Expertise

I am currently working as an assistant professor in the field of Media Studies at the University of Antwerp. I’m trained in Film and Television Studies with a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Ghent University. I held positions as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the FWO, as a lecturer at Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and as visiting research fellow at The London School of Economics and Political Science and at the University of Amsterdam. My research investigates the role of media and digital culture in society with a focus on digital intimacy, identity, and communication. I worked on digital youth cultures, social media, datafication, intimacies, and sexualities. I’m currently focusing on topics such as digital reputation, people’s trust in digital media platforms, loneliness and digital media. I have an interest in critical and cultural theory, how socio-technical relations and the political-economic functioning of digital media are changing society. I’m drawing on, among others, textual, visual, and participatory research methods. I published my work in leading journals such New Media and Society, Social Media+Society, and Television and New Media. I’m co-editor of (together with Lisa Parks and Julia Velkova) of Media Backends: Digital Infrastructures and Sociotechnical Relations, soon to be published by the University of Illinois Press (May 2023). At UAntwerp, I’m a member of the Antwerp Media in Society Centre (AMSoC), and I’m teaching subjects such as Media, Power and Society, Methods in Communication Research and Digital Media Futures. In addition, I am a supervisor of master dissertations and doctorates, and I co-teach the master seminar in media studies. I was vice-chair (2016-2017) and chair (2017-2021) of the Digital Culture and Communication division of ECREA (the European Communication Research and Education Association). I’m an affiliated researcher at the Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab (University of California at Santa Barbara, US).

Technique

Qualitative audience studies, digital ethnography, textual analysis

Users

Digital media and technology, society and culture. Qualitative audience research, digital ethnography and textual analysis.

Keywords

Media studies, Digital media

Research and advice on media culture, particularly concerning minorities (ethno-cultural, sexual, disabled people, ...) and diversity.

Technique

Qualitative approaches of media policy and production, texts and audiences, using a variety of techniques including in-depth interviews and focus groups, content analysis and document analysis.

Users

Public and private institutions including media, governments and research bureaus.

Keywords

Media studies, Homosexuality, Transgender, Sexuality, Popular media, Gender, Cultural studies, Minorities, Television, Audience analysis, Diversity

Research and advice on the framing of social debates, with a specific focus either on technological and environmental risks (GMOs, climate change, energy, etc.) or economic and political crises Research and advice on science communication and the public understanding of science, technology and the environment Mediamonitoring research on social issues for diverse organisations

Technique

framing analysis, discourse analysis, quantitative content analysis, in-depth interviewing, focus groups

Users

- Public, private or independent institutions including media, governments and research bureaus - Civil society organisations including NGOs and trade unions - Non-profit organisations

Keywords

News content, Science popularisation, Framing, Risk communication, Communication strategy, Reception studies, Discourse analysis

Social scientific research into media production, journalism pracitces, characteristics of news and changing news consumption patterns. Publications on online journalism, working conditions in journalism, media convergence, participatory journalism, user-generated content, social media and news use in a crossmedia environment.

Technique

For my research, I use different social scientific methods: surveys, content analysis, in-depth interviews, focus groups, etc.

Users

Journalists and journalism organisations Media companies Government (media policy) Civil society actors

Keywords

Journalism, Online newspapers, Media-use, Media, Newspaper, News production, News selection, Media law, Twitter

Dr. Sean Phelan is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow (July 2020 to July 2022) at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp and an Associate Professor at the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. He is a critical communication, media and journalism studies scholar. His work is informed by critical political theory, discourse theory and analysis, political economy, media sociology and cultural studies. His current research projects include a study of how the term neoliberalism is used in critical discourse, a study of the politics of social justice in digital culture, and a new project on the relationship between journalism practice and a culture of online media critique. Sean has published extensively in the field, and is best known for his work on neoliberalism and discourse theory. He has published three books: the monograph Neoliberalism, Media and the Political (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), and the edited volumes Discourse Theory and Critical Media Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011; with Lincoln Dahlberg), and Scooped: The Politics and Power of Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand (AUT Media, 2012; with Verica Rupar and Martin Hirst). He has published articles in a variety of journals, including Journalism Studies, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, International Journal of Communication, Critical Discourse Studies, Journal of Language and Politics, Cultural Studies, Media, Culture & Society, and Communication, Culture and Critique. His work has been published in a number of anthologies and collections, including The Sage Handbook of Neoliberalism, The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies, and Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. He is a member of the editorial board of the journals Communication Theory, Critical Discourse Studies, Media Theory, Counterfutures: Left Thought and Practice Aotearoa, and the International Journal of Media Discourse.

Technique

Research is informed by a critical-interpretivist paradigm, with a particular strength in different discourse analysis approaches

Users

English-language audiences

Keywords

Neoliberalism, Media culture and discourse

I specialize in qualitative research that focusses on determining various cultural and historical interplays between sport, media and society. Specifically, I critically analyze how notions of sustainability manifest itself within these different interplays, i.e. which and where common grounds emerge, exist and disappear. For this, I focus on analyzing mediarepresentations of (1) social sustainability: social (in)justice as emerging via concepts such as gender, race, ethnicity and discability in sport and (2) environmental sustainability: CSR, green marketing, greenwashing and celebrity activism in sport. The primary research focus in relation to the abovementioned areas is the mediatisation of (now electric) motorsport and the societal role it continues to negatiote in a rapidly changing 21st century society. Further, my research also focusses on national and international media as well as a wide range of sporting events, including mega-events such as the Olympic Games. My methodological expertise extends to qualitative content analysis (including framing analysis, discours analysis, thematic analysis, narrative analysis, etc.), ethnographic research, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and historiographical methodologies.

Technique

I am experienced in qualitative research methodologies including framing, thematical analysis, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, thematical analysis etc. Additionally I am experienced in developing and using in-depth and semi-structured interviews.

Users

Journalists & media organisations (televsion, newspaper, social media) - (national & international) Sport clubs, sporting associations, sport organisations (national & international) For example: UEFA, FIFA, IOC, IAAF, RACB, FIA, FIM, F1 etc. Athletes, sport teams& managers (national & international) Researchers & universities

Keywords

Sport/media communication, Sport and society, Sport and sustainability

1. I made my PhD about the relationship between media and politics. The focus was on agendasetting, i.e. the extent to which the media have influence on the topics/themes that politicians deal with. 2. My current research is about political representation and inequality in representation. Central questions are: How reactive are politicians vis-à-vis public opinion? And do politicians, when making policy choices, fail to take the preferences of weaker groups in society (e.g. the poor, lower educated, women) into account, in comparison with the preferences of stronger groups?

Technique

Content analysis Surveys Survey-experiments Elite research (interviewing and surveying politicians)

Users

Journalists Politicians

Keywords

Media and politics, Political representation

I am a researcher with a specialisation in science communication. My primary interest lies in understanding the intricate ways in which the beliefs, values, and identities of science communicators influence how they convey scientific concepts and information. I am particularly captivated by how these personal elements might subtly impact their work, potentially modifying the effectiveness and perception of their communication efforts. In my prior research, I have delved deeply into the role of emotions in science communication, investigating the specific emotions that are frequently represented and understanding the strategies science communicators employ to incorporate these emotions into their work.

Technique

Mixed methods, research design, content analysis, thematic analysis, interviewing, survey design, statistical analysis, scale development, text analysis, experience sampling.

Users

Science communicators.

Keywords

Science communication

Policy enabling research and advice, research and advice for media and media related organisations, mediamonitoring research for all kinds of organisations.

Technique

Regarding production research: document analysis and expert interviews. Regarding audience research: qualitative in-depth interviews, focus group interviews and photo elicitation, and increasingly quantitative panel and experimental research. Regarding content research: quantitative and qualitative content analysis, discourse analysis and framing analysis. For each study, the group aims to combine those methods that guarantee the most valid and reliable answers to the specific research questions.

Users

- Media stakeholders - Media policy makers within media and government - Civil society organisations (including NGO’s) - Industry

Keywords

Political economy, Qualitative content analysis, Reception studies, Discourse analysis

Qualitatieve research on the lives of LGBTQ persons. Intersectional approaches. Popular Culture, sociology of music. Queer studies.

Technique

narrative analysis, oral history, cultural studies, interviews, textual analysis

Users

policy makers, ngo's, students, academics

Keywords

Queer studies, Lgbt, Popular media, Intersectional feminism, Qualitative analysis, Poplar culture, Diversity, Interculturality