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=== [[British politics]] ===
=== [[British politics]] ===
Robinson says that reports of [[Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party|anti-semitism in the UK Labour Party]] have been exaggerated for political purposes.<ref name="huff170419" /><ref name="forge">{{Cite news|title=Sheffield University 'conspiracy theory' professor quits|url=http://forgetoday.com/2019/04/17/sheffield-university-professor-piers-robinson-syria-war-assad-conspiracy-chris-williamson-anti-semitism/|last=Somerville|first=Ewan|date=|website=Forge|language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-24}}</ref>
Robinson says that reports of [[Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party|anti-semitism in the UK Labour Party]] have been exaggerated for political purposes.<ref name="huff170419" /><ref name="forge">{{Cite news|title=Sheffield University 'conspiracy theory' professor quits|url=http://forgetoday.com/2019/04/17/sheffield-university-professor-piers-robinson-syria-war-assad-conspiracy-chris-williamson-anti-semitism/|last=Somerville|first=Ewan|date=|website=Forge|language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-24}}</ref>

=== [[COVID-19 pandemic]] ===
According to ''[[The Times]]'', Robinson had spread [[Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic|misinformation relating to COVID-19]], suggesting in an interview on the 4th of April that "there's no indication that it's significantly different from what we see with major flu outbreaks every year".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Dominic, Investigations Editor|date=April 11, 2020|title=British academics sharing coronavirus conspiracy theories online|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-academics-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-online-v8nn99zmv|url-status=live|access-date=2020-05-14|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
==Selected publications==
==Selected publications==
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=Piers|authorlink1= Piers Robinson |title=The Policy - Media Intraction Model: Measuring Media Power During Humanitarian Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6oItAEACAAJ |year=2000|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=}}
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=Piers|authorlink1= Piers Robinson |title=The Policy - Media Intraction Model: Measuring Media Power During Humanitarian Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6oItAEACAAJ |year=2000|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=}}

Revision as of 13:09, 15 May 2020

Piers Robinson
Born1970 (age 53–54)[1]
NationalityBritish

Piers Gregory Robinson is a British former academic,[2][3] a co-director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies,[4] and a founder of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.[5]

Robinson was Lecturer in Political Communication at Liverpool University from 1999 to 2005 and Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Manchester University from 2005 to 2015.[3] He was the Chair in Politics, Society and Political Journalism at Sheffield University but left the university in 2019.[6]

Political research

Media and propaganda

Robinson has argued that Western news media and their respective governments act in concert, especially in the area of foreign affairs. He puts this down to "overreliance on government officials as news sources, economic constraints, the imperatives of big business and good old-fashioned patriotism". He has said western governments frequently manipulate the media through "deception involving exaggeration, omission and misdirection". As evidence of government use of propaganda he cited Tony Blair's suggestion that the "war on terror" would require a "dedicated tightly knit propaganda unit".[7] In "The Propaganda Model: Still Relevant Today" he examined the propaganda model put forward by Herman and Chomsky and concluded that it is still useful in describing how the corporate media works.[8]

Writing in The Guardian, Robinson described the UK government's use of the Research, Information and Communications Unit to covertly support grassroots Muslim organisations as an example of black propaganda.[7]

9/11

Robinson gave a positive review to 9/11 Unmasked by David Ray Griffin, which promotes conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11 attacks on the United States. He described it as "a serious challenge for mainstream academics and journalists to start to ask substantial questions about 9/11".[9][10] When asked to defend his views, he stated "My position, as has been the case for some time, is that [conclusions detailed in 9/11 Unmasked] demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that significant parts of the official narrative are very likely to be incorrect" and "It is no longer tenable for academics and journalists to avoid asking probing questions about the possible involvement of state actors in the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 requires further analysis and investigation and this is a position I share with many other academics."[10]

2003 invasion of Iraq

Robinson has paid particular attention to the role of the US and UK governments in manipulating intelligence prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq to increase the perceived threat posed by Iraq.[7] Robinson conducted a study of UK media coverage which concluded that most UK mainstream media reinforced official views rather than challenged them.[11]

Syrian Civil War

Working with other academics, Robinson has argued that the Western narrative on Syria is simplistic and that there has been a cover-up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons over the 2018 chemical weapons attack in Douma.[12][13]

Russia

Robinson has argued that there is no persuasive evidence to implicate the Russian government in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and says Russia has been blamed to distract from the West's "aggressive regime change strategy" in the Middle East.[6] He also opines that there is no persuasive evidence showing Russia conducted any significant propaganda campaign to influence the 2016 US Presidential election.[6]

British politics

Robinson says that reports of anti-semitism in the UK Labour Party have been exaggerated for political purposes.[6][14]

Selected publications

  • Robinson, Piers (2000). The Policy - Media Intraction Model: Measuring Media Power During Humanitarian Crisis. Sage Publications.
  • Robinson, Piers (2002). The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13-451314-7.
  • Robinson, Piers; Goddard, Peter; Parry, Katy; Murray, Craig (2010). Pockets of resistance: British news media, war and theory in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-84-779472-7.
  • Robinson, Piers; Philip Seib; Romy Frohlich, eds. (2017). Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-41-571291-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |editorlink3= and |editorlink2= (help); Unknown parameter |editorlink1= ignored (|editor-link1= suggested) (help)

References

  1. ^ Robinson, Piers; Seib, Philip; Frohlich, Romy (2016). Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-91430-3.
  2. ^ Rampa, Kuldip R. (2019-07-05). "Global News and Information Flow in the Digital Age". In Kamalipour, Yahya R. (ed.). Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 168–9. ISBN 978-1-5381-2166-5. British academic Piers Robinson, who has long written about political journalism, says that 'a substantial body of research conducted over many decades highlights the proximity between western news media and their respective governments, especially in the realm of foreign affairs'.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ a b Robinson, Piers; Seib, Philip; Frohlich, Romy (2016-11-10). Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-91430-3.
  4. ^ "Organisation for Propaganda Studies". Organisation for Propaganda Studies. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  5. ^ "Members". Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  6. ^ a b c d "Sheffield Uni Professor Leaves Post After Accusations of Promoting Conspiracy Theories". HuffPost UK. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-09-24.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c Robinson, Piers (3 May 2016). "The British government has already forgotten the great dangers of propaganda". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Robinson, Piers (2016). "The Propaganda Model: Still Relevant Today?". In Edgley, Alison (ed.). Noam Chomsky. London: Springer. pp. 77–96. ISBN 978-1-349-56778-2.
  9. ^ Robinson, Piers (10 September 2018). "9/11 Unmasked by David Ray Griffin and Elizabeth Woodworth: A Review". off-guardian.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b "Professor Piers Robinson Teaches Journalism At A Top UK University. He's Also A 9/11 Truther". HuffPost. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  11. ^ Robinson, Piers (2 August 2016). "Russian news may be biased – but so is much western media". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Propaganda Here and Now | The Centre for Freedom of the Media".
  13. ^ "Briefing note on the final report of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission on the alleged chemical attack in Douma in April 2018". April 11, 2019.
  14. ^ Somerville, Ewan. "Sheffield University 'conspiracy theory' professor quits". Forge. Retrieved 2019-09-24.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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