Position: Professor of Journalism & Political Communication

Email: v.bakir@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0) 1248 382751

Location: Main Arts

Personal website: Academia.edu   ResearchGate

Project Websites: DATA-PSST!   Intelligence Elites  Emotional AI

Current Administrative Responsibilities:

Co-Director of Network for Study of Media and Persuasive Communication.  

School of History, Law & Social Science Research Committee (grant leadership)

Teaching and Supervision

Undergraduate modules taught:

• Issues in Media & Journalism
• Journalism and Risk Society
• Media, Politics & Society
• Digital Journalism & Society
• Dissertation in Journalism & Media Studies
• Dissertation in Politics
• MA Dissertation in Sociology
• MSc Dissertation in International Media Management

PhD and MRes students:

I am interested in supervising students in a wide range of areas including contemporary political communication, journalism, disinformation, deception, digital media, intelligence elites, discourse, accountability and power.

Current (1st supervisor)

• Gehad Ibrahim. PhD. Journalistic Documentary in Post-Truth Dictatorships
• Mashavu Mohamed. PhD. Social media and audiences in Zanzibar

I research the interplay between journalism and political and risk communication across 4 areas:

• Disinformation, misinformation, propaganda
• Emotional AI, profiling, surveillance, sousveillance
• Issues of trust, accuracy and credibility in journalism;
• The security state and public accountability.

Keywords

Emotional AI, strategic political communication, journalism, civil society, surveillance, sousveillance, social resistance,  trust,  risk communication, propaganda, persuasion, misinformation, disinformation

Research Monographs:

Bakir, V. and A. McStay, 2022. Optimising Emotions, Incubating Falsehoods. Palgrave-Macmillan/Springer. [open access]

Bakir, V. 2018.Intelligence Elites and Public Accountability: Relationships of Influence with Civil Society. London: Routledge.

Bakir, V. 2013. Torture, Intelligence and Sousveillance in the War on Terror: Agenda–Building Struggles. Routledge.

Bakir, V. 2010. Sousveillance, Media and Strategic Political Communication: Iraq, USA, UK. New York: Continuum.

Bakir, V. & D.Barlow, (eds.) 2007. Communication in the Age of Suspicion: Trust and the Media. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Research awards:

As an interdisciplinary scholar, I have won awards from diverse funding bodies e.g. AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC, NERC, Innovate UK, Arts Councils. A list of my funded projects are at: 0000-0002-6828-8384

Current grants comprise:

2023-2025: £364,000 FEC. Automated Empathy – Globalising International Standards (AEGIS): Japan and Ethically Aligned Regions. UKRI Technologies Mission Fund - Impact Accelerator. (PI Andrew McStay, Co-Is Vian Bakir, Phoebi Li (Univ of Sussex), Ben Bland (Chair of IEEE working group), Alexander Laffer Univ. of Winchester)

2023- . £38m. Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS) – Contribution to Sociology & Science and Technology Pathway (in the “Society and Wellbeing” cluster). 

2020 – 2023: £710,000 (comprising £497,710 FEC from ESRC, & 29,645,000 Yen from Japan Science & Technology funds). Part of UKRI-JST Joint Call on Artificial Intelligence and Society, our project is on Emotional AI in Cities: Cross Cultural Lessons from UK and Japan on Designing for An Ethical Life.  PI Andrew McStay. Co-I Vian Bakir. Other Investigators: Lachlan Urquhart (Edinburgh Univ.), Diana Miranda (Northumbria Univ.), Peter Mantello (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific Univ.), Hiromi Tanaka (Meiji Univ.), Nader Ghotbi (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific Univ.), Hiroshi Miyashita (Chuo Univ.). Grant ref. ES/T00696X/1.

I am interested in supervising students in a wide range of areas including contemporary political communication, digital journalism, disinformation, deception, surveillance, sousveillance, discourse, accountability and power.

2024

• PublishedCombatting the Digital Influence Industry within Surveillance Capitalism: the Potentials and Pitfalls of Personal Information Management Systems.
  McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 15 Oct 2024, Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry..
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedEthics and Empathy-Based Human-AI Partnering: Exploring the Extent to which Cultural Differences Matter When Developing an Ethical Technical Standard
  McStay, A., Andres, F., Bakir, V., Bland, B., Laffer, A., Li, P. & Shimo, S., 28 Aug 2024, IEEE.
  Research output: Other contribution › peer-review
• PublishedGuarding Against Automated Empathy Attacks on Ontological Security
  McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 15 Oct 2024, Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry..
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedIs Deception in Emulated Empathy Innately Bad?
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 13 Dec 2024, IEEE Standards White Paper, Electronic ISBN:979-8-8557-1563-7.
  Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
• PublishedOn manipulation by emotional AI: UK adults’ views and governance implications
  Bakir, V., Laffer, A., McStay, A., Miranda, D. & Urquhart, L., 7 Jun 2024, In: Frontiers in Sociology. 9, 1339834.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRoutledge Handbook of the Influence Industry
  Briant, E. L. & Bakir, V., 15 Oct 2024, 1st ed. Routledge. 416 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2023

• PublishedAutomating empathy: overview, technologies, criticism
  McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 14 Nov 2023, Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence. Edward Elgar, p. 656-669
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• E-pub ahead of printBlurring the moral limits of data markets: biometrics, emotion and data dividends
  Bakir, V., Laffer, A. & McStay, A., 12 Aug 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: AI & Society.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedHuman-first, please: Assessing citizen views and industrial ambition for emotional AI in recommender systems
  Bakir, V., Laffer, A. & McStay, A., 3 Jul 2023, In: Surveillance and Society. 21, 2
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedOptimising Emotions, Incubating Falsehoods: How to Protect the Global Civic Body from Disinformation and Misinformation
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 17 Jan 2023, Palgrave Macmillan. 280 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book

2022

• PublishedEmotional AI in Cities: Cross-cultural Lessons from the UK and Japan on Designing for an Ethical Life
  Bakir, V., Ghotbi, N., Tung, M., Laffer, A., Mantello, P., McStay, A., Miranda, D., Miyashita, H., Podoletz, L., Tanaka, H. & Urquhart, L., 9 Jun 2022, Machine Learning and the City: Applications in Architecture and Urban Design. Carta, S. (ed.). Wiley-Blackwell
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedMisinformation and trusted voices: Addressing false information online via provision of authoritative information: Why dialling down emotion is part of the answer
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 12 Oct 2022, 7 p. UK Parliament.
  Research output: Other contribution

2021

• PublishedFreedom or Security? Mass Surveillance of Citizens
  Bakir, V., 3 Sept 2021, Handbook of Global Media Ethics. Ward, S. J. A. (ed.). Switzerland: Springer, p. 939-959 21 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2020

• PublishedCULTURE CHANGE: Incentivise political campaigners to run civil and informative election campaigns.
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 21 Jan 2020, UK Parliament, (APPG on Electoral Campaigning Transparency).
  Research output: Working paper
• PublishedEmpathic Media, Emotional AI, and the Optimization of Disinformation
  McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 3 Sept 2020, Affective Politics of Digital Media: Propaganda by Other Means. Boler, M. & Davis, E. (eds.). Routledge, p. 263-279
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedPsychological Operations in Digital Political Campaigns: Assessing Cambridge Analytica's Psychographic Profiling and Targeting
  Bakir, V., 3 Sept 2020, In: Frontiers in Communication. 2020, 67.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedAgainst Opacity, Outrage & Deception: Towards an ethical code of conduct for transparent, explainable, civil & informative digital political campaigns.
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Dec 2019, UK Parliament.
  Research output: Working paper
• PublishedDatafied Bearbaiting and Emotional AI: Anticipating the Quantified Jeremy Kyle Show Submission to DCMS Committee Inquiry into Reality TV
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2019, UK Parliament, (DCMS).
  Research output: Working paper
• PublishedOrganized Persuasive Communication: A new conceptual framework for research on public relations, propaganda and promotional culture: A New Conceptual Framework for Public Relations and Propaganda Research
  Bakir, V., Herring, E., Miller, D. & Robinson, P., 1 May 2019, In: Critical Sociology. 45, 3, p. 311-328
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedChanging the Conversation: Beware of Psy-Ops in #USSstrike
  Bakir, V., 25 Mar 2018, Bangor University.
  Research output: Other contribution
• PublishedFake News and the Economy of Emotions: Problems, Causes, Solutions
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2018, In: Digital Journalism. 6, 2, p. 154-175
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedIntelligence Elites and Public Accountability: Relationships of Influence with Civil Society
  Bakir, V., 16 Apr 2018, Routledge. 288 p. (Studies in Intelligence)
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
• PublishedLying and politics
  Robinson, P., Miller, D., Herring, E. & Bakir, V., 22 Nov 2018, The Oxford Handbook of Lying. Meibauer, J. (ed.). Oxford University Press, (Oxford Handbooks).
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedSousveillance
  Bakir, V., 30 Mar 2018, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Surveillance, Security, and Privacy. Arrigo, B. A. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 943-946 4 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary › peer-review
• PublishedThe Sorry Tale of British Journalism and our Right to Privacy
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 22 Mar 2018, 9 p. London : UK Parliament.
  Research output: Other contribution

2017

• PublishedCombatting fake news: analysis of submissions to the fake news inquiry
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 May 2017, 3 p.
  Research output: Other contribution
• PublishedIntroduction to Special Theme Veillance and transparency: A critical examination of mutual watching in the post-Snowden, Big Data era
  Bakir, V., Feilzer, M. & McStay, A., 15 Mar 2017, In: Big Data and Society. 4, 1, p. 1-5
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published‘Was it ‘AI wot won it’? Hyper-targeting and profiling emotions online’:
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Jun 2017, Political Studies Association.
  Research output: Book/Report › Other report

2016

• PublishedAbu Ghraib
  Bakir, V., 21 Dec 2016, The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. Joseph, P. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, 5 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedDisinformation
  Bakir, V., 21 Dec 2016, The SAGE Encyclopedia of War : Social Science Perspectives. Joseph, P. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 504-506
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedEmbedded Reporters
  Bakir, V., 21 Dec 2016, The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. Joseph, P. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 547-549
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedNews, Media and the Intelligence Community
  Bakir, V., 8 Nov 2016, Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Robinson, P., Seib, P. & Frolich, R. (eds.). Routledge, p. 243-254
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedPolitical-intelligence elites, Strategic Political Communication and the press: the need for, and utility of, a benchmark of public accountability demands
  Bakir, V., 16 Sept 2016, In: Intelligence and National Security. p. 1-22 22 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPropaganda and Persuasion in Contemporary Conflict
  Miller, D., Robinson, P. & Bakir, V., 8 Nov 2016, Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Robinson, P., Seib, P. & Frolich, R. (eds.). Routledge, p. 308-320
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• PublishedTorture
  Bakir, V., 21 Dec 2016, The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. Joseph, P. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 1704-1708
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2015

• PublishedAssessing interdisciplinary academic and mult-istakeholder positions on transparency in the post-Snowden leak era
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Dec 2015, In: Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. 12, 3/4, p. 25-38
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedAssessing interdisciplinary academic and multi-stakeholder positions on transparency in the post-Snowden leak era
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2015, In: Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. 12, 3/4, p. 25-38
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedDebating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements: Privacy, Security, Surveillance, Trust: Evaluating Perspectives on Surveillance in the Post-Snowden Leak Era
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 18 Jun 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedDebating the Technical & Ethical Limits of Secrecy & Privacy
  Bakir, V., 24 Mar 2015, Bangor University.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• PublishedDeceptive Organised Persuasive Communication: From Misdirection to Secretly Altering Reality to Fit the Lie you want to Telll
  Bakir, V., 15 May 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedForced Transparency or Equivellant Transparency, post-Snowden (or who is challenging the state’s surveillance agenda of radical transparency?)
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 4 Jul 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedIn a Veillance Society, can we resist dataveillance of our selves?
  Bakir, V., 6 Jan 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedIntelligence Agencies, Public Oversight Mechanisms and Accountability Demands: The Torture-intelligence Policy and the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Executive Summary (2014).
  Bakir, V., 8 Jun 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedInternational Journal of Press/Politics. Special Issue title: News, Agenda-Building & Intelligence Agencies: Understanding Manipulation and Methodologies
  Bakir, V. (Editor), 1 Apr 2015, Sage.
  Research output: Other contribution › peer-review
• PublishedMedia Agenda-Building, National Security, Trust & Forced Transparency
  Bakir, V., 8 Jul 2015, Bangor University.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• PublishedNews, Agenda Building, and Intelligence Agencies: A Systematic Review of the Field from the Discipline of Journalism, Media, and Communications
  Bakir, V., 30 Jan 2015, In: International Journal of Press/politics. 20, 2, p. 131-144
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPublic 
Feeling
 on 
Privacy, 
Security 
and 
Surveillance: Report for Information Commissioners Office: A Report by DATA-PSST and DCSS for the Information Commissioners Office
  Bakir, V. & McStay, A., Nov 2015, 23 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Other report
• PublishedThe Ubiquity and Invisibility of Organised Persuasive Communication
  Bakir, V., Miller, D. & Robinson, P., 8 Jun 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedThe Veillant Panoptic Assemblage: Critically interrogating power, resistance and intelligence accountability through a case sstudy of the Snowdon Leaks
  Bakir, V., 22 Jul 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedToo much secrecy and lies ... again
  Bakir, V., 24 Mar 2015.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTransparency Today: Exploring the Adequacy of Sur/Sous/Veillance Theory and Practice
  Bakir, V., 6 Jan 2015, Bangor University.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• PublishedVeillant Panoptic Assemblage: Mutual Watching and Resistance to Mass Surveillance after Snowden
  Bakir, V., 8 Oct 2015, In: Media and Communication. 3, 3, p. 12-25
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2014

• PublishedAgenda-building struggles in the War on Terror: Secrecy, Silences and Persuasive Misdirection
  Bakir, V., 4 Apr 2014.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedMisdirection as Propaganda
  Bakir, V., 10 Nov 2014.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedPrivacy, Surveillance and Governance in the Digital Society
  Bakir, V., 1 Jul 2014.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Other

2013

• PublishedAgenda-building struggles in the War on Terror: Strategies and Enunciative Modalities regarding Secrecy, SIlences and Persuasive Misdirection
  Bakir, V., 13 Nov 2013.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedBook Review: Jaques Ranciere, The Emancipated Spectator and Rod Stoneman, Chavez.
  Bakir, V., 14 Nov 2013, In: Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society. 16, 4, p. 543-551
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPSST! Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust: developing an inter-disciplinary response to forced transparency
  Bakir, V., McStay, A. & Feilzer, M. Y., 1 Nov 2013.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedResearching secretive agenda-building on national security issues: some reflections from studying the torture-intelligence nexus (2001-12)
  Bakir, V., 1 Oct 2013.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedSousveillance and Agenda-Building: The end of Privacy, the end of Secrecy?
  Bakir, V., 14 May 2013.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTorture for Intelligence in the War on Terror
  Bakir, V., 12 Apr 2013.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTorture, Intelligence and Sousveillance in the War on Terror: Agenda-Building Struggles
  Bakir, V., 28 Sept 2013, Ashgate.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2012

• PublishedBook Review: Tarik Sabry, Cultural Encounters in the Arab World: On the Media, the Modern and the Everyday
  Bakir, V., 1 Apr 2012, In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 15, 4, p. 547-548
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMedia Studies
  Long, P., Wall, T., Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 26 Jul 2012, Pearson Education.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book

2011

• PublishedTorture and intelligence in the War on Terror: The struggle over strategic political communication.
  Bakir, V., 1 Dec 2011, In: Global Media and Communication. 7, 3, p. 239-243
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2010

• PublishedMedia and risk: old and new research directions.
  Bakir, V., 1 Jan 2010, In: Journal of Risk Research. 13, 1, p. 5-18
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSousveillance, media and strategic political communication: Iraq, USA, UK.
  Bakir, V., 1 Jan 2010, Continuum.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2009

• PublishedTele-technologies, control, and sousveillance: Saddam Hussein - de-deification and the beast.
  Bakir, V., 1 Jan 2009, In: Popular Communication. 7, 1, p. 7-16
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2008

• PublishedWhen the script runs out,…what happens to the polarized war body? Deconstructing western 24/7 news coverage of operation Iraqi freedom 2003.
  Bakir, V., McStay, A., Randell, K. (Editor) & Redmond, S. (Editor), 1 Jan 2008, The War Body on Screen. 2008 ed. Continuum, p. 165-181
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2025

• Reviewer for AHRC Resposive Mode

  28 Apr 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Discover Artificial Intelligence (Journal)

  23 Apr 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Reviewer for Poland National Science Centre,

  Reviewed grant proposal

  25 Mar 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Reviewer for Leverhulme Large grants

  21 Mar 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• AI Safety - Insafe/Inhope Joint Training Meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  Invited to participate in Insafe/Inhope Joint Training Meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Annual meeting of 200 regulators and Childrens’ AI Safety officers from 30 European countries

  19 Mar 2025 – 20 Mar 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Participant)
• RAi UK Impact Accelerator and International Partnerships Networking Event

  12 Mar 2025

  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Participant)
• Intelligence and National Security (Journal)

  review of article

  7 Mar 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism Practice (Journal)

  7 Mar 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Communication & Society (Journal)

  14 Feb 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• REviewed for AHRC

  Reviewed proposal in digital sociology

  7 Feb 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Journalism Studies (Journal)

  3 Feb 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Democratisiation (Journal)

  8 Jan 2025

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)

2024

• Reviewer for the AIAS-AUFF fellowship programme, The Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark

  20 Dec 2024

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Journal of Cyber Policy (Journal)

  Review of article

  14 Oct 2024

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)

2023

• BBC/Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2023 on AI

  In December 2023, Vian Bakir (Professor in Journalism & Political Communication) participated as an expert in lecture on The Future of AI – Dream or a Nightmare? - in a 6 minute disinformation and AI section for The Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures on The Truth about AI, in conversation with University of Oxford's Prof. Mike Woolridge. This was livecast with a studio audience of teenagers and watched by their parents in and production team in adjoining rooms. It was broadcasted on BBC4 on 28th December 2023(8pm), and is freely available on iplayer for UK audiences. For international audiences, this is freely available on The Royal Institution's Youtube channel (which has 1.56M subscribers): https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch-2023-christmas-lectures (Vian’s bit is from 20.17 minutes – 26.30).

  With 2024 dubbed the year of elections worldwide, Vian was asked to reflect on what she saw as the key issue with disinformation, AI and politics. She also advised the production team on wider disinformation and deepfake issues presented in the lecture. She then participated in online chats with UK-wide Schools as part of the I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here - follow on expert interactions with schools and children across the country, across Jan 2024 where she answered questions about AI and about being an expert. (The aim is to inspire children to want to become a scientist, and to improve public knowledge of science.)

  15 Nov 2023 – 20 Jan 2024

  Links:

  • https://emotionalai.org/news/2023/12/20/the-truth-about-ai-the-royal-institutions-christmas-lectures-2023
  • https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch-2023-christmas-lectures
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• International Journal of Communication (Journal)

  peer review

  14 Nov 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Ofcom Making Sense of Media Working Group

  Online meeting to discuss WG 2023-24 agenda and latest relevant research.

  1 Nov 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Member)
• Digital Journalism (Journal)

  Launched in 2013, Digital Journalism is the premier outlet for advancing international research into digital journalism studies (DJS). The journal aims to maintain its position as a leader of cutting-edge journalism research, providing a critical forum to advance scholarship that intersects with numerous disciplines.

  31 Oct 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• EU MCFA Fellowships reviewer

  Reviewer and Rapporteur of multiple proposals

  14 Oct 2023 – 1 Dec 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• ESRC - Bilateral Academic Research Initiative (BARI) Social Science Program with US Department of Defense

  Feedback on, and review of, multiple White Papers and proposals

  1 Oct 2023 – 28 Feb 2024

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  Reviewed journal paper for Big Data & Society.

  Big Data & Society (BD&S) is an Open Access peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes interdisciplinary work principally in the social sciences, humanities and computing and their intersections with the arts and natural sciences about the implications of Big Data for societies.

  22 Sep 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Peer reviewer for Dutch Research Council,

  Reviewed for their NWO Talent Programme

  18 Sep 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Peer reviewer for UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

  18 Sep 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  Big Data & Society (BD&S) is an Open Access peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes interdisciplinary work principally in the social sciences, humanities and computing and their intersections with the arts and natural sciences about the implications of Big Data for societies.

  5 Jun 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Making Sense of Media Working Group

  Making Sense of Media is Ofcom’s programme of work to help improve the online skills, knowledge and understanding of UK adults and children.

  We do this by sharing our own insights, based on evidence and research, and by galvanising the wider media literacy community to progress and pilot activities and initiatives in support. This work builds on Ofcom’s substantial body of research into the UK’s media habits, attitudes and critical understanding.

  Working Group meeting attended 24th May 2023

  24 May 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Contributor)
• expert evaluator for EU HORIZON - DEMOCRACY/The emotional politics of democracies

  Across April-Jul, I was an expert for the evaluation of the EU Commission Democracy 01 topic: HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-04: The emotional politics of democracies

  31 Mar 2023 – 7 Jul 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Ofcom Theory of Change Evaluation Toolkit - training workshop

  Theory of Change Evaluation Toolkit - training workshop

  30 Mar 2023

  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Participant)
• Briefing for Ofcom's Making Sense of Media Working Group

  Briefing for Ofcom Making Sense of Media Working Group – Discussion on Creativity and the Public - Presentation on using Interactive narrative, design fiction & ContraVision to explore UK public’s views on emotional AI

  29 Mar 2023

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• New media and society (Journal)

  New Media & Society engages in critical discussions of the key issues arising from the scale and speed of new media development, drawing on a wide range of disciplinary perspectives and on both theoretical and empirical research.

  9 Mar 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Palgrave macmillan - Springer (Publisher)

  reviewed book proposal

  27 Jan 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Online Media Literacy Strategy Stakeholder meeting

  Held by LSE on behalf of DCMS.

  26 Jan 2023

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• OFCOM meeting - Making Sense of Media Group

  attended OFCOM meeting and presented on media literacy research from Emotional AI Lab

  25 Jan 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Social Media + Society (Journal)

  Social Media + Society is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that focuses on advancing the understanding of social media and its impact on societies past, present and future.

  23 Jan 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• International Journal of Communication (Journal)

  The International Journal of Communication is an online, multi-media, academic journal that adheres to the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from anywhere in the world.

  The International Journal of Communication is an interdisciplinary journal that, while centered in communication, is open and welcoming to contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that meet at the crossroads that is communication study.

  5 Jan 2023

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)

2022

• Reviewer for Leverhulme

  Reviewer for Leverhulme fellowship

  11 Nov 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Interviewed for The National on disinformation, Twitter, and Scottish independence

  SPECIAL REPORT: Anti-independence disinformation fears amid Elon Musk's blue tick plan

  8 Nov 2022

  Links:

  • https://www.thenational.scot/news/23110891.anti-independence-disinformation-fears-amid-elon-musks-blue-tick-plan/
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Journal of Cyber Policy (Journal)

  8 Nov 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Provided advice to journalist on political communication and Twitter

  Advised a reporter from the National.

  7 Nov 2022

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• International Journal of Communication (Journal)

  24 Oct 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Surveillance and Society (Journal)

  21 Oct 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Talk with TiiQu

  Discussion about the potential market and viability of an organisation offering truth validated on the blockchain.

  19 Oct 2022

  Links:

  • https://www.tiiqu.com/
  • https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/10/19/the-future-of-truth-and-misinformation-online/
  Activity: Consultancy (Advisor)
• Expert reviewer for European Research Agency for evaluations of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) 2022

  7 Oct 2022 – 20 Jan 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• ESRC Peer Review College member

  Continued membership of ESRC Peer Review College, as it refreshes its structures

  28 Sep 2022 – 28 Sep 2028

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)
• Keynote: ‘The Role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in AI Policymaking: A Personal Journey of Twists and Turns in the Service of Solving ‘Wicked Problems’. Alan Turing Institute Networking Event - AI, Public Policy and Social Sciences and Humanities

  Invited Keynote - approx 45 participants

  23 Sep 2022

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Keynote/plenary speaker)
• 'Addressing false information online via provision of authoritative information: Why dialling down emotion is part of the answer', Submission to UK Parliament Online Harms and Disinformation Sub-Committee Inquiry into Misinformation and Trusted Voices, September 2022

  False information proliferates online, despite years of multi-stakeholder efforts to quell it. In September 2022, Vian Bakir (Prof. of Journalism & PolComms, SHiLSS) and Andrew McStay (Prof. of Digital Life, SHiLSS) were invited by the UK Parliament’s Online Harms and Disinformation Sub-Committee to provide evidence to their Inquiry into Misinformation and Trusted Voices. They addressed one of the Inquiry’s questions: namely: Is the provision of authoritative information responsive enough to meet the challenge of misinformation that is spread on social media? Now published, one of their conclusions is that rather than having to make difficult content moderation decisions about what is true and false on the fly and at scale, it may be better to ensure that digital platforms’ algorithms optimise emotions for social good rather than just for the platform and its advertisers’ profit. What this social good optimisation would look like is worthy of further study, but they posit that this would likely involve dialling down the platform’s emotional contagion, and engagement, of users.

  14 Sep 2022 – 14 Oct 2022

  Links:

  • https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/111198/html/
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• WORKING GROUP MEMBER: OFCOM Making Sense of Media Research Working Group

  This Working Group has two primary aims.

  1) to inform Ofcom's media literacy and wider online safety research activity; and

  2) to improve the sector-wide research evidence base in these areas.

  The Working Group will share and evaluate methodologies and metrics from a wide range of relevant research, and will report regularly to the MSOM Advisory Panel.

  1 Sep 2022 – 1 Sep 2023

  Activity: Other (Member)
• Advisory Board member for European Research Council Starting Grants project, TRUE

  Advisory Board member for European Research Council Starting Grants project, TRUE: Trust in User-generated Evidence: Analysing the Impact of Deepfakes on Accountability Processes for Human Rights Violations. (PI Yvonne McDermott, Swansea Univ.)

  1 Aug 2022 – 1 Aug 2027

  Links:

  • https://www.trueproject.co.uk/advisory-board
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  reviewed paper

  1 Aug 2022 – 11 Aug 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Peter Lang (Publisher)

  book proposal review

  22 May 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Expert reviewer, Rapporteur and Final Panel member for Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON). Reshaping democracies (HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01)

  5 grants reviewed, and consensus reports written

  14 May 2022 – 20 Jul 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  6 May 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• FAKE NEWS: INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR VIAN BAKIR

  Blog post - interview with project team for EU-funded citizen science and data project, CSI-COP (that investigates GDPR compliance to better understand how far we are being tracked-by-default as we use the Internet visiting websites and apps on our mobile devices).

  6 May 2022

  Links:

  • https://csi-cop.eu/csi_blog/fake-news-interview-with-professor-vian-bakir/
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• ESRC National Capability in Behavioural Research Workshop

  Participated in the ESRC’s National Capability in Behavioural Research consultation. It informs the ESRC’s models for funding social science research into behavioural research, an area of increasing interest to government and diverse disciplines

  28 Apr 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• BU-IIA Funded project: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics & Policing in North Wales: Establishing Citizens’ Perspectives

  In collaboration with North Wales Police (NWP), this project will identify and explore with police, civic and public stakeholders the benefits, challenges and ethical concerns raised through the police use of new computational technologies in policing, notably those involving claims to detect and predict criminality through risk-modelling and those based on Intelligent Facial Recognition.

  Funding awarded through the Bangor University Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = £44,239

  1 Apr 2022 – 31 Mar 2023

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• SSRC/ESRC International workshops on Trust in Democratic Institutions

  Across March, Prof Vian Bakir (School of History, Law & Social Science) participated in a series of high-level workshops by US-based Social Science Research Council and the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, who are working together to better understand and further explore theoretical, analytical, methodological, and empirical challenges surrounding trust in democratic institutions. These organisations brought together experts from both sides of the Atlantic to share ideas, knowledge and experience. This will inform a joint call from the US and UK research councils that will fund a series of international and interdisciplinary projects that can better inform policy, improve public trust, and have positive societal impact. Bakir contributed ideas on Understanding Trust from her edited book with David Barlow, Communication in the Age of Suspicion: Trust and the Media (2007). She contributed ideas on Manipulating Trust from her forthcoming book with Andrew McStay, Optimising Emotions, Incubating Falsehood (in press 2022).

  24 Mar 2022 – 31 Mar 2022

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Chilean Journal in Communication (Perspectivas de la Comunicación) (Journal)

  14 Mar 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly (Journal)

  23 Feb 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Provided info on research data creation and use for European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

  Completed invited survey by research institute Visionary Analytics in partnership with EFIS, DCC, and DANS is conducting a study on the European research data landscape commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).

  8 Feb 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Consultation with APPG on Extraordinary Rendition

  Arising from a recent conference paper on intelligence oversight, I provided advice and discussed own published work with APPG on how to improve intelligence accountability on the issue of extraordinary rendition, to ensure that such activities could never happen again in the UK.

  1 Feb 2022

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• GUARDINT EU Project. Intelligence, surveillance, and oversight: tracing connections and contestations

  Panel discussant: ‘Public Accountability of Intelligence Agencies and the Sousveillance Generation’. GUARDINT EU Project Conference. Intelligence, surveillance, and oversight: tracing connections and contestations. Kings College, University of London.

  26 Jan 2022 – 27 Jan 2022

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)

2021

• Routledge Taylor & Francis (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal

  3 Dec 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• New media and society (Journal)

  reviewer

  28 Nov 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Article in Hamodia on Fake News

  Interviewed for this New York-based Jewish newspaper

  23 Nov 2021

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Interviewee)
• Peer reviewer for AHRC

  6 Nov 2021

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Interview with Prof Vian Bakir - Solutions to Global Misinformation

  Interview for EU Horizon 2020 project newsletter on Citizen Science (Citizen Scientists Investigating Cookies and App GDPR compliance:)

  1 Oct 2021

  Links:

  • https://csi-cop.eu/third-newsletter/
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  28 Sep 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Media, War & Conflict (Journal)

  16 Sep 2021 – 1 Jan 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Polish Political Science Yearbook (Journal)

  23 Aug 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Surveillance and Society (Journal)

  2 Aug 2021 – 10 Oct 2022

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• White Paper - GOVERNING PHILOSOPHIES IN TECHNOLOGY POLICY: PERMISSIONLESS INNOVATION VS. THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

  ROSNER, G. & BAKIR, V. (2021). GOVERNING PHILOSOPHIES IN TECHNOLOGY POLICY: PERMISSIONLESS INNOVATION VS. THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE. WORKING PAPER, JULY. FUNDED BY EPSRC HUMAN-DATA INTERACTION NETWORK

  1 Aug 2021

  Links:

  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E-zY1jjApB5EV5s3NgSvVNVE-dTnRETO/view
  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique (Journal)

  2 Jul 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• AI & Society (Journal)

  25 Jun 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Nature Human Behaviour (Journal)

  25 Jun 2021 – 19 Dec 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• A humanities-led intervention into responsible and ethical AI

  - Took part in workshop to advise AHRC on what would constitute a humanities-led intervention into responsible and ethical AI (workshop organised by Ada Lovelace Institute and the Institute for Ethics in AI).

  28 May 2021

  Activity: Other (Participant)
• Emotional AI and Empathic Technologies: Implications of an Ontology of Mediated Emotion, Data Justice Conference 2021

  14 May 2021

  Links:

  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YeDMR6hS9BPUMLZP8cmpEox8h5K2azHz/view
  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• Reviewer for German Research Foundation (DFG)

  Reviewed for collaborative AHRC-DFG proposal

  3 May 2021

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Emotional AI Lab: cross-cultural conversations

  Emotional AI & Civic Discourse: interim insights and next steps. Emotional AI Lab, University of Bangor and Ritsumeikan APU, April 2021.

  28 Apr 2021

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• Empathic Media, Emotional AI, and the Optimization of Disinformation

  Book launch and panel discussion

  23 Apr 2021 – 28 Apr 2021

  Links:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcKqzEmcB2U
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Speaker)
• Panel Reviewer Norwegian Research Council

  Panel reviewer (19 grants)

  20 Apr 2021 – 4 May 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  29 Mar 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• theory, culture and society (Journal)

  29 Mar 2021 →

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Reviewer - Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies - EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - H2020 programme

  15 Mar 2021 – 15 Apr 2021

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• International Journal of Communication (Journal)

  22 Feb 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  1 Feb 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Globalizations (Journal)

  Review of journal paper

  25 Jan 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Taking Back Control of Our Personal Data: An ethical impact assessment of personal data storage apps

  40 page Interim Report on progress on Innovate UK research project and insights for Cufflink to feed into design of their app. (In kind consultancy)

  21 Jan 2021

  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• Reviewer, National Science Centre, Poland

  Reviewer for large grants - MAESTRO-12, Panel: HS6 (Human nature and human society)

  6 Jan 2021

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  2 Jan 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Editorial Board Member

  1 Jan 2021 – 1 Jan 2023

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)

2020

• Swiss National Science Foundation

  reviewer

  22 Dec 2020

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  peer reviewer

  1 Nov 2020 – 6 Jan 2021

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• COVID-19: How can we communicate risk in a post-truth world?

  XXXII Meeting of Philosophy & Theory of Human Sciences, Philosophy Department, Unesp, Brazil

  26 Oct 2020

  Links:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAcU0LEkg0
  • https://www.slideshare.net/VianBakir/bakir-talk-brazil-26-oct2020
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• Submission to Inquiry on Impact of Social Media on Elections and Electoral Administration - Victoria Parliament, Australia - plus resulting influence

  Invited written submission (Aug 2020) to the Victoria Parliament (Australia) Electoral Matters Committee’s Inquiry into the Impact of Social Media on Elections and Electoral Administration. Informed the Inquiry's Final Report's findings and recommendations (Sep 2021).

  24 Aug 2020 – 20 Sep 2021

  Links:

  • https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/EMC/21._Vian_Bakir_and_Andrew_McStay_Redacted.pdf
  • https://parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/emc/Social_Media_Inquiry/EMC_Final_Report.pdf
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  6 Aug 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Emotional AI and Civil Rights: The Salutary Case of Facebook

  Blog piece

  4 Aug 2020

  Links:

  • https://emotionalai.org/news/2020/8/3/emotional-ai-and-civil-rights-the-salutary-case-of-facebook
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• reviewer AHRC COVID-19 call

  1 Aug 2020 – 31 Aug 2020

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Reviewer)
• Virtual Mind the PR Gap 2020: AI, creativity and fake news in a post Covid-19 world.

  keynote

  9 Jul 2020 – 10 Jul 2020

  Links:

  • https://pracademy.co.uk/insights/sign-up-for-mind-the-pr-gap/
  • https://pracademy.co.uk/insights/fake-news-how-to-solve-a-really-wicked-problem/
  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• Reviewing grant applications

  Reviewer ESRC-COVID-19

  1 Jul 2020 – 31 Jul 2020

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• AGAINST OPACITY, OUTRAGE & DECEPTION: Towards an ethical code of conduct for transparent, explainable, civil & informative digital political campaigns. Evidence submitted to House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies.

  Evidence and recommendations published in the report, Digital Technology and the Resurrection of Trust, published by the House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies.

  To prevent further harm, our evidence recommends greater transparency of digital campaigns, better media literacy for voters, and self-reflection by political campaigners on things like the informativeness and civility of their own campaign.

  Building on such evidence, the House of Lords’ report makes an urgent case for reform of electoral law as well as our overwhelming need to become a digitally literate society.

  29 Jun 2020

  Links:

  • https://committees.parliament.uk/download/file/?url=%2Fwrittenevidence%2F352%2Fdocuments%2F383%3Fconvertiblefileformat%3Dhtml&slug=dad0019-network-for-media-and-persuasive-communicaiton-bangor-universityhtml
  • https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5801/ldselect/lddemdigi/77/7702.htm
  • https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1634/documents/17731/default/
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• UKRI -AHRC COVID-19 expert peer group reviewer

  25 Jun 2020 →

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• ESRC reviewer - New Investigator Programme

  16 Jun 2020

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Frontiers: Political Communication (Publisher)

  10 Jun 2020 – 10 Aug 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Digital Journalism (Journal)

  3 Jun 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• EPSRC Research Centre Panel Reviewer - Protecting Citizens Online

  Panel reviewer for EPSRC Research Centre Competition (£7million) - Protecting Ciizens Online

  1 Jun 2020 – 22 Jun 2020

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Advisory Board Member for EU Horizon2020 CSI-COP project

  1 May 2020 – 30 Apr 2023

  Links:

  • https://csi-cop.eu/our-team/
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Centre for Information Governance Research Annual Conference, Univ. of Sussex,

  30 Apr 2020 – 1 May 2020

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• International workshop and seminar on (Mediated) Emotion in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

  Co-organised a two-hour workshop and seminar on (Mediated) Emotion in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic, run with Deakin University, Australia and Bangor University, UK. Presented a paper on Managing public emotions & behaviour in a risk issue.

  28 Apr 2020

  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
• Profiling & Targeting Emotion in Digital Political Campaigns.

  Briefing Paper for All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.

  20 Apr 2020

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Older People & Digital Literacy

  Briefing Paper for All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.

  10 Apr 2020

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Reviewer for Aarhus Institute for Advanced Studies, Jens Christian Skou Fellowship

  6 Apr 2020 – 16 Apr 2020

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Reviewer for Norwegian Research Council. COVID-19 Emergency Call

  reviewed 10 applications

  6 Apr 2020 – 15 Apr 2020

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Reviewer: Univ. of Aarhus EU Union Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Programme -Marie Skłodowska-Curie

  Reviewed 6 applications for Univ. of Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies COFUND fellowships for junior & senior researchers in 2020/2021 funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.

  29 Mar 2020 – 20 Apr 2020

  Activity: Other (Reviewer)
• Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (Journal)

  reviewed article

  17 Feb 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Media and Communication (Journal)

  reviewed paper

  17 Feb 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Journalism Practice (Journal)

  reviewed journal article

  16 Feb 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Routledge Taylor & Francis (Publisher)

  reviewed book proposal

  14 Feb 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Critical Sociology (Journal)

  15 Jan 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (Journal)

  5 Jan 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Digital Journalism (Journal)

  3 Jan 2020

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)

2019

• Policy and Internet (Journal)

  Policy & Internet

  17 Dec 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Tackling Grand Challenges in Society - AI & Democracy

  Fellowship talk to Law Schools of KU Leuven & University of Edinburgh KU Leuven University

  17 Dec 2019 – 18 Dec 2019

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• External assessor. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada

  Reviewed grant proposals

  6 Dec 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)
• SVT national radio

  interviewed on Swedish radio about fake news

  25 Nov 2019

  Links:

  • https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=438&artikel=7356908&fbclid=IwAR3N7s_akz-XYP8vjmcv2_a1o3rMx-7ic-1hA0RfRj-XymagVhV2k21Q-Dk
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• AHRC reviewer -

  Reviewed grant for UK-China connections

  11 Nov 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• peer reviewer for AHRC

  Peer reviewed large grants

  5 Nov 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Final Report - Emotional AI - Japan and UK. Final Report on a Conversation between cultures

  Funded by Economic & Social Research Council - Arts & Humanities Research Council - UK-Japan Social Sciences & Humanities Connections grant

  1 Nov 2019

  Links:

  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GglzWFCPmNnROuCJf3EvuNG_uDo9b1xL/view
  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hwc8TBGcmXqsh6tDSEUWdy8Nt9w1-chf/view
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Media and Communication (Journal)

  reviewed article

  20 Oct 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Reviewer for Austrian Research Council

  reviewed grant

  29 Sep 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Reviewer for Responsible Innovation Programme, the Netherlands

  Reviewed large inter-disciplinary grant

  12 Sep 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Workshop on emotional AI

  Multi-Stakeholder (government, NGO, company, regulator), multi-disciplinary (media, journalism, law, criminology, Ai ethics, robotics, big data) workshop to discuss UK-Japan elements of emotional AI

  9 Sep 2019

  Links:

  • http://emotionalai.bangor.ac.uk/workshops.php.en
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• CULTURE CHANGE: Incentivise political campaigners to run civil and informative election campaigns

  Based on our synthesis of research from academia, investigative journalism and regulatory and political inquiries, we find:

  - Extensive use of deception and emotion in campaigning for the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum.

  - Techniques for targeting citizens with emotive and deceptive information have intensified in terms of granularity of targeting; and remain hidden from the view of the wider community or nation.

  - False messages prompt reactions of fear, disgust and surprise, and have a propensity towards recirculation online.

  To address this, we recommend:

  - That there be incentives for digital political campaigners to act ethically, and for their behaviour to be critically and regularly reflected upon by society.

  - Specifically, we recommend the institution of publicly available self-evaluations by all political campaign groups post-elections to: Summarise which audiences were targeted, and with what success; Reflect upon which aspects of the campaign most succeeded in mobilising voters (e.g. specific adverts, messages, themes, memes); Reflect upon whether the campaign gave voters enough information with which to make an informed choice on which to base their electoral decision (i.e. was information true, complete, undistorted and relevant?); Reflect upon to what extent the campaign was civil.

  - We further recommend that this self-reporting be incentivised via: An independent panel (of diverse stakeholders, including fact-checkers, academics, and campaigners from opposing sides) to verify, and critically comment upon, the self-evaluations; A kite-mark system to brand the veracity and civility of the campaigning; Ensuring that this is covered by the media, post-election, and that the analysis is available online in a public archive.

  2 Aug 2019

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• International Journal of Press/politics (Journal)

  23 Jul 2019 – 1 Oct 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Mass Communication and Society (Journal)

  23 Jul 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Emotional AI & disinformation.

  Public talk in Beppu, Japan

  16 Jul 2019

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Speaker)
• Weaponisation of Politics & Civic Discourse

  8 Jul 2019 – 12 Jul 2019

  Links:

  • http://emotionalai.bangor.ac.uk/workshops.php.en
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Speaker)
• Panel reviewer

  Reviewer and panel member for 23 large grants on risk and technology

  1 Jul 2019 – 1 Oct 2019

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• External Examiner for MA Digital Media & Society

  External Examiner for MA Digital Media & Society

  1 Jun 2019 – 1 Jun 2022

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Examiner)
• Journalism post-Snowden: a simple guide to protecting your information & contacts

  This 50-page guide is designed to help journalists in the UK and Ireland protect their sources and data in the current era of surveillance and hacking of data. Such protection is vital in order to enable whistle-blowing and investigative reporting, but is increasingly under threat given the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act [2016] and surveillance by the police. Our full guide is hosted on the NUJ’s website (members only).

  1 Jun 2019

  Links:

  • http://intel-elites.bangor.ac.uk/douments/NUJ%20GUIDE%20Abridged%202019.pdf
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Parliamentary submission: Datafied Bearbaiting and Emotional AI: Anticipating the Quantified Jeremy Kyle Show. Submission to DCMS Committee Inquiry into Reality TV

  The UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched the Reality TV inquiry in May 2019 following events leading up to the decision to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show. It is considering the duty of care offered by broadcasters and programme makers to participants of reality TV shows. 

  The Network for Media & Persuasive Communication submitted written evidence focusing on DCMS' question: What is the future for reality TV of this kind? How does it accord with our understanding of, and evolving attitudes to, mental health?

  The submission offers a cautionary note on a likely future of reality media - where the media industry makes use of data about emotions to add new layers of engagement through “emotional AI”. This emotional AI entails affective computing and AI techniques that read and react to emotions through text, voice, computer vision and biometric sensing. While usage of emotional AI has scope to enhance experience of media, there is scope for abuse when competing for audience attention, engagement and advertising revenue.

  The submission recommends that:

  - Regulators and policymakers are suitably aware of media and technological trends described in this document: namely, the potential dangers of a media environment in which emotion is quantified and utilised by the media industry.

  - Media companies and home technology providers understand that regulators and policymakers are aware of these developments and are willing to regulate if there is misuse,or if individual, collective or technological vulnerabilities (such as lack of awareness of “consent” to domestic profiling) are exploited.

  - There is further engagement with academics and other specialists on these questions.

  1 Jun 2019 – 1 Sep 2019

  Links:

  • http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/digital-culture-media-and-sport-committee/reality-tv/written/102736.html
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• Sociology Compass (Journal)

  10 May 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Mass Communication and Society (Journal)

  29 Apr 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Critical Sociology (Journal)

  29 Mar 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• What if we knew when people were lying?

  BBC news article. Bakir cited within.

  25 Mar 2019

  Links:

  • http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190324-what-if-we-knew-when-people-were-lying
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• Journalism (Journal)

  Journalism

  8 Mar 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Citation in EU Commissioned study: Disinformation and propaganda – impact on the functioning of the rule of law in the EU and its Member States

  The study ( Disinformation and propaganda – impact on the functioning of the rule of law in the EU and its Member States) was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs. It assesses the impact of disinformation and strategic political propaganda disseminated through social media sites.

  The report references McStay and Bakir's work several times, and discusses it in the text, citing the definition of fake news proposed by McStay and Bakir in 2018.

  28 Feb 2019

  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• Policy and Politics (Journal)

  25 Feb 2019

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism Practice (Journal)

  Reviewed article on disinformation and journalism

  7 Feb 2019 →

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)

2018

• I am not worried about Russia. I'm concerned about the misuse of people's feelings. Vecer

  Interviewed for long article in Slovenian naitonal newspaper, Vecer, following my talk at Grounded Festival, Slovenia.

  Vian Bakir, a British professor of political communication and journalism, and a researcher on the dangers of political manipulation through social networks and the media, on the supervision in the name of national security, and on whether all this can strengthen democracy.

  22 Dec 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.vecer.com/ne-skrbi-me-rusija-skrbita-me-zavajanje-in-zloraba-custev-ljudi-6634081
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• Information, Communication & Society (Journal)

  19 Dec 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (Journal)

  11 Dec 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Information, Communication & Society (Journal)

  9 Dec 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Regulating Digital Campaigning: What is to be Done?

  Invited to a conference on Regulating Digital Campaigning: What is to be Done? in Portcullis House, Lodnon. The conference programme has been devised in collaboration with the Cabinet Office, Electoral Commission, and Information Commissioner’s Office, and the conference is hosted by the DCMS Select Committee.

  29 Nov 2018

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Participant)
• Telltale signs of deceitful public relations campaign

  28 Nov 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/lifestyle/pfinance/Telltale-signs-of-deceitful-public-relations/4258410-4873038-s0s309z/index.html
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• SURVEILLING THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF SUPERVISORS: DEMOCRATIC PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS.

  Invited talk on digital surveillance, public accountability of intelligence agencies; and follow-on discussion and media interviews on fake news and disinformation.

  21 Nov 2018 – 23 Nov 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.grounded.si/speakers/vian-bakir/
  • https://twitter.com/BRajgelj/status/1076808427098255360
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1576&v=WotCeN6Gyqg
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Contributor)
• Political Communication (Journal)

  16 Nov 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• United International College Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University

  Grant reviewer.

  16 Nov 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Oxford University Press (Publisher)

  publication

  1 Nov 2018

  Links:

  • https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-lying-9780198736578?cc=gb&lang=en&#
  Activity: Other (Contributor)
• International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication (Journal)

  25 Oct 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Norway Research Council - Panel member for SAMRISK

  Evaluating numerous large grants on risk. Panel member.

  25 Oct 2018 – 14 Nov 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Reviewer for European Commission H2020-MSCA-IF-2018

  5 Oct 2018 – 2 Nov 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  18 Sep 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• journalism studies (Journal)

  18 Sep 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• external consultant for Promotion to Reader

  14 Sep 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal

  14 Sep 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship reviewer

  UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships July 2018

  13 Sep 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• ‘Fake news’ to get worse says Bangor University media expert. Daily Post, 5 Sep 2018

  Bakir comments on Fake News Inquiry interim report on disinformation

  5 Sep 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.dailypost.co.uk/special-features/fake-news-worse-says-bangor-15114318
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• International Journal of Communication (Journal)

  Reviewed for International Journal of Communication

  2 Sep 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• ESRC reviewer for TRUST AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE large grants call

  30 Aug 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal on journalism

  13 Aug 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• ESRC reviewer for for TRUST AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE large grants call

  Reviewed grant for £800k

  9 Aug 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• ESRC reviewer for TRUST AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE large grants call

  Reviewed grant for £2.1m

  9 Aug 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Frontiers in Communication (Journal)

  Frontiers in Communication publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research in areas including Political, Health, and Science and Environmental Communication. Led by an outstanding Editorial Board of international experts, this multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, policy makers and the public worldwide.

  1 Aug 2018 →

  Links:

  • https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/604331/overview
  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Interim Report.

  Cited in DCMS. 2018. Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Interim Report. 24 July. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, House of Commons 363.

  30 Jul 2018

  Links:

  • https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/363/363.pdf
  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• Body & Society (Journal)

  Reviewed article on human enhancement

  26 Jul 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism Practice (Journal)

  reviewed article on fake news

  26 Jul 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Has our democracy become the wild west?

  I was invited to attend this event - which was attended by approx. 45 people, including Amber Rudd MP, mainstream journalists, law lords, regulators and NGOs. I advanced its agenda and discussion with a critical question on what Theresa May, the cabinet and UK intelligence agencies knew during the Brexit campaign about dark money and dark data being used by the Leave campaign. The event concluded that our democracy was under grave attack by dark money, dark data and deception, and that urgent reform was needed of our Electoral Law.

  17 Jul 2018

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of external research organisation (Participant)
• Facebook’s Data Analytics and Problems for Democracy: Fake News, Dark Ads and a Disinformation Media Ecosystem

  Invited presentation to CRISP (Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy) 2-day workshop on New Lines of Insight: Big Data and the Analytically Driven Organization. Stirling, Scotland, UK

  4 Jun 2018

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Annals of International Communication Association (Journal)

  3 May 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal for Routledge on fake news

  1 May 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journal of International Affairs (Journal)

  20 Apr 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• International Journal of Press/politics (Journal)

  Reviewed journal article

  6 Apr 2018

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Impartiality, Accuracy & Truthfulness in a Fake News Era: issues for public accountability of the judiciary

  Invited presentation to British Academy conference

  8 Mar 2018 – 9 Mar 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.britac.ac.uk/events/challenges-judicial-independence-times-crisis
  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Interviewed for article evaluating fake news research

  1 Mar 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.newscientist.com/article/2163226-fake-news-travels-six-times-faster-than-the-truth-on-twitter/
  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• Opinion Forming in the Digital Age: Fake News, Echo Chambers and Populism - Key Themes, Concerns & Recommendations for European Research and Innovation

  Invited to co-produce a white paper to shape the European Commission’s (EC) research agenda on the Internet's Impact on Echo Chambers, Fake News and Populism. This will assist the EC to define a future work programme of research within the H2020 framework and FP9. hTrough regular consultation across 2018, this generated a report on sociotechnical implications of the Internet related to the impact of closed communities and misinformation and makes recommendations to address specific challenges.

  Edited by Steve Taylor, Brian Pickering, Paul Grace, Michael Boniface -University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre, UK

  1 Feb 2018 – 25 Oct 2018

  Links:

  • https://www.ngi.eu/download/opinion-forming-in-the-digital-age/?wpdmdl=26472&masterkey=5bd16b3695380
  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• oral evidence on user targeting to House of Commons Fake News Inquiry

  By invitation, I presented oral evidence to House of Commons Fake News Inquiry on user targeting: For 1.5 hours, I answered questions on user targeting, misinformation and journalism (alongside 2 other expert academics).

  The session is televised and available online.

  23 Jan 2018

  Links:

  • http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/63e3c7bd-97f8-4209-b2b1-50086390f377
  Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)

2017

• Journal of Communication (Journal)

  reviewed journal article

  1 Nov 2017 – 15 Nov 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal for Routledge - dataveillance

  1 Oct 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal for Routledge (Sociology): War on Terror

  1 Oct 2017

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism (Journal)

  Reviewed article for Journalism - Fake news

  1 Sep 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal for Routledge on Immigration discourse

  1 Sep 2017

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Digital Journalism (Journal)

  Reviewed journal article for Digital Journalism

  1 Jun 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Media and Communication (Journal)

  Reviewed article for Media & Communication on Digital Images

  1 Jun 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
• Routledge (Publisher)

  Reviewed book proposal for Routledge - Journalism

  1 Jun 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• DATA-PSST findings

  Presented on DATA-PSST findings at Security Research Group, Aberystwyth University

  1 May 2017

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• ESRC reviewer

  For ESRC: Assessed grant application

  1 May 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• Fake News & Digital Advertising

  Invited Speaker: House of Commons, London. Fake News & Digital Advertising. Branded Content Network (AHRC-funded). (Public Talk – approx. 30 people)

  We presented on the fake news phenomenon as part of an invited panel.

  It received media coverage from trade press.

  25 Apr 2017

  Links:

  • http://www.thebcma.info/branded-content-regulation-bcma-invited-to-uk-parliament-2/
  • http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/04/26/branded-content-regulation-recommended-parliamentary-review-advertiser-pressure
  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Written MPC submissions to UK Fake News Parliamentary Inquiry and wider public discourse

  3 x 3000 words reports - Bakir and McStay (MPC), and Bakir et al

  1 report for MECCSA

  1 blog for PSA Political Insight

  2 talks to COmmsCymru

  1 Apr 2017 – 29 Nov 2017

  Links:

  • http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/digital-culture-media-and-sport-committee/fake-news/written/71533.html
  • http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/culture-media-and-sport-committee/fake-news/written/48101.html
  • http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/culture-media-and-sport-committee/fake-news/written/48255.html
  • https://www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus/blog/what-drives-fake-news
  • http://www.meccsa.org.uk/news/three-d-issue-28-combatting-fake-news-analysis-of-submissions-to-the-fake-news-inquiry/
  • https://www.slideshare.net/VianBakir/fake-news-talk-comms-cymru-2017/1
  Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  Editorial for Veillance & Transparancy

  17 Mar 2017

  Links:

  • http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/YkGvKh43dnVMA6dN28Hw/full
  Activity: Publication peer-review (Guest editor)
• International Journal of Press/politics (Journal)

  Reviewed paper on soft power for International Journal of Press/Politics

  1 Mar 2017

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Veillance

  Gillian Jein hosted the round table discussion which launched the interactive, generative exhibition, Veillance. The roundtable included project team members. Artist Ronan Devlin, Academics Prof. Vian Bakir and Prof. Andy McStay, Technician Carwyn Edwards.

  24 Feb 2017

  Links:

  • https://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/news/veillance-31229
  Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
• Veillance

  Generative Exhibition - White Box, Pontio

  24 Feb 2017 – 12 Mar 2017

  Links:

  • https://vimeo.com/208222363
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition (Member)
• ESRC reviewer

  Reviewed grant proposal for ESRC

  7 Jan 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of external research organisation (Contributor)

2016

• Journalism (Journal)

  reviewed article on Mass Surveillance:

  17 Dec 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management (Journal)

  reviewed article on Risk Amplification

  17 Dec 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Quoted in al-Jazeera article: Mendhai, Shafik. 2016 "Snooping, data leaks and the threat to online privacy". AL-Jazeera English, December 1.

  Interviewed for, and quoted in, al-Jazeera article on Snooping, data leaks and the threat to online privacy

  1 Dec 2016

  Links:

  • http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/11/snooping-data-leaks-threat-online-privacy-161128152550659.html
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Interviewee)
• Media and Communication (Journal)

  Revieed paper on journalism and dataveillance post-Snowden

  14 Nov 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Mass Communication and Society (Journal)

  Reviewed paper

  4 Nov 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Politics (Journal)

  23 Oct 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants application - referee

  Provided reference to British Academy on propaganda in Iraq

  12 Oct 2016

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)
• From torture to de-radicalisation: towards public accountability of secret policies designed to prevent terrorism

  I wrote a piece for Open Democracy about the problems with secret research that informs policy, drawing parallels between ERG22+ and the Bush era detention and interrogation programme. I also signed the open letter to the Guardian calling for the secret research base behind ERG22+ to be made public.

  4 Oct 2016

  Links:

  • https://www.opendemocracy.net/vian-bakir/from-torture-to-de-radicalisation-towards-public-accountability-of-secret-policies-design
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• Mass Communication and Society (Journal)

  1 Aug 2016

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Media, War & Conflict (Journal)

  1 Aug 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• External Examiner PhD viva; Heather Brooke

  8 Jun 2016

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Examiner)
• DATA-PSST - Seminar 6

  Funded by ESRC Seminar Series (2014-16) DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust, this one-day conference attracted 13 participants: academics and 3 end users (artist/designer, journalist, NGO)

  Vian Bakir: Grant PI and lead organiser of seminar

  20 May 2016

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)
• Irish Journal of Sociology (Journal)

  1 May 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• DATA-PSST Seminar 5 - Tackling Transparency Beyond the Nation-State

  Funded by ESRC Seminar Series (2014-16) DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust, this one-day conference attracted 30 participants, some international (Japan, Germany, Estonia, Spain): 25 academics and 5 end users (artist, company, think tank, NGO, Information Commissioners Office)

  Vian Bakir: Grant PI and conference lead organiser

  31 Mar 2016

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)
• Veillant Media: the ‘Veillant Panoptic Assemblage’ and ‘Emotiveillance’

  to Dept. of Computing and Engineering

  24 Mar 2016

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Member)
• International Journal of Cultural Studies (Journal)

  1 Mar 2016

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Journalism Practice (Journal)

  1 Mar 2016

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• Reviewed funding applications

  1 Mar 2016

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)
• Big Data and Society (Journal)

  1 Jan 2016 – 1 Jan 2017

  Activity: Editorial activity (Guest editor)

2015

• Policy and Internet (Journal)

  1 Dec 2015

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Intelligence agencies, media, secrecy, propaganda and surveillance

  1 Nov 2015

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Member)
• Journal of Communication (Journal)

  1 Nov 2015

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Media, War & Conflict (Journal)

  1 Nov 2015

  Activity: Publication peer-review (Peer reviewer)
• 10th News Assembly: Panel on Journalism post-Snowden

  Presented as part of a panel on Journalism post-Snowden to European Broadcast Union, Berlin. This 1 hour panel was televised, and has a potential audience of 1.2 bn. I wrote an accompanying blog piece on 3 things European heads of broadcasting need to know about journalism post-Snowden, which ahs received many views.

  26 Oct 2015 – 27 Oct 2015

  Links:

  • https://www.ebu.ch/events/2015/10/10th-news-assembly
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Interviewee)
• Visible Mediations of Transparency: Changing Norms & Practices, DATA-PSST! Seminar, King's College London, September 2015

  DATA-PSST seminar 4 - Visible Mediations of Transparency: Changing Norms & Practices. Funded by ESRC Seminar Series (2014-16) DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing TransparencyArrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust, this one-day conference attracted 33 participants, some international (Spain, the Netherlands): 25 academics and 8 end users (artists, NGOs, Information Commissioners Office)

  Grant PI and lead organiser of conference

  10 Sep 2015

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)
• Consultant for Univ.of Liverpool. Revalidation of MA Political Communication degree.

  1 Sep 2015

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)
• Media and Communication (Journal)

  1 Sep 2015

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• external consultant for CAGE

  Arising from my work in intelligence agencies, the press, and politics, I act as external consultant for CAGE – a UK advocacy group for the rights of Bush-era torture-intelligence detainees in the War on Terror. To date this has involved consultation on: a) public and political engagement (eg formulating petitions, signing open letters); b) participating in focus group to provide knowledge of intelligence agencies’ media and PR strategies to counter negative press coverage and pressure from the security state (eg regarding CAGE’s public comments on ‘Jihadi John’ having been turned violent by MI5). I am the un-named academic in the Emwazi External Review document (2015) c) advising on reports and research that informs critique of public policy regarding Prevent and Channel ( am named as a reviewer in The Science of Pre-Crime (2016).) Cage contacted me to explain that they needed independent academic evaluation of a report they had written on the secret research base underpinning Channel’s ERG22+ (extremist risk guidelines). I evaluated their report, and associated academic articles on which it was based, and wrote a piece for Open Democracy about the problems with secret research that informs policy, drawing parallels with the Bush era detention and interrogation programme. I also signed the open letter to the Guardian calling for the secret research base to be made public.

  1 Aug 2015 – 1 Dec 2016

  Links:

  • http://cage.ngo/publication/the-science-of-pre-crime/
  • https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/29/anti-radicalisation-strategy-lacks-evidence-base-in-science
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Work on advisory panels for social community and cultural engagement (Interviewee)
• DATA-PSST seminar 3

  Funded by ESRC Seminar Series (2014-16) DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust, this one-day conference attracted 44 participants: 35 academics, 8 end users (journalism, documentary-making, NGOs, Information Commissioners Office, ethical hacking)

  Vian Bakir: PI of grant and lead conference organiser

  8 Jul 2015

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)
• External Examiner BA Journalism

  1 Jun 2015 – 1 Jun 2020

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of external research organisation (Member)
• Information Rights research network

  By invitation, I joined the newly-established Information Rights research network coordinated by The Policy Delivery department at the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The network is privy to consultations, research tenders and general advice-seeking from the ICO, and is also a forum for the exchange of ideas and the posting of relevant content. So far, I have contributed to formulating this network’s remit and scope, and (with Andrew MMcStay) interviewed a number of ICO staff concerning data issues around wearable media.

  1 Jun 2015 – 1 Jan 2020

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Member)
• International Journal of Press/politics (Journal)

  Special Issue on Intelligence Agencies & Agenda-Building

  1 Apr 2015

  Activity: Editorial activity (Guest editor)
• Peer Review Panel

  1 Apr 2015 – 1 Jan 2025

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)
• Debating the Technical & Ethical Limits of Secrecy and Privacy, DATAPSST Seminar, University of Sheffield, March 2015

  Funded by ESRC Seminar Series (2014-16) DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust. This full-day seminar attracted 40 participants (several international eg Iceland, Belgium): 35 academics, 5 end users (politician, NGO, defence consultant, Information Commissioners Office, privacy-oriented technology company).

  Vian Bakir: PI of grant and lead organiser of conference

  24 Mar 2015

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Speaker)
• External Examining of Roy Revie’s PhD thesis (University of Bath): Controlling the “information environment”: Developments in U.S. military intelligence and communication in the age of Web 2.0

  1 Mar 2015

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Examiner)
• Talk on CitizenFour

  With Andrew McStay, at Caernarfon Arts Gallery we presented CitizenFour, Laura Poitras’ (2014) documentary on national security whistle-blower Edward Snowden. This involved a pre-screening talk on the national security whistle-blower and media representations, followed by Q&A afterwards.

  10 Jan 2015

  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Interviewee)
• DATA-PSST - Transparency Today

  Funded by ESRC Seminar Series grant (2014-16): DATA-PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance and Trust. This first full-day conference had 30 participants (several international eg Canada, USA): 27 academics (from a wide range of disciplines), 3 end users (digital designer, US satellite company, NGO).

  Vian BakirPI and lead organiser of the day

  6 Jan 2015

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/
  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/policy.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Organiser)

2014

• 'Strategic political communication': the Bush administration torture-intelligence policy and the US Senate Intelligence Committee report

  Analysis fo experts' response to Senate Intelligence Committe Report on CIA's Detention & Interrogation programme. Amalysis of strategic Political Communicaiton therein.

  17 Dec 2014

  Links:

  • http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/war-and-foreign-policy/item/5703-strategic-political-communication-the-bush-administration-torture-intelligence-policy-and-the-2014-us-senate-intelligence-committee-report
  Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
• ICA (Publisher)

  multiple conference abstracts

  1 Dec 2014

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)
• Media, Persuasion and Human Rights, Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group Annual Conference, Bangor, November 2014

  Bangor University's network for Media & Persuasive Communication (MPC) hosted the Political Studies Association Media and Politics GroupAnnual Conference themed on Media, Persuasion and Human Rights.

  Our 2-day conference was attended by 44 delegates from across academia internationally (Australasia, Europe) and the UK, encompassing diverse disciplines (Media, Communications, Politics, Sociology, Law, Business, Linguistics), and from all career stages. As well as explorations of human rights from the perspectives of security, privacy, freedom of speech, gender, race, class, labour and religion, we saw papers on propaganda, persuasion and spin across all media forms – from music to new media, and across a range of institutional sites beyond media, such as governments, legislatures and the judiciary. We were sponsored by BBC Montoring and Peter Lang. The James Thomas Memorial prizes (£100 cheque) for the best postgraduate paper was awarded to Mr Khin-Wee Chen (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) for his paper on Malaysian Kangkung Politics: harvesting Internet visual memes for rhetorical acts. Two travel bursaries (£100 each) were awarded to delegates for the best abstract from a postgraduate student: Ruth Garland (LSE) for Beyond the Narrative of Political Spin: an empirical analysis of the workings and purposes of UK government media relations; and Mark Shaw (Durham University) for Discourses on European integration and Institutions in the UK press: political entrepreneurialism at work. The conference organising team were: Dr Vian Bakir (SCSM), Dr Martina Feilzer (Social Sciences), Dyfrig Jones (SCSM), Dr. Yvonne McDermott (Law), Dr. Andrew McStay (SCSM) and Dr Kate Taylor Jones (SCSM).

  10 Nov 2014 – 11 Nov 2014

  Links:

  • https://www.bangor.ac.uk/creative_industries/media-persuasion/index.php.en
  Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Organiser)
• External Examining of Mark Pope’s PhD thesis (Royal Holloway University): Risk-­cosmopolitanism: 
 How 
 the 
 UK 
 Government 
 and 
 news 
 media 
 structure 
 the 
 order 
 of 
 security 
 discourse 
 to 
 impede 
 challenges 
 on 
 torture 
 and 
 abuse 


  1 Nov 2014

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Examiner)
• International Journal of Press/politics (Journal)

  peer reviewed multiple articles

  1 Jun 2014 – 1 Feb 2015

  Activity: Editorial activity (Peer reviewer)

2013

• Media, War & Conflict (Journal)

  1 Jan 2013 – 1 Jan 2017

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)
• Mediterranean e-journal of Communication and Media. (Journal)

  1 Jan 2013 – 1 Jan 2017

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)

• Governing Philosophies in Technology Policy: Permissionless Innovation vs. the Precau-tionary Principle

  01/07/2020 – 01/08/2022 (Finished)

• DATA - PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements

  01/12/2014 – 19/12/2017 (Finished)

  Description

  Our 2-year Seminar Series will explore, from multi-disciplinary/end user perspectives, how different aspects of transparency (whether voluntarily entered into, or state/commercially/peer-imposed) affect questions of privacy, security, sur/sous/veillance and trust. These areas have been chosen, as transparency violates privacy; is argued as necessary for security; indiscriminately mass surveills; and both demands and compromises trust.

  To explore these topics, we will draw on perspectives from Journalism, Media, Sociology, Criminology, Law, Politics, International Relations, Intelligence, Business, History, Computer Science and Philosophy, and on end users from media, journalism, law, governing bodies, regulators, NGOs, business and security.

  Links:

  • http://data-psst.bangor.ac.uk/