Shaping Citizenship through Talk Radio

This is a book about how to have an inclusive, reflective and civil national conversation. It asks whether the mass media can contribute to meaningful public debate in the run-up to an election.

Talk radio in the United States is said to have contributed to a political atmosphere in which the loudest, crudest and simplest arguments prevail. Is there a different model of public talk that can contribute to a kinder, wiser, more empathetic democracy?

In the run-up to the 2024 UK general election, Stephen Coleman listened to callers to the BBC’s daily phone-in show in the hope of finding answers to these questions. In this year-long study, we see the public expressing its mood, telling its stories and testing its arguments.

Shaping Citizenship through Talk Radio argues that even in a time of democratic anxiety and rising division, people are still finding ways to talk, listen, and act together. It explains why democracies need reliable public spaces that help citizens connect and communicate across their differences. Reporting on what he found, Coleman also proposes a way forward for a more empathetic democratic discourse.

Stephen Coleman is Emeritus Professor of Political Communication at the University of Leeds, UK.