and ethical responsibilities, and how does this vary by country?
  
• How do these laws and codes impact on journalistic practice, and how does this vary by sector?

 Read more about the project at the dedicated POLIS section on Financial Journalism.

POLIS invites applications from practising journalists for POLIS Research Fellowships. We provide research support and facilities and editorial guidance for journalists to produce short research papers on an aspect of their work. These will be published and taken into other POLIS public events and academic activities.

The first Polis Silverstone Scholar has now been selected. This award is for an international journalist studying an aspect of global journalism. The recipient will contribute to the work of Polis and publish a short paper based on their work. They will also contribute to teaching and other Polis activities including the Polis Summer School.

The recipient, Nina Bigalke, is conducting a research project on the new international news channel Al Jazeera English. She will be examining its production methods and editorial policies and investigating the role of channels like AJE in the changing global communications culture. Next year Nina will be contributing to a public Polis seminar on Al Jazeera English, details of which will follow in the New Year.

The Silverstone scholarship was founded in the memory of the late Professor Roger Silverstone, Head of the Media and Communications Department at LSE and the moving spirit behind the creation of Polis. His last book 'Media and Morality: On The Rise Of The Mediapolis' is a call for a better understanding of the importance of global news.

POLIS invites applications from anyone interested in researching and teaching journalism and society to apply for (unpaid) Fellowships at the LSE/London College of Communications which will provide an opportunity for a sustained period of research, teaching and publication.

Research at POLIS is supported by the Silverstone Fund, set up to honour Professor Roger Silverstone, the former convenor of the Media and Communications Department at the LSE, who died unexpectedly in summer 2006. We are delighted to announce that the Silverstone Fund has been given a starting gift of £100,000 by the London School of Economics. The first Silverstone Scholar has now been appointed- for more details click here.

We would are very grateful for donations to the Silverstone Fund, and you can contribute here.

Contact Charlie Beckett at with short or long-term research ideas.