Research group
Journalism and New Media
Journalism is a key institution in democratic societies, yet it is constantly evolving. New technologies, media platforms, audience practices, and business models continue to reshape both journalism and the ways public conversations take place.
The Journalism and New Media Research Group (JOME) is an active and interdisciplinary research group at Nord University. We conduct research on journalism, media, and digital communication, with particular interests in journalistic practice, local journalism, social media, gaming, and digital publics. Through the research programme The New Local, we explore new perspectives on media use, belonging, and local democracy.
Our research focuses on topics such as:
- Journalistic practices, norms, and working conditions
- Local journalism and news media
- Public debate and digital communication
- Social media and digital networks
- Activism and participation on digital platforms
- Conspiracy theories and digital communities
- Esports, gaming culture, and other digital practices
Our work combines studies of media content, media use, and journalistic work practices. We are particularly interested in how people participate in, are influenced by, and create meaning through both traditional and emerging media environments.
The research group is closely connected to Nord University’s Master's programmes in Journalism and in Communication and Social Analysis.
Members actively participate in national and international research networks and conferences. We also organize an annual symposium in collaboration with universities in Finland, Poland, and Denmark.
JOME hosts monthly hybrid research seminars where members present and discuss ongoing research and manuscripts. These seminars provide an important academic meeting place for PhD candidates and researchers. In addition, we organize writing retreats, full-day seminars, and grant-development workshops each semester, and regularly invite visiting scholars and collaborators to interdisciplinary seminars.
Researchers:
- Associate Professor Karianne Sørgård Olsen (Research Group Leader)
- Professor Birgit Røe Mathisen
- Professor Astrid Marie Holand
- Professor Torill Elvira Mortensen
- Professor Lisbeth Morlandstø
- Associate Professor Egil Trasti Rogstad
- Associate Professor Kristian A. Bjørkelo
- University Teacher Martin Steinholdt
- University Lecturer Per Torbjørn Jystad
- University Lecturer Trygve Løvseth
- University Lecturer Aleksander Torjesen
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow Rojan T. Ezzati
- Adjunct Associate Professor Terje Lindblom
PhD Candidates:
- Martta Ojala
Feeling Victimhood: Understanding Antifeminism among Men’s Rights Activists on Reddit
- Frederik G. Aarup
- Ida Alvsen
- Cristóbal Mora
Juggler Journalists: Conceptualising Rural Journalism through Professional Experiences in Norway and Spain
- Anne Schäfer
- Dillon Ozuna
- Sebastien Tomine
- Camilla Selstad Stenberg (University Lecturer)
Associated Members:
- Ewa Morsund
- Hege Lamark
- Liz Solverson
- Tanja Ellingsen
In addition to the PhD candidates’ projects, members of the research group are involved in the following research initiatives:
- From Talent to Journalist?
A study of the talent programme at NRK Sápmi and its role in recruiting future Sámi journalists.
Method: Interviews with programme participants, mentors, and managers.
- Media Criticism in the Digital Public Sphere
An analysis of how media criticism is practiced and negotiated in contemporary public discourse.
Method: Interviews with media critics and content analysis of media criticism.
- Opinion Leader or Pointless?
An examination of opinion journalism in the local press.
Method: Interviews with local newspaper editors and quantitative content analysis of editorials and commentary articles.
- Children of Journalists
A study of how children of active journalists experience their role in local communities.
Method: Interviews with children of journalists.
- The Journalism Education Mentorship Programme
An analysis of the relationship between journalism education and the media industry.
Method: Longitudinal evaluation research and interviews with current and former students, editors, journalists, and educators.
- Sustainable Rural Environments: Practicing, Managing, and Performing the Gendered Outfields
A project examining how outdoor life and rural landscapes are represented in the media and understood from a gender perspective.
Method: Content analysis of traditional and social media, and interviews with outdoor-life influencers.
- Recruitment to Local Journalism
An analysis of recruitment challenges in the media industry.
Method: Interviews with journalism students and editors.
- Boundary Work in Journalism
An analysis of a media debate concerning inclusion and exclusion within the Norwegian Union of Journalists.
Method: Argumentation analysis of public debate.
- A Co-Creative Sustainable City
Developing collaborative models for social sustainability and the prevention of youth exclusion through public health-oriented urban development.
Method: Participant observation, interviews with actors from the public, private, and voluntary sectors, and dialogue workshops involving stakeholders, school pupils, and senior citizens.
- Indigenous Homemaking as Survivance
Exploring how Sámi and Inuit homemaking practices contribute to cultural resilience in the face of colonization and assimilation.
Method: Archival and document studies, interviews with Sámi and Inuit participants in Norway, Sweden, and Greenland, and dialogue workshops.
- Beyond Borders
A study of media coverage of war and terrorism in selected Norwegian news outlets, comparing post–Cold War reporting with contemporary coverage.
Method: Archival and document studies, interviews with military and NATO personnel, and analysis of databases and statistical material.
- The Local-Digital Foundations of Local Journalism
Investigating how local journalists and editors understand “the local” in a digitally borderless world, and how they connect international and national developments to local news coverage.
Method: Interviews with journalists and editors.
- From Talent to Journalist?
