About us

Established in 2019 by Lucy Smy and Clare Richardson, the initiative with the fund by HOSIF grants, explored journalism and education. In 2022, the team expanded to include Dr. Jeff Sparrow and formed a formal Research Group after successfully awarded HOSIF Research Initiative grant. The establishment of our formal group aims to provide a structured framework for ongoing research, fostering collaboration between emerging and established academics at the Center for Advancing Journalism.

Our focus area

With the objectives of challenge investigation in Chinese journalism education and media dynamics through comprehensive academic and practice-based research, we aim to:

  • Study the theoretical underpinnings and changes in China's journalism environment, exploring their impact on student understanding.
  • Identify tools and strategies used by journalism educators globally.

Our broader goals include building a research profile, training new journalism academics, improving educational outcomes for international students, and sharing our research widely, particularly at the Journalism Educators and Researchers of Australia Association.

Our people

Dr. Louisa Lim

Dr Louisa Lim is a Senior Lecturer in Audiovisual Journalism. She is a former foreign correspondent for the BBC and NPR, and her most recent book, Indelible City; Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Walkley Book Award among others. She has done research for the International Federation of Journalists on China's global media footprint, and is the host of the award-winning podcast, The Little Red Podcast. She has a PhD in Journalism Studies from Monash University.

Lucy Smy

Lucy Smy is a Lecturer specialising in business journalism. She is a former Financial Times journalist and has reported from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. She co-ordinates International Traditions in Journalism, International Business Journalism and Global Crisis Reporting.

Dr. Jeff Sparrow

Dr. Jeff Sparrow is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. He is a writer, editor, broadcaster and Walkley award-winning journalist. He is a columnist for Guardian Australia, a former Breakfaster at radio station 3RRR, and a past editor of Overland literary journal.

Dr Li-Chia Lo

Dr. Li-chia Lo is a passionate researcher with a PhD in Politics from the University of Melbourne, specializing in Chinese politics, democratization, political theory, and discourse analysis. His journey in academia reflects both qualitative expertise and a strong appetite for data analytics. Li-chia's journey in academia has seen him actively collaborating on numerous research projects, where his contributions extend to areas such as Chinese politics, survey design, and data analytics. His commitment to research stems from a sincere dedication to advancing knowledge and fostering insights.

Wajeehah Aayeshah is a lecturer in Curriculum Design at the Arts Teaching Innovation (ATI), University of Melbourne. An academic geek, she develops meaningful learning experiences and investigates co-creation of teaching and learning. Her research explores designing safe pedagogical spaces that are inclusive, interesting, and kind. Her current project 'kindness in pedagogy' explores kind academic practices. These include engaging 'Students as Partners', ‘joyful teaching’, and creating ‘equity-driven academic culture’. She also collaborates with artists and game designers to produce creative narratives. Her interdisciplinary publications range from research articles, book chapters, to short stories and games.

Dylan Bird is a PhD candidate at University of Tasmania, Australia researching podcast journalism and democracy. He also presents a weekly current affairs radio show at Triple R FM in Melbourne, Australia, and hosts the Seeing Green podcast, for an ARC-funded Discovery project on Australian screen media and the environment. Bird has presented his research in both Australia and internationally. His published research spans news podcasts and political participation, podcast journalism approaches, podcasting and Covid-19, and journalism teaching pedagogies. He is currently Editorial Assistant with Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media.

Recent publications

Bird, D. (2023). Democratic listening: News podcasts, trust and political participation in Australia. Australian Journalism Review, 45(1), 93-113. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1386/ajr_00120_7

Lidberg, J., Lim, L., & Bradshaw, E. (2023). SPECIAL REPORT: The world according to China: Capturing and analysing the global media influence strategies of a superpower. Pacific Journalism Review : Te Koakoa, 29(1 & 2), 182-204. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v29i1and2.1317

Lim, L. & Bergin, J (2019) Weaponising the Free Press? China’s Global Media Offensive (International Federation of Journalists Research Report, 2019) , pp.1-5

Lim, L. & Bergin, J (2020) The China Story; Reshaping the World’s Media (International Federation of Journalists Research Report, 2020), pp.1-5 .

Lim, L. & Bergin, J.(2021) “The Covid-19 Story; Unmasking China’s Strategy” (International Federation of Journalists Research Report pp.1-7

Lim, L. (2023) “Hong Kong as Pillar of Shame”. In Routledge Handbook of Trauma in East Asia Eds. Burridge, Tina and Kingston, Jeff, Routledge (Routledge) pp.187-198

McCarthy, B., Bird, D., Sherwood, M., & Zion, L. (2022). “I can say I was a journalist during a global pandemic”: Australian students’ experiences of a newsroom in lockdown. Australian Journalism Review, 44(1), 83–99. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.512643270663174

Sparrow, J. (2022). “That”s what drives us to fight’: Labour, wilderness and the environment in Australia. Overland, (246), 3–23. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.615422740123406

Sparrow, J. (2023). From Russia with love: Fake news and the bolshevik “socialisation of women.” Griffith REVIEW, (79), 20–31. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.856440222882561

Sparrow, J. (2023). Going for woke: How “the Australian, the herald sun and the Sydney morning herald” adopted the lexicon of “wokeism.” Australian Journalism Review, 45(2), 139–159. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.389007820174883

Sparrow, J. (2023). Into the swamp: Enclosing capital. Griffith REVIEW, (80), 25–35. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.003044453532528

Sparrow, J. (2023). Smug politics as elite capture. Overland, (250), 32–45. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.236627381225323

Contact

For enquiries, please contact us via our email addresses: