DEMICOM

At DEMICOM, we conduct research on democracy and communication in the digital community. The research is interdisciplinary and it includes research groups and projects that integrate and deal with media development, organizational and strategic Communication, as well as political communication, journalism and photojournalism.

In media development, studies of media producers, content and media users are analysed in a new media landscape; the way knowledge and information is produced, spread and used and how these processes are affected by their economic, technological, political and organizational conditions. Another part of media development is regular studies within the framework of the Newspaper Research Programme.

The research group CORE studies organizational and strategic communication; the way internal and external communication is related to the strategic goals, leadership and change within an organization; the way globalization and communication technology affect the communication and how organizations deal with opinion and crises related to their own activities.  

Political communication study communicative processes and relationships between politics, media and citizens, mainly focusing on the way the digital community affects communication strategies, media content and the use of media in election campaigns and dramatic events. Studies of strategic political communication and political opinion formation are part of DEMICOM’s recurring election campaign project.

The DEMICOM research centre at Mid Sweden University, was founded in 2006. DEMICOM’s work is led by a steering group and the daily business is led by a Director, currently Professor Lars Nord. The research activities include research assignments, externally granted research projects, investigations, counselling and education.  Most analyses deal with the situation in Sweden, but our researchers cooperate to a great extent with international researchers in research networks. DEMICOM publications include peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters in English and Swedish, as well as a reports series in Swedish, where the results of the different projects are published continuously.