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Title: 'Challenges to Police Authority in an Era of Social Media' Speaker: Dr Christopher J. Schneider, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia Date: 24 April 2013 Time: 2:00-4:00 pm Room: A6.9, Harrow Campus, University of Westminster, Northwick Park tube (Metropolitan Line) All welcome but please email Dr Anastasia Kavada at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> if you'd like to attend. Abstract: A 5:23 minute video posted to YouTube recorded during the Montebello summit held August 20-21st at the Château resort in western Quebec, Canada, led to the police admission of the use undercover agents at the summit protest. Critics charged that the agents were planted to disrupt protesters by inciting violence. After a short period of denials, the police admitted planting agents, but maintained (through official statements) that they had no intention to incite violence. This was among the very first occurrences in Canada where user-generated video footage that circulated on social media elicited an official police response offered in defense of police actions. In this talk I consider how police maintain control over their public images in response to the YouTube video that led to the police admission of the use undercover agents at the 2007 Montebello summit. Biography: Christopher J. Schneider is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBCO), Canada. Dr. Schneider is co-author/co-editor of three books, including a forthcoming book with Ariane Hanemaayer on public sociology. His research investigates mass media messages about crime, deviance, and information technologies in daily life. Dr. Schneider received a 2013 Distinguished Academics Early in Career Award from the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA BC). CUFA BC represents 4,600 university professors and other academic staff at the province's five doctoral universities. He was the recipient of the UBCO 2010/2011 Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation - Junior Faculty - and the 2009/2010 Provost's Public Education Through Media Award. He has given hundreds of interviews with news media across North America, including, The New York Times, among others. The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW.