Ben O'Loughlin and AkilN. Awan were researchers on this ESRC-funded project, part of the first wave of the major New Security Challenges Programme led by Professor Stuart Croft.

Shifting Securities examines changing relationships between government, media and multicultural publics in the UK. The Iraq War 2003 and subsequent events raise important questions about the impact of security policy on civil liberties and human rights, democratic participation and citizenship, and racialisation and securitisation. The findings address the extent to which there has been a breakdown in trust between politicians, journalists and audiences/publics; what kind of revitalisation of democratic processes or media practices might help restore trust and credibility; and how audiences use and interpret the diverse, multilingual news menu available to them at a time of media transformation.