Key research themes
1. How has the evolving relationship between public relations and journalism reshaped mediated realities since the 20th century?
This research theme investigates the shifting balance of influence between journalism and public relations (PR) over the past century, particularly examining how PR has transformed from merely providing 'information subsidies' to becoming a producer and distributor of news. The trend is critical for understanding the changing dynamics of media production, agenda-setting, and the construction of public realities, especially amid declining journalist numbers and rising PR practitioners. This has implications for media integrity, public discourse, and organizational communication strategies.
2. What are the structural and ideological influences shaping media plurality and press freedom in polarized pluralist media systems, particularly in Mediterranean contexts?
This theme focuses on assessing how political polarization, media market concentration, ownership transparency, and the role of social media affect media plurality and independence in Mediterranean democracies. Understanding these factors facilitates analysis of democratic deliberation, citizen information access, and risks to media freedom within smaller EU states and similar polarized systems.
3. How did historical press representations serve political and cultural functions in nation-building and social stratification in diverse European and colonial contexts?
This theme addresses how press and media historically mediated political narratives, social identities, and power relations, exploring cases from Transylvania’s peasant press and antisemitic imagery, Italian press coverage of the American Civil War, to the Paris Salon’s meritocratic display and colonial exhibitions. It highlights the press's role in constructing civic consciousness, disseminating ideology, and shaping public memory amidst nation-state formation and imperial contexts.
4. In what ways do press histories and journalistic research reflect broader institutional, disciplinary, and ideological shifts in media and communication studies?
This theme explores the historiography of journalism and media studies as academic disciplines, focusing on institutionalization, fragmentation, and the challenges posed by mediatization. It addresses how media studies have grappled with broadening research domains, maintaining coherence, and incorporating global perspectives, revealing tensions between specialized and interdisciplinary approaches.
5. How do media systems and journalistic practices adapt and respond to socio-political challenges and crises in diverse national contexts?
This theme examines case studies illustrating how media responds to socio-political crises including mob justice, corruption scandals, and the democratization process, emphasizing media’s role in negotiating power, ethics, and public accountability. It addresses adaptations in media landscapes influenced by political power structures, histories of censorship, and public trust dynamics.
6. How have newspapers historically documented and influenced economic development in early industrializing regions?
Exploring press coverage of economic transformations, this research theme focuses on the role of newspapers in portraying rapid industrial growth, foreign investment, and social change during critical development periods. Such analysis informs understandings of media as a source of economic information dissemination and social reflection in regions undergoing modernization.