June 1: New ‘Topical seminar’ meeting

13.05.2021


Poster-4chel-1.jpgMSU Faculty of Journalism proceeds with ‘Topical seminar’ meetings, a series of online-seminars featuring prominent speakers, both Russian and international. The fourth topical seminar is scheduled for June 1, 5pm MSK. This will be the last topical seminar for this spring semester, and participants will have a unique chance to listen to four outstanding scholars.

Foreign speakers have prepared a joint presentation titled ‘Journalism and Epistemology’, co-authored by Professor Mats Ekström, Amanda Ramsälv, and Professor Oscar Westlund.

Professor Mats Ekström is Professor at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg. He is also an extraordinary sociology expert, having received PhD in this academic field in 2001 and working as Professor in Sociology for many years. His research focuses on journalism, media discourse, conversation in institutional settings, and political communication. Professor Ekström is currently engaged in multiple fascinating research projects, dedicated to various topics. He studies the role of media in the formation, articulation and public perception of certain political views, the processes of political socialization, and, as part of the project, he has been working on together with Amanda Ramsälv and Professor Oscar Westlund, he researches the shaping of epistemological practices of news journalism. His recent publications include ‘Explaining Society: Critical Realism in the Social Sciences’, ‘The normalization of the populist radical right in news interviews’, ‘Reporting the unsayable: scandalous talk by right-wing populist politicians and the challenge for journalism’, ‘The epistemology of breaking news’.

Amanda Ramsälv is a PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg. She is a young but already well-established researcher, who has acquired valuable experience as a freelance journalist focusing on issues of journalism and democracy, and worked as a researcher’s assistant in various media and communication research projects. Her dissertation project presents an ethnographic newsroom study investigating the societal function of journalism as distributor of knowledge about politics and society.

Professor Oscar Westlund is a cross-disciplinary researcher with an academic background in journalism, media and communication and theory of science. He is Professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University, where he leads the OsloMet Digital Journalism Research Group. He also works at the Department for Journalism, Media and Communication at University of Gothenburg as a lecturer and researcher in numerous national and international research projects, and holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at Volda University College. Professor Westlund specializes in journalism, media management and news media consumption for proprietary news media platforms such as news sites and mobile applications, as well as with regards to social media platforms non-proprietary to the news media. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Digital Journalism, and has guest edited special issues for a handful other leading international journals.

Russia will be represented by Maria Anikina, who will review the problem from a national perspective and present a report ‘Epistemology and other pillars of journalistic culture in Russia’. Doctor Anikina is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology of Mass Communications, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University. She is also a curator of the Master’s program ‘Scientific journalism and communication’. Her research interests cover numerous fields, such as journalism and mass communications, scientific communication, mediatization and popularization of science, methods of studying mass media audience, public perceptions studies and many others. Her recent publications include ‘Media studies in Russia: determination of scientific status’, ‘Media use in school-aged children in Russian regions: empirical research in Vladivostok’, ‘Institutional roles of Russian journalist in the early 21 st century’, ‘Multipolarity of journalism in the early 21 st century: empirical evidence and academic reports’.

The seminar will be held online via Zoom. Language – English (without interpretation services).

Click here to fill out the registration form. Registered listeners will receive a Zoom link in advance.

The event is of utmost importance both for the integration of national scientific school into international academic environment and for the conceptualization of distinctive features of Russian media studies. The Faculty of Journalism invites everyone to sign up for the seminar and hopes that the issues, touched upon in the course of the event, will trigger productive scientific discussion.