Paolo Mancini on the value of comparative research for studying new media and populist politics

With controversy over election upsets and the spread of fake news, the media’s role in politics is currently under the spotlight in more than one country. International comparative media systems research has developed significantly in the last decade as a tool for studying the relationship between media and politics. In an interview conducted on December 2, 2016, LSE MSc student Michael Moss asks Professor Paolo Mancini of the Università degli Studi di Perugia what ‘new’ media means for the field, whether media systems are implicated in the rise of ‘populist’ politics and about the role of academic research in informing policy.