Advisory board

HERMES, JOKE

Inholland University and University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dr.Joke Hermes is a professor of applied research i Media, Culture and Citizenship and a media audience researcher. She has published widely on gender, media, popular culture, research methodology and the creative industries. She is currently developing participant design methods both for creative industries research more generally and intercultural media literacy more specifically. She is founder and co-editor of the European journal of Cultural Studies.

Frau-Meigs, Divina

Université Paris 3-Sorbonne, France

Divina Frau-Meigs is professor of media and ICT sociology at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, France. She holds degrees from the Sorbonne University, Stanford University and the Annenberg School for Communications (University of Pennsylvania). She is a specialist of Cultural Diversity, Internet Governance and Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as well as a researcher in the media uses and practices of young people. She holds the UNESCO chair “Savoir-devenir in sustainable digital development” and she recently completed a world review of the research literature on social media, youth and radicalisation for UNESCO.

She is the coordinator of the French National Agency Project TRANSLIT, on the convergence between media, information and digital literacies (www.translit.fr). She is also the coordinator of the Erasmus + “ECFOLI” project (KA2) that promotes strategies for conflict resolution via Media and Information Literacy (www.ecfoli.eu).She is responsible for the implementation of the European project ECO that aims at producing MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), especially to train trainers in the fundamentals of digital humanities (www.ecolearning.eu). She was granted the “Global MIL Award” by UNESCO and Alliance of Civilisations for her MOOC DIY MIL.

She has held elected responsibilities with IAMCR (as vice-president (2004-2008), as head of the “media education research section” (2009-15) and with ECREA (among the founders and as a member of the advisory board, 2008--). She currently is the co-chair of the interim committee of the European Chapter of GAPMIL, the Global Alliance for Partnerships in Media and Information Literacy. She represents civil society interests (academia and research) in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and in other global arenas (ICANN, WSIS...).  She is the president of Savoir*Devenir, an international association dedicated to XXIst century literacies and digital transition.

Websites: www.divina-frau-meigs.fr;   www.savoirdevenir.net

RAETZSCH, ChRiSTOPH

Aarhus University, Denmark

Christoph Raetzsch is an Associate Professor at the Department of Media and Journalism Studies of Aarhus University (Denmark). He works in journalism studies and researches history and theory of media development and practice in journalism, public spheres and urban spaces. Previously, he was a member of the management team of the Digital Culture and Communication Section of ECREA. His recent research deals with interpretations of smartness to animate civic innovation in cities, the interfaces and infrastructures of publics besides journalism, and the emergent potential of quotidian media practices to shape public discourses. From 2021-2022 he was the chair of the local organising committee to host the ECREA "Rethink Impact" conference in Aarhus. As a member of the Advisory Board he wants to strengthen the presence of ECREA on the European level and maintain close ties to publishers in media and communication studies.

SOUSA, CARLA

Lusófona University, Portugal

Carla Sousa is a PhD in Communication Sciences from Lusófona University, where she also took her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, her Master's Degree in Clinical and Health Psychology, and a Postgraduate degree in Applied Neuropsychology. Her PhD thesis approached game accessibility as a path to empower and promote well-being in individuals with intellectual disability, which illustrates her main research targets – the different intersections between media, with a particular focus on games, inclusion, behavior, and human diversity. Also in Lusófona University, Carla is part of the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT) and is an assistant professor in the Bachelor's Degrees in Psychology and Videogames. She published several papers as an author and co-author in peer-reviewed journals, and has done communications at national and international conferences in the fields of media studies, media psychology, games, accessibility, disability, social inclusion, learning, and education. Carla has been part of several national and internationally funded projects, both in research and management roles, and has also been involved in scientific networks, being the chair of Working Group 2 in COST Action (CA 19104) - advancing Social inclusion through Technology and EmPowerment (a-Step). Since 2022, Carla has been an individual ambassador for the non-profit Women in Games.

Akser, Murat

Ulster University, United Kingdom

He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from York University, Canada. Previously he was an associate professor of cinema and media studies at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey where he was head of Department of New Media. He was one of the members of the local organizing committee of IAMCR 2011 Conference in Istanbul. Previously he has taught communication and media studies in Canada between 1999-2006 at York University, Ryerson University and University of Toronto. Murat is an active member of Media and Democracy section. His research is on the freedom of expression of journalists, citizen media, social movement media and hacktivism. His work was published in Middle East Journal of Communication and Culture, New Media & Society, NECSUS, Historical Journal of Film and Canadian Journal of Film Studies. He has a monograph on Turkish Cinema from Lambert and an edited book New Cinema, New Media from Cambridge Scholars. He is also active in other professional associations like IAMCR, SCMS and NECS. He serves in the editorial boards of several academic journals. He is currently working on research networks on transnational media history and diasporic media activism.

ANANIA, VALENTINA

University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Valentina Anania is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her PhD project “Authorship and Authority in Transmedia Universes” explores the discursive authorial practices that shape narratives set in fictional transmedia universes. Her wider research interests include pop culture, adaptation studies, ecocriticism and ecomedia. Prior to her appointment to the Advisory Board, she had been part of ECREA’s early-career community first as YECREA representative of the Women’s Network, then as vice-chair of the YECREA Network at large.

Miazhevich, Galina

Cardiff University, United Kingdom

Previously Galina was the Gorbachev Media Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK (2008-2012). Galina received his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, where she then worked for two years as a Research Associate on an AHRC-funded project on representations of Islam as security threat. Galina's research interests include media representations of Islam and multiculturalism in Europe; media and democracy in post-communist Europe; gender, media and emergent forms of post-Soviet identity; diaspora, transnationalism and media. Galina has extensively published in a peer-reviewed journals and co-authored several monographs. She also serves on editorial boards of several international media journals, and regularly reviews for leading journals in the field of communication and area studies. Galina Miazhevich is awarded a visiting fellowship at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki (Finland) for 2016-2017. Galina organised a number of international workshops and convened the Gorbachev Lectures on Press Freedom held at Christ Church, University of Oxford in 2011. Galina regularly contributes to BBC Russian service.

Surowiec-Capell, PAWEŁ 

University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Dr Paweł Surowiec-Capell is Senior Lecturer (Ass. Prof.) at the University of Sheffield specialising in strategic communication and political communication. His research focuses on questions relating to the reinvention of classical models of propaganda, digitalisation of political campaigning as well as diplomacy and statecraft. His academic research has been published in a number of international journals. He is the author of the research monograph, ‘Nation Branding, Public Relations and Soft Power: Corporatising Poland’ (Routledge, 2017), and the co-editor of ‘Social Media and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe’ (Routledge, 2018) and ‘Public Diplomacy and the Politics of Uncertainty’ (Palgrave, 2021). He is currently working on a monograph exploring ‘Hybridisation of Power in International Politics’. Paweł previously served as ECREA’s treasurer and sits on the Chatham House’s steering committee for the Belvedere Forum. His work has been featured in news in the Czech Republic, Poland, UK, France, and Japan. He is a follower of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and likes to listen to music of Fryderyk Chopin and Polish jazz. He tweets at @PawelSurowiec.

Tomanic Trivundza, Ilija

University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

His primary research interest spans across the field of visual communication with special focus on the social and political role of photography in contemporary mediated communication. Prior to joining University of Ljubljana in 2003, he worked for three years in telecommunications industry. He obtained his PhD from University of Ljubljana on the topic of photojournalism and representations of national identity in 2010. He teaches courses on visual culture, photography and city, public opinion and research methods. His published articles and book chapters focus on photojournalism, framing of news, visual representations of otherness and collective identifications. He is the author of Press Photography and Visual Framing of News (University of Ljubljana/FDV Press). He is also a co-editor of Membrana magazine on photography and has been involved in a number of educational and artistic projects organised by the magazine. Ilija has served on the Executive Board of ECREA as Vice-President from 2012 to 2016 and as President from 2016 to 2021.

VICENTE-MARINO, MIGUEL

Universidad de Valladolid, Spain

Miguel Vicente-Marino is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Sociology at the Universidad de Valladolid, Spain, where he teaches courses about Public Opinion and Communication Research Methods. He obtained his PhD at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, with a dissertation about the TV coverage of an environmental disaster which has obtained the award to the best PhD dissertation in the field of Journalism by Spanish Parliament. His main research fields are audience studies, environmental communication, public opinion and political communication, and qualitative research methods and software, leading to more than 40 scientific publications.

During the last years he has participated in diverse regional, national and European research projects and networks, having completed research periods in European universities like Leicester, Westminster and Braga. He has been involved in ECREA since 2005, acting as the Secretary of the Executive Board since 2012. He is also the co-Vice Chair of the Audience Section at the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

Voltmer, Katrin

University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Katrin Voltmer is Professor emerita at the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds (UK). Her main research interest revolves around the role of the media and communication in processes of democratization and de-democratization. She has been Principal Investigator of the EU-funded FP7 project “Media, Conflict and Democratisation” (www.mecodem.eu), 2014-2017. She has also widely published on the changing relationship between politics and the media in established western democracies. Her books include The Media in Transitional Democracies (2013, Polity Press) which received the 2017 Book Award of the International Journal of Press/Politics; Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics (2011, ed. with Kees Brants, Palgrave), and Public Policy and the Mass Media. The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making (2010, ed. with Sigrid Koch-Baumgarten).

Katrin Voltmer has been member of the ECREA Bureau and Treasurer, 2012-2016, after being Chair and Vice Chair of the ECREA Political Communication Section, 2008-2012. She is a member of ECREA’s Advisory Board since 2016.

Alvares, Claudia

ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, Portugal

Principal investigator, in recent years, of three research projects funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation and researcher of two international consortia, Claudia Alvares is, since 2014, panel member for the ERC Starting Grant Calls in the Social Sciences and the Humanities and, since 2016, evaluator of doctoral grant applications for the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. She was elected ECREA President for the mandate 2012-2016. Amongst her book publications are Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy (co-authored, 2014), Gendered Transformations: Theory and Practices on Gender and Media (co-edited, 2010), Teorias e Práticas dos Media: Situando o Local no Global (co-edited, 2010), Representing Culture: Essays on Identity, Visuality and Technology (edited, 2008), Humanism after Colonialism (single-authored, 2006). Recent journal publications have appeared in The European Journal of Communication, The International Communication Gazette, Javnost – The Public, and the International Journal of Iberian Studies. Alvares has a Ph.D from Goldsmith’s College, University of London (2001). She worked as Associate Professor at Lusófona University (Lisbon) and is now a Professor of the Communication Studies doctoral programme at ISCTE, Portugal.

Balcytiene, Aukse

Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

Aukse Balcytiene is Professor at the Department of Public Communications at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lituania.

Her research interests are in media policy, political and journalism cultures, media system change and comparative studies, media and information literacy, European public sphere and Central and Eastern European Studies. She has extensive experience in project management, administration and coordination and has been actively involved in a significant number of international projects funded through European (COST) and national/regional (Nordicom) initiatives.

She is also an editorial board member of a number of scientific periodicals. She has published two monographs (most recent is co-authored – Journalism that matters: Journalism culture in Central and Eastern Europe, Peter Lang, 2014) and over 70 articles.

Bruck, Peter

Research Studios Austria Forschungsgesellschaft, Austria

Peter A. Bruck (Austria) is an internationally known communication scholar and entrepreneur in new media, information business, telecommunications, technology transfer and ICT start ups. He studied law, economics, sociology and communications at universities in Austria, USA and Canada and held professorships at Carleton University, Ottawa, University of Salzburg, the Hebrew University and others. He has founded the University for Applied Sciences in Salzburg, and headed a number of IT and multimedia research organisations. He is initiator of the European and global new media awards for best practice in e-content creation, EUROPRIX, European Youth Award and World Summit Award, special advisor on new media to United Nations and EU organisations, and also managing director of the ICNM-International Centre for New Media. Bruck chaired for two periods the Advisory Panel on Media Diversity of the Council of Europe. In business, Bruck has served on the management board of Telekom Austria / Jet2Web Internet Services GmbH and managed as head of the business unit interactive media all content services of the group (Chief Content Officer). He is currently CEO and Chief Researcher of the Research Studios Austria Forschungsgesellschaft  and founder of a number of digital start up companies, including KnowledgeFox GmbH which has pioneered MicroLearning, as new approach of media enhanced learning.

Cabedoche, Bertrand

UNESCO chairholder on International Communication at the University of Grenoble

Bertrand Cabedoche is Professor of information and communication sciences, UNESCO chairholder on International Communication at the University of Grenoble, and president of ORBICOM, the global networks of Unesco chairs working as a think tank to Unesco. (Montréal).

As a researcher, he has worked on the ways societies are constructed when they become the subject of public polemic debates (for instance in the case of energies; nanotechnologies; Cultural Diversity and Cultural, Information and Communication Industries; ICTs and social change), with the advantage of a long professional experience last three past decades as a journalist in France and Canada (chief editor), than as Executive officer in communication, and later as an international consultant for multinational organisations. His works, papers, books, articles are disseminated in at least 50 countries, in french, english, arabic, chinese and russian langages. He is to regularly requested to assess international scientific projects in Canada, Russia, Portugal, Brazil.

Carlsson, Ulla

Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Dr. Ulla Carlsson (Sweden) is professor in media and communication research at the University of Gothenburg since 2006. She was Director of NORDICOM during many years.

In 2015 she was appointed to the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Expression, Media Development and Global Policy.

Ulla Carlsson has published several books on freedom of expression, media development; media statistics; media history; media governance; media and information literacy; etc.

Ulla Carlsson is a member of the board of many international research organizations and committees, and is on the editorial board of several leading journals in the field.

Corcoran, Farrel

Dublin City University. School of Communication, Ireland

Farrel Corcoran (Ireland) (Ph.D. University of Oregon) is Professor (Emeritus) at Dublin City University, where he has also served as Head of the School of Communication and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. Before coming to Dublin, he worked in the University of New Mexico and Northern Illinois University. In 1995, the Irish Government appointed him Chairman of RTE, the Irish public service broadcasting organisation, where he supervised the development of a digital policy. His teaching and research interests include Global Communication, the Political Economy of Broadcasting, Media and Cultural Identity and European Media Policy. His study of Irish broadcasting - RTE and the Globalisation of Irish Television (Intellect Books: 2004) - was funded with a Government of Ireland Senior Research Fellowship.

de Moragas, Miquel

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Professor of Communication, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Director of the Olympic Studies Centre (UAB) (since its creation in 1988), and Director of the Institute of Communication (UAB) (since its creation in 1998).

Gallagher, Margaret

Independent researcher, France

Margaret Gallagher (Ireland) is an independent researcher who has published widely on gender, media and communication rights. She started her career at the BBC (London), before moving to the Open University where she was Deputy Head of the Audiovisual Media Research Group. As a free-lance consultant she has carried out research, training and evaluation projects for the United Nations and its agencies, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, international development agencies and broadcasting organisations. She serves on the editorial boards of International Communication Gazette, Feminist Media Studies and Media Development and is a member of the International Steering Committee of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG).

Hamelink, Cees

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Cees J. Hamelink (The Netherlands) is Professor Emeritus of International Communication at the University of Amsterdam, and Professor Emeritus of Media, Religion and Culture at the Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is Professor Human Rights and Public Health at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and Professor of Information & Knowledge Management at the University of Aruba. He is the editor-in-chief of the International Communication Gazette. He is also Honorary President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), and founder of the People's Communication Charter. Among the sixteen books he has authored are Cultural Autonomy in Global Communications (1983), Finance and Information (1983), The Technology Gamble (1988), The Politics of World Communication (1994), World Communication (1995), and The Ethics of Cyberspace (2000).

Hancock, Alan

United Kingdom

Alan Hancock (U.K.) has more than fifty years of experience in communication development, spanning production, planning, evaluation and research. Originally a BBC producer, he was a founder member of the production team for the Open University. He was subsequently a staff member of UNESCO for more than twenty-five years, working for much of this time in Asia. After a number of years as Director of the Communication Division in Paris, he went on to establish a new intersectoral programme for Central and Eastern Europe. In 1996 he became an independent consultant and worked as a communication adviser for a number of international agencies, including the European Commission and the World Bank.  In retirement, he has focussed on public and patient communication and engagement in health and social care.

Hartmann, Maren

Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), Germany

Maren Hartmann (PhD) is professor for communication and media sociology at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin. In the past, she has held several positions at different universities in Europe. Most recently, she was guest professor at Lund University, supported by the Swedish Riksbanken. 

Her research interests include the appropriation of media and technologies (especially in terms of the domestication framework), new media cultures, mobile media, mobilities as well as media and time and homelessness and media.

Her publications include - amongst others - 'Domestication of Media and Technology' (co-ediated with Thomas Berker, Yves Punie and Katie Ward, 2006), ‚Domestizierung‘ (2013) as well as several articles in journals, co-edited books and more.

She was the first Chair of ECREA's Digital Culture and Communication section, a member of the Executive Board of ECREA as well as the chair of the Media Sociology section of the German Communication Association (DGPuK). Since 2016, she is a member of the Academiae Europeana.

Hasebrink, Uwe

Hans Bredow Institute , Germany

Uwe Hasebrink, after studying Psychology and German Philology in Hamburg, subsequently worked for three years at the Institute for Social Psychology at the University of Hamburg. He joined the Hans Bredow Institute in 1986 as a researcher; from 1988 he also acted as the executive manager. In 1998, he was elected to the Institute’s directorate. In 1999, he was Acting Professor of Communications at the College of Music and Theatre in Hanover. In spring 2001, he received a chair in “Empirical Communications Studies” from the University of Hamburg and the Hans Bredow Institute jointly.

Since 2009 he is a member of the board of directors of the Research Center for Media and Communication (RCMC), which brings together university and non-university media and communication research in Hamburg, and at the same time one of the spokespersons of the Graduate School Media and Communication.

Alongside this, he was spokesperson for the specialist group on reception research in the DGPuK from 1998 to 2003, co-publisher of the series “Rezeptionsforschung” (reception research) from 2003 to 2007, and a member of the Management Committee of the International Radio Research Network (IREN) from 2004-2006. He has been a member of the Executive Board of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) 2004 - 2012. He has been member of the editorial team of "Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft" (since 1986), and of the international boards "Journal of Children and Media" (since 2009), "Studies in Communication | Media" (since 2011) and "Communication Management Quarterly" (since 2011). He acts as co-editor of the book series "Transforming Communications. Studies in Cross-Media Research (Palgrave MacMillan).

His research emphases are in the areas of media use, children and media, as well as media politics; in recent years these included primarily: media and communication repertoires in converging media environments, the concept of communicative figurations as a tool to analyse transforming communications, risks and opportunities of online media for children and youth, users' interests vis-à-vis the media, public service media and their public value, comparative research as well as European media and European audiences.

Heinderyckx, Francois

Dep. of Information and Communication Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

François Heinderyckx is professor and director of the Department of Information and Communication Sciences of Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he teaches media sociology and political communication.

His research interests include political communication, journalism and news media, with a particular emphasis on science and the media and digital media. He contributes to projects related to e-government and media literacy.

He also develops research around the notion of Quality in communication research and is heading a working group along with other learned societies to reflect on this issue. Jointly with ICA and IAMCR, he led ECREA into organizing a large survey among communication scholars to investigate their use and perception of academic journals.

He is a member of the Conseil Supérieur de l’éducation aux médias (CSEM, Belgium) and of the Media Literacy Expert Group (European Commission). He is correspondant for international affairs of the Board of the Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS (ISCC, France). He is member of the Editorial Board of Hermès (CNRS), member of the scientific council of Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille (ESJ) and Senior Fellow of Communication for Sustainable Social Change (U of Massachusetts, Amherst).

Hill, Annette

Lund University, Sweden

Annette Hill is a Professor of Media and Communication at Lund University, Sweden, and Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster, UK. Her research focuses on audiences and popular culture, with interests in media engagement, everyday life, genres, production studies and cultures of viewing. She is the author of seven books, and many articles and book chapters in journals and edited collections, which address varieties of engagement with reality television, news and documentary, television drama, entertainment formats, live events and sports entertainment, film violence and media ethics.

Her most recent book is Reality TV: Key Ideas (Routledge 2015). Other books include Paranormal Media (Routledge 2011), Restyling Factual TV (2007), Reality TV (2005), The Television Studies Reader (with Robert C Allen 2003), TV Living (with David Gauntlett 1999), and Shocking Entertainment (1997). Her next book is Media Experiences (Routledge 2018).

Her research has been funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, The Swedish Research Council, Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, Economic and Social Research Council, British Film Institute, the Office of Communications and former regulatory bodies the Independent Television Commission, and the Broadcasting Standards Commission, Channel Four, and the Media Management and Transition Center, Jönköping International Business School, Sweden. She was Research Director of the School of Media, Arts and Design at the University of Westminster and managed the submissions with colleagues in media, art and design, and music to the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 which resulted in the No 1 ranking for media in Britain and the No 1 ranking for art in London. She has served on the Danish Research Council, The Swedish Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council Knowledge Transfer Panel, and has been an Executive Board Member of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), and the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA).

Recent projects include Media Experiences, a big picture project that pieces together the puzzle that is being an audience today. A broad research question includes how do producers create experiences and how do audiences actually engage with these experiences? The project was funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (6.3 million Swedish Kroner), in collaboration with production company Endemol Shine (2013-2016) and focused on television drama, documentary and reality entertainment in Sweden, Denmark and the UK.

Hurme, Pertti

University of Jyväskylä, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Finland

Pertti Hurme, PhD,  is a retired Senior Lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä, where in 2008-2013 he served as the Head of the Department of Communication. Over the years, he has taught and carried out research in Phonetics, Voice, Organizational Communication, and Digital Communication. In 2015-2017, he  served as the Editor in Chief of the journal Human Technology (humantechnology.jyu.fi). Dr. Hurme was President of the European Communication Association in 2003-2005. After the merger of this association and the European Consortium of Communication Research into the European Communication Research and Education Association, he served as the Vice President of ECREA in 2005-2008 and Executive Board member in 2008-2012.

Jelen, Alenka

University of Stirling, United Kingdom

Alenka Jelen, PhD, is a Lecturer in Public Relations and Deputy Head of Division of Communications, Media and Culture at the University of Stirling. Her research focuses on public relations theory; relationships between media and politics; gender in media and public relations; and public communication of loss and mortality. She has published in international academic journals, edited books, professional public relations publications and regularly presents her research at academic conferences. Alenka has previously served as the ECREA General Secretary (2012-2016) and Executive Board Member (2009-2016). She has been an Instructor of Expert Interviews at the Doctoral ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research) Summer Schools in Methods and Techniques since 2008 and has taught interview research at several universities across Europe. She joined the University of Stirling in 2013 from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Prior to UCLan, she worked as a Teaching Assistant and a Public Relations Adviser at the University of Ljubljana, where she also completed her PhD. Originally from Slovenia, she is a UK Correspondent for Slovenian television Kanal A and writes for newspaper Večer.   

Martelli, Stefano

University of Bologna, Italy

Stefano Martelli (Italy) is Full Professor in Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes, in the Faculty of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Bologna “Alma Mater Studiorum”; also he is a Member of the Department of Education Sciences “G.M.Bertin” in the same University.

Before he teached sociologies in the Universities of Naples "Federico II" (1984-1998), Verona (1994-1998) Palermo (1998-2005) and "Sr. O. Benincasa" (1993-2005).

Nordenstreng, Kaarle

University of Tampere. Facultry of Communication Sciences, Finland

Kaarle Nordenstreng (born 1941, PhD University of Helsinki 1969) is Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Tampere (Finland). Before appointment to this position in 1971 he was head of research in the Finnish Broadcasting Company since 1967. Earlier he worked as freelance journalist and editor of youth programmes in Finnish national radio (1956-63) and instructor at the University of Tampere (1965-67). He was member of Unesco's panel of consultants on communication research (1971-76), Vice-President of the International Association for Mass Communication Research IAMCR (1972-88), President of the International Organization of Journalists IOJ (1976-90), and Steering Committee member of the European Science Foundation research programme ‘Changing Media – Changing Europe’ (2000-2004). His research specialities are communication theory, international communication and media ethics on which he has written or edited over 60 books (alone and with others) and published over 400 book chapters or journal articles. Books include Communication Studies (1975-1978, in Finnish Swedish and Hungarian), The Mass Media Declaration of UNESCO (1984, Norwood, NJ: Ablex), Normative Theories of the Media (with Christians et al., 2009, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press).

Nyre, Lars

University of Bergen, Norway

Lars Nyre (born 1969) is an associate professor at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, and has a research position at the School of Journalism, Volda University College.

Nyre tries out experimental methods in media and information research, and currently co-directs a project called Demostation. The project tests out various interfaces for journalism on the mobile phone. Nyre has previously written about the democratic potential of new media; see Nyre (2007) "Minimum Journalism. Experimental procedures for democratic participation in sound media", in Journalism Studies, issue 3, and the history of sound media; see Nyre (2008) Sound Media. From Live Journalism to Musical Recording. London: Routledge.

Nyre is the editor of Norsk medietidsskrift [Norwegian Journal of Media Research]. Nyre is chair of the research group Digital Radio Cultures in Europe (see www.drace.org ), originally established as part of the EU-funded COST A20 network "The Impact of the Internet on the mass media in Europe". Between 2005 and 2008 Nyre was Board Member of ECREA and, previously, of ECA.

Picard, Robert G.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Professor Robert G. Picard is a senior research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at University of Oxford, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale University Law School. His scholarship focuses on the nexus between economic of media and communications systems and public policy.

He has been a professor for 4 decades at universities in Europe and the United States, is the author and editor of 32 books, and has been editor of the Journal of Media Business Studies and The Journal of Media Economics.

Picard received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri, Columbia. and had post-doctoral study and fellowships at University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and University of Oxford. He hasconsulted and carried out assignments for governments in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia and for international organisations including the European Commission, UNESCO, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation. He has served as an expert witness at congressional and parliamentary committees and consulted for numerous government agencies worldwide. He has also been a consultant for leading media companies in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Pitasi, Andrea

Gabriele d’Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara, Faculty of Social Sciences, Italy

Andrea Pitasi is a PhD Tenured Professor of Sociology of Law And Deviance at D’ Annunzio University, Chieti- Pescara, Italy; visiting Professor of Law as a Social System, PUCPR, Curitiba, Brazil and adjunct Professor of Strategic Consulting at the SFAI Business School, Malta.

He has been teaching as adjunct, visiting or Erasmus professor in several universities worldwide among which UHD Houston, Kansas State U, Nottingham Trent U (NTU), Italian campuses, LMU Munich, Defense University Brno, University of Palermo and UNISOB, Naples.

He is the (Co) Editor in Chief of five academic book series among which for L’Harmattan Paris, McGraw Hill Milan- London, Cambridge Scholars Publishig, Newcastle and of one high concept fiction book series for World Hub Press-Phasar, Florence.

He is a honorary Life President of World Complexity Science Academy, President of Eurocitizen. As academic governance experience he has been Rectoral Delegate at UNISOB, Statute Reform Committee full member at the D’Annunzio University, Departmenrt Head for Communication Science Degree Validation Process at NTU.

Sarikakis, Katharine

University of Vienna, Austria
Senior Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

Katharine's work is informed by political philosophy and focuses on the political processes and political economic dimensions of media and communications governance, nationally and globally. She is interested in the ways in which empowerment and disempowerment of citizens become inherent elements in public policy addressing communication (either as technology or process) and expression (whether political, cultural or other). In her work, institutions are central spaces for the construction of ideas, legitimacy and exercise of control. Her current research explores these dimensions through the tensions of varying forms and degrees of state intervention upon individuals and communication and media industries.

She is the founding co-editor of the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics (MCP) with Prof.Neil Blain (Univesity of Stirling, UK). MCP is a widely known journal that aims to facilitate a forum for critical and astute analysis of contemporary world affairs as these are related to media and cultural politics

Further information on her work can be found on her personal website: http://www.sarikakis.info/

Schmidt, Mogens

International Media Development Advisors, France

Mogens Schmidt Mogens Schmidt (Denmark - France) (born 1950) is a Senior Consultant and Advisor on Freedom of Expression and Media Development, associate in the International Media Development Advisors (IMDA) since 2014. He was formerly Director of UNESCO’s Global Field Operations and Deputy Assistant Director General for Communication and Information at UNESCO and Director of the Division of Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace. Before that, he was Assistant Director General of The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Director of The World Editors Forum in Paris, France, since 2001. Earlier, he has been Associate Professor in Scandinavian Languages and Literature at the University of Aarhus, Denmark (1976 - 1981), Member of the Board of the Nordic Mass Communication Researchers Association (1978 - 1980), Head of Unit (Development and coordination of study programmes), Faculty of Humanities, University of Aarhus, (1981 - 1988), Managing Director, The Danish School of Journalism, Aarhus, (1988 - 1995), Founding Member of the Board of the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA), Programme Director and then CEO of the European Journalism Centre (EJC) in Maastricht, The Netherlands before joining WAN/IFRA in 2001.

Since 1998, he is also Fellow and Member of the Advisory Committee, The European Institute for the Media, Düsseldorf, Germany. Consultant on journalism training, communication and media affairs for the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the Danish Foreign Ministry, The Swedish Foreign Ministry (SIDA), International Media Support, United Nations (Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Nigeria and Zimbabwe) and Norwegian Refugee Council. He is Member of the Advisory Board of the Lebanese May Chidiac Foundation. He is the author of several articles and books on journalism training, media and mass communication.

Scifo, Salvatore

Bournemouth University, United Kingdom

Salvatore Scifo is a Senior Lecturer in Communication and Social Media at the School of Journalism, English and Communication, Faculty of Media and Communication, at Bournemouth University (United Kingdom). He has published on British and European Community Radio history, policy and practice, as well as on the use of social media in the context of crises. He is a former Executive Board member of ECREA (2008-2013), and was the General Coordinator of the 4th European Communication Conference held in Istanbul in 2012. He is currently the co-chair of the Community Communication and Alternative Media section of the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) (2016-2020) and a member of the steering group of the UK-based MeCCSA Radio Studies Network.

Splichal, Slavko

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Slovenia

He is Professor of Communication at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Fellow of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is director of the European Institute for Communication and Culture, founder (1987) and convenor of its International Colloquia on Communication and Culture and editor of its journal Javnost-The Public established in 1993. He was member of the International Council (1984-92) and the deputy secretary general of the International Association for Mass Communication Research (1992-1996), and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana (1991-93). In 2006, he was a Visiting Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. He has been member of editorial boards of International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Journal of Communication, Journalism Studies, Gazette, New Media & Society, Reseaux-The French Journal of Communication, and several national journals in Europe. His primary areas of research include communication theory, public opinion and public sphere, political communication, and communication research methods. His English language books include Transnationalization of the Public Sphere and the Fate of the Public (2012), Principles of Publicity and Press Freedom (2002), Toennies on Public Opinion: Selections and Analyses (2000, co-authored with H. Hardt); Public Opinion: Developments and Controversies in the 20th Century (1999); Media Beyond Socialism (1994), Journalists for the 21st Century (1994; co-authored with C. Sparks).

Tamas, Pal

Institute of Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary

Pal Tamas is director of the Sociology Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. Trained as a computer scientist, later received Doctorates in Sociology and Economics. Visiting Professor and Researcher at MIT, Wesleyan University - CT, USA, Vienna Technical University, Frei University Berlin, Concordia University - Montreal, Carlton University - Ottawa, Academic Center, St. Petersburg - Russia, Moscow State University, etc. His ongoing research is focused on technology policy and development, global civil society, vulnerability of industrial societies, models of sustainability.

van Zoonen, Liesbet

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Liesbet van Zoonen is professor of Sociology and Dean of the Graduate School for Social Sciences and Humanities of Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is also the academic director of the Centre for Big Open and Linked Data (BOLD) Cities, a collaboration of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam universities. Her work covers a wide range of issues in social, cultural and – currently – urban studies, in which ongoing questions concern the meaning and role of new digital technologies and their impact on the everyday lives and situation of women, minorities and other disadvantaged groups.

Vartanova, Elena

Moscow State University. Faculty of Journalism, Russia

Elena Vartanova is Full Professor, Dean and Chair in Media Theory and Economics at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Education. Her research focuses on Russian and foreign media systems (Finnish, Scandinavian, British), media economics and media managment, information society, digital divide, journalism and media theory, science communications, media literacy.
Dr. Vartanova has published more than 200 research articles and academic monographs, including Postsovetskie transformatcii rossiiskikh SMI i zhurnalistiki (Post-Soviet Transformations of Russian Mass Media and Journalism) (2014). Recently she also contributed chapters to Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World, edited by D. C. Hallin & P. Mancini (2012), Mapping BRICS Media, edited by K. Nordenstreng & D. K. Thussu (2015), and Who Owns the World’s Media? edited by E. Noam (2016). 
She is a president of the National Association for Media Researchers (NAMMI). Dr. Vartanova is also the editor of several academic journals: Medi@lmanac, MediaScope, and MediaTrends. Member of the Presidential Council on the Russian Language. Member of international organizations: ICA, IAMCR, ECREA, EMMA, IMMAA, Euromedia Research Group.