Professor Andrew Chadwick

BSocSc (Birmingham), MSc (London School of Economics), PhD (London School of Economics), FRSA, FAcSS

  • Professor of Political Communication
  • Director of the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C)

Andrew Chadwick (BSocSc Birmingham, MSc London School of Economics, PhD London School of Economics, FRSA, FAcSS) is Professor of Political Communication and Director of the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C). He is also Lead for Undergraduate Admissions for Communication and Media and teaches courses on political communication, digital media and society, and data, power, and democracy.

Most of his research has explored the internet and newer media as they relate to four broad areas of political communication: political mobilisation, political engagement, news and journalism, and deception and misinformation. He invented the concepts of the “hybrid media system,” “hybrid media events,” and the “ontology of hybridity” and introduced them into social science research, where they have become influential in a wide range of fields including, for example, political communication, journalism studies, social movement studies, social media analysis, public opinion research, algorithm studies, party and election campaign research, communication theory, social theory, dis-/misinformation research, media audience/reception studies, and studies of populism.

Andrew has been conferred the Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences, elected a Fellow of the RSA, and is listed in the Stanford University/Elsevier Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide, 1960–2020.

His books include The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power (Oxford University Press, Second Edition, 2017, 346pp), which won the International Journal of Press/Politics Book Award for an outstanding book on media and politics published in the previous ten years and the American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics Section Best Book Award. Awards for his journal writing include the American Political Science Association’s 2016 Walter Lippmann Award for the Best Article in the Field of Political Communication and the American Political Science Association’s 2022 Paul Lazarsfeld Award for the Best Paper in Political Communication.

Andrew is the founding series editor of Oxford University Press’ book series Oxford Studies in Digital Politics, which launched in 2010 and currently features 42 books. Books in the series have received 23 major international scholarly book awards to date. Andrew also serves on the editorial boards of several journals (all Q1) including Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, the International Journal of Press/Politics, Social Media and SocietyCommunication Theory, and Political Communication.

In addition to his next book, he is currently working on a series of research projects that explain the diverse factors that lead to deception, amplification, and other aspects of the sharing of misinformation and disinformation on social media—part of the the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C) (founded February 2018) and a new project that runs from 2021 to 2024, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. He has also recently worked on an interdisciplinary collaborative project on misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, with researchers in social and medical sciences from Loughborough, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, and Aston universities.

Media engagement includes BBC Radio Four’s Thinking AllowedThe Moral Maze, and The World at One, and Sky News, and articles for the British and U.S. press, including The Independent and the Washington Post. His research has been covered by journalists in the UK, Finland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, and Spain, among other countries, including in outlets such as The TimesBBC News, the Washington Post, ITV News, the Wall Street Journal, NewsweekCNN, the IndependentBloomberg News, the Telegraph, the New ScientistFirst Draft, and the New Statesman.

In 2019 he became an adviser (unpaid) to Clean up the Internet, a new, independent, UK-based organisation concerned about the degradation in online discourse and its implications for democracy. Recently he has served as an adviser to the Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum and the DCMS/Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Digital Markets Research Working Group.

Andrew has given keynote speeches in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and invited lectures in Austria, Canada, Italy, Norway, Spain, the United States, at many universities across Britain, and at other public institutions including the Parliament of Canada, the UK Parliament, the UK Cabinet Office, the US Congressional Research Service, the RSA, the US Embassy in London, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), Gresham College, the Institute of Historical Research, the European Parliament Information Office, the UK Labour Party, and Policy Network.

For more information visit his personal website.

Disclosure and Integrity Statement

Funding Over the Last Five Years
Leverhulme Trust
Loughborough University Adventure Research Programme
Loughborough University Communication and Culture Beacon
Swiss National Science Foundation
University of Oxford Covid-19 Research Response Fund

Advisory Roles Over the Last Five Years (does not include peer reviewing)
UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (unpaid)
Clean Up The Internet (unpaid)
UK Cabinet Office (unpaid)
UK Research and Innovation (unpaid)
UK Economic and Social Research Council (unpaid).

Paid Professional Roles
As the Series Editor for the book series Oxford Studies in Digital Politics (Oxford University Press) I receive a small signing fee from Oxford University Press for each contracted title and a small royalty payment for each book sale. The payments I receive are not dependent on the publication of a minimum number of new titles per year.

Current PhD Students

  • Harvey Dodds: Social class and social media.
  • Andrew Ross: public opinion, disinformation, and meta-perceptions of democracy.

Recently Awarded PhD Students

  • Dr Catherine R. Baker (2022) “Infrastructures of Male Supremacism: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Incel Wiki.” Catherine is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Dublin City University’s Anti-Bullying Centre.
  • Dr Simon Collister (2019) “Hybridity, Materiality & Choreography: Towards a Theory of Mediated Power in a Networked Communication Environment.” Following a period as Senior Lecturer in Communication at the University of the Arts, London, Simon recently returned to professional public relations practice with Blackbook London.
  • Dr Declan Mcdowell-Naylor (2019) “The Participatory, Communicative, and Organisational Dimensions of Public-Making: Public Engagement and The Development of Autonomous Vehicles in the United Kingdom.” Declan was a postdoctoral researcher on the ESRC-funded project on UK alternative media at Cardiff University and is currently a Research Officer at the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
  • Dr Ellen Watts (2018) “Celebrities as Political Representatives: Explaining the Exchangeability of Celebrity Capital in the Political Field.” Ellen is currently an Assistant Professor in Politics at the University of Nottingham.
  • Dr Amy P. Smith (2018) “Commodification and control: news media agenda setting during the 2015 United Kingdom general election.” Amy currently works as a Researcher Development Officer at the University of Manchester.
  • Dr James Dennis (2015) “‘It’s Better to Light a Candle than to Fantasize About a Sun’: Exploring Social Media and ‘Slacktivism.’” James is currently Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Portsmouth. His dissertation was awarded the American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics Section Best Dissertation Award, 2017.
  • Dr Aaron Bastani (2015) “Strike! Occupy! Retweet!: The Relationship Between Collective and Connective Action in Austerity Britain.” Aaron is the author of Fully Automated Luxury Communism (Verso, 2019), co-founder of Novara Media, and a contributor to the Guardian, the London Review of Books, the New York TimesVice, and Open Democracy, among many other outlets.
  • Dr Christopher Boerl (2012) “A Kingdom Divided: New Media, the Fragmentation of Evangelical Cultural Values, and U.S. Politics.” Dr Boerl currently works for Teach for America, a U.S.-wide educational non-profit.
  • Dr Nick Anstead (2009) “Party System Variables and the Impact of the Internet: A US-UK Comparison.” Nick is currently an Associate Professor in Political Communication in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.
  • Dr Yenn Lee (2009) “The Internet and the 2002 Presidential Election in Korea.” Yenn is currently a Senior Lecturer in social science research methods at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Since 2021

  • Chadwick, A., Hall, N-A., & Vaccari, C. (2023). Misinformation Rules!? Could “Group Rules” Reduce Misinformation in Online Personal Messaging? New Media & Society.

    — Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C., & Hall, N-A. (2023). What Explains the Spread of Misinformation in Online Personal Messaging Networks? Exploring the Role of Conflict Avoidance. Digital Journalism. — Download pdf.
  • Vaccari, C., Chadwick, A., & Kaiser, J. (2023). The Campaign Disinformation Divide: Believing and Sharing News in the 2019 UK General Election. Political Communication, 40(1), 4–23.
    Download pdf.
  • Ross, A., Vaccari, C., & Chadwick, A. (2022). Russian Meddling in U.S. Elections: How News of Disinformation’s Impact Can Affect Trust in Electoral Outcomes and Satisfaction with Democracy. Mass Communication and Society, 45(6), 786–811.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C. and Kaiser, J. (2022). The Amplification of Exaggerated and False News on Social Media: The Roles of Platform Use, Motivations, Affect, and Ideology. American Behavioral Scientist, pp. 1–18.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A. (2022). Breaking Democracy: Lies, Deception, and Disinformation. Gresham College Lecture—Accompanying Article, May 5.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C. and Hall, N. (2022). Covid Vaccines and Online Personal Messaging: The Challenge of Challenging Everyday Misinformation. Online Civic Culture Centre, Loughborough University. April. 34pp.
    Download pdf.
    — Interview on the Social Media and Politics Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast website.
  • Kaiser, J., Vaccari, C. and Chadwick, A. (2022). Partisan Blocking: Biased Responses to Shared Misinformation Contribute to Network Polarization on Social Media. Journal of Communication, 72(2), 214–240.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A. (2022). Covid Misinformation is a Health Risk—Tech Companies Need to Remove Harmful Content, not Tweak their Algorithms. The Conversation. January 21.
    Available here.
  • Chadwick, A. and Stanyer, J. (2022). Deception as a Bridging Concept in the Study of Disinformation, Misinformation, and Misperceptions: Toward a Holistic Framework. Communication Theory, 32(1), 1-24.
    — Awarded the Honourable Mention for the International Communication Association’s Kaid-Sanders Award for the Best Article in the field of political communication.
    — Download pdf.
  • Ross, A., Chadwick, A. and Vaccari, C. (2021). Digital Media and the Proliferation of Public Opinion Cues Online: Biases and Vulnerabilities in the New Attention Economy. in Morrison, J., Birks, J. and Berry, M. (eds) The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism (Routledge), pp. 241-251.
  • Freeman, D., Lambe, S., Yu, L-M, Freeman, J., Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C., Waite, F., Rosebrock, L., Petit, A., Vanderslott, S., Lewandowsky, S., Larkin, M., Innocenti, S., McShane, H., Pollard, A., & Loe, B. S. (2021). Injection Fears and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. Psychological Medicine. June 15. pp. 1–11.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A. (2021). Why COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy should fall as more people get the jab. The Conversation. June 14.
    Available here.
  • Freeman, D., Loe, B. S., Yu, L-M., Freeman, J., Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C., Shanyinde, M., Harris, V., Waite, F., Rosebrock, L., Petit, A., Vanderslott, S., Lewandowsky, S., Larkin, M., Innocenti, S., Pollard, A. J., McShane, H., & Lambe, S. (2021). Effects of Different Types of Written Vaccination Information on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the UK (OCEANS-III): A Single-blind, Parallel-group, Randomised Controlled Trial. The Lancet Public Health, 6(6), pp. 416-427.
    Download pdf.
  • Chadwick, A., Kaiser, J., Vaccari, C., Freeman, D., Lambe, S., Loe, B. S., Vanderslott, S., Lewandowsky, S., Conroy, M., Ross, A. R. N., Innocenti, S., Pollard, A. J., Waite, F., Larkin, M., Rosebrock, L., Jenner, L., McShane, H., Giubilini, A., Petit, A., & Yu, Ly-Mee (2021). Online Social Endorsement and Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the UK. Social Media + Society, April 2, pp. 1–17.
    Download pdf.
    — Winner, Paul Lazarsfeld Best Paper Award, American Political Science Association Political Communication Section. We have donated the Award prize money to the WHO Foundation’s Go Give One fundraising campaign and we encourage you to also donate to this cause.
  • Baker, C. R. and Chadwick, A. (2021). Corrupted Infrastructures of Meaning: Post-truth Identities Online.’ in Tumber, H. and Waisbord, S. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism (Routledge), pp. 312–323.