Vox Pops, Political Divisions and Brexit

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My project will advance understanding of how media - specifically 'vox pop' interview segments inpolitical news - represent political divisions in their coverage. Do media give an accurate picture ofdivisions over Brexit or do they present stereotypes of Leave and Remain voters? Whilst a substantialliterature analyses the divisions in attitudes, identities and voting that have become apparent in theyears following the UK's referendum vote to leave the EU (e.g. Hobolt, 2016; Jennings & Stoker 2018),few studies consider how the media present these new political divides to their audience. My project willfirstly explore the divides created by Brexit within the electorate - most notably in voting behaviour inthe snap general elections held in 2017 and 2019, but also in public attitudes more generally. Bothelections revealed the emergence of new political divides in the electorate over Brexit. The second partof the project will consider how broadcast media present the emergence of new political divides - inattitudes and voting behaviour to their audience. It will consider the sorts of people who are interviewedin political news items about Brexit - their age, gender, ethnicity and where they are from in the country(in particular whether they are from Leave or Remain-voting areas) - and how their contributions areused by journalists. The project will, therefore, provide insights into whether media portray accuratelythe extent of Britain's political divides over Brexit.