Research team
Expertise
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.
Journalism, media critique and online publics (CritJourn).
Abstract
CritJourn will examine how journalism is critiqued online and how journalists experience these critiques. Public critiques of journalism seem to have become more visible than they have ever been in the past. In particular, critiques of the legitimacy of mainstream media representations - from different ideological perspectives - have become an everyday feature of public discourse about journalism on digital platforms like Twitter. The overarching aim of this project will be to develop new concepts for understanding how journalism is critiqued, and how journalists negotiate and experience media critique, by different online publics. This research is timely and important because it will illuminate our understanding of the relationship between journalism and online culture in a political moment where the bonds that have historically sustained the relationship between journalism and the public have been weakened. The overarching aim will be supported by 4 specific objectives, 2 conceptual and 2 empirical. The conceptual supplements will put communication, media and journalism research into conversation with, first, interdisciplinary debates about the nature of critique and, second, radical democratic theories about the nature of ideological conflict. The first empirical element will undertake a (quantitative and qualitative) critical discourse analysis of how UK journalists and media institutions are critiqued on Twitter. The second will interview journalists in Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands and UK about their experiences of media critique.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Maeseele Pieter
- Fellow: Phelan Sean
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Rethinking journalism and ideology in contemporary media and political cultures (RejournID).
Abstract
The RejournID project will rethink the relationship between journalism and ideology in contemporary media and political cultures. The concept of ideology has been a longstanding concern of media and communication researchers ever since the Frankfurt School. However, the importance of the concept to the field has been displaced in recent decades, despite a revived interest in ideology among political theorists. This project will reinvigorate the place of ideology analysis in media research through an interpretivist study of how journalism and ideology intersect in four European countries: Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands and UK. The project offers a combination of conceptual and empirical innovations. Conceptually, it will put the field of media, communication and journalism studies into interdisciplinary conversation with a theoretical literature on ideology that has been relatively under-explored in media and journalism research. The empirical dimension has two distinct strands. It will extend ideology analysis into the domain of comparative media research through an analysis of how Brexit has been represented in different media cultures. And, most significantly, it will interview journalists to see how they understand ideology and its potential impact on different aspects of their practice. I am well placed to do this project, because I am already internationally recognized for my work on the ideological dynamics of media. The research is important because it speaks to current societal challenges about the place of journalism in liberal democracies, as illustrated by increased public distrust of journalists, the colonization of journalism by economic logics, the emergence of more ideologically partisan media outlets, and intensified political attacks against media. From a training perspective, the fellowship will significantly advance my research programme and facilitate my reintegration within European research networks.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Maeseele Pieter
- Fellow: Phelan Sean
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project