CMCR Research Talk
Digital Journalism (Studies): past, present and progressions
6 Nov 2026 – 11:00 AM – CVA 1022
This presentation focuses on the development of digital journalism studies as an emerging field characterized by pioneering and interdisciplinary research that has produced numerous influential publications. A special issue published in 2019 in Digital Journalism focused on defining and explicating digital journalism as both an object of study and a scholarly field. The Digital Journalism editorial team introduced the Digital Journalism Studies Compass (Eldridge, Hess, Tandoc, & Westlund, 2019) as a framework for navigating the scholarly terrain. This presentation will discuss key insights from the book Digital Journalism Studies (Steensen & Westlund, 2021), as well as recent efforts to reshape the field’s priorities through editorials and agenda-setting publications. Particular attention will be given to the co-authored article Digital Journalism (Studies): An Agenda for the Future, which outlines directions for future scholarship. Lastly, the presentation will also introduce a forthcoming book by Westlund and Hanusch (2027), Outstanding Research in (Digital) Journalism Studies, which brings together an extensive collection of award-winning journal articles published over the past 15 years and analyzes their characteristics, contributions, and scholarly impact.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/gYzQAHXz
CMCR Research Talk
What Drives Conspiratorial Thinking About Organizations?
10 Nov 2026 – 12:30 PM – CVA 932
Conspiratorial thinking (CT) is a cognitive process that involves three intersecting conditions: a problematic event occurs, a powerful entity is involved, and the individual attributes the event to that entity’s hidden, intentional agenda. Although extensive literature has identified the individual and social factors that foster belief in conspiracy theories, far less is known about why particular organizations become the targets of CT. This seminar addresses that gap, offering an integrative overview of how an organization’s characteristics and the situations surrounding it, including crises and moments of uncertainty, jointly render it a plausible target of CT, and how the resulting CT shapes the way people seek, interpret, and share information about the organization. The seminar concludes with preliminary findings from an empirical study that re-specifies CT as a hierarchical construct spanning dispositional, target-level, and claim-level beliefs, and with implications for organizations seeking to understand and mitigate the conspiracy theories that form around them.
Register here: https://hkbuchtl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e2GxEn7kBEYQdoO?Q_CHL=qr
Previous research talks:
CMCR Research Talk
Mediated Trust: From News Media to AI
20 Oct 2026 – 12:30 PM – CVA 1022
CMCR Research Talk
When the Mediascape Keeps Changing: Rethinking Children, Parents and Digital Media
14 Oct 2026 – 12:30 PM – CVA 932
In just a few years, families have encountered significant changes in the media environment: the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly data-driven and personalized media, the rapid rise of generative Al, and a changing regulatory landscape around children’s access to and use of digital platforms. What do these changes mean for children and families, and how should wethink about the role of parents in navigating them? Drawing on a program of research involving national surveys of Australian parents, including three studies tracing children’s screen media use and parental mediation across the pandemic period and another study examining parents’ responses to data-driven personalized advertising targeting children, this talk explores how parents understand and navigate their children’s digital lives. Building on insights from this research, it discusses where conventional approaches to parental mediation may fall short and how emerging developments, including Al and Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions, invite us to rethink some established assumptions about children, parents, and digital media. The talk concludes by identifying emerging questions and directions for future research.
CMCR Research Dialogue
Writing Smarter with Al and Publishing Better: Insights from Journal Editors
13 Oct 2026 – 12:30 PM – CVA 504
Publishing in academic journals is a critical yet demanding milestone for every researcher. Today, Al tools are reshaping how we write, revise, and disseminate scholarly work. In this Research Dialogue, Prof. Jörg Matthes and Prof. Bu Zhong, two seasoned journal editors, will walk you through the publishing journey, from shaping a manuscript that meets editorial standards to responding to reviewers and navigating final editorial decisions while using Al responsibly and effectively at each step.
CMCR Research Talk | Beyond the Black Box: Human-Centered Explainability for Online Safety
14 May 2026 – 10:30 AM – CVA 504
CMCR Research Talk | Team Member, Tool, or Troublemaker? AI and the future of knowledge production in communication research
28 April 2026 – 2:30 PM – CVA 932
CMCR Research Dialogue
Research Dialogue on Emerging Trends in Academic Publishing in Communication Research in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
22 April 2026 – 5:00 PM – CVA 504
