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Marina Morani

Dr Marina Morani

Lecturer (Teaching and Research)

School of Journalism, Media and Culture

Email
MoraniM@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 74084
Campuses
Two Central Square, Room Room 2.41, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am a Lecturer (Teaching & Research) at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, teaching across the BA and MA programmes.

In both my research and teaching, I strive to establish a productive link between journalism studies, media studies, cultural studies and postcolonial studies. Over the years, I have researched and taught a wide range of subject areas, including the media representation of global crises (migration/displacement/public health crises), election reporting in broadcast journalism, dis/misinformation and fact-checking, theory and debates on multi/interculturalism, representations of ethnic minorities/ethnicitised citizens, discourses of citizenship rights advocacy, and alternative media.

I hold a Ph.D. in Journalism from Cardiff University. My doctoral research focused on alternative media set up by practitioners of ethnic minority background to reclaim inclusive and diverse spaces of media representation and production in Italy since the early 2000s. The study draws on a longitudinal mixed-method critical analysis of both the discursive opportunities as well as production constraints of alternative media spaces and practices. Methods include quantitative mapping, CDA, multimodal analysis and semi-structured interviews with editors and practictioners.

I have extensive media research experience, having worked as Research Associate / Assistant on several projects awarded to Cardiff School of Journalism and commissioned by various organisations including BBC Trust, Ofcom and UNHCR. As part of these projects I investigated election reporting, UK devolved policy areas and 'refugee crisis' reporting in relation to issues of accuracy, informative value, impartiality, and balance.

Between 2020-2022 I worked as Research Associate on the two-year AHRC-funded research project "Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media investigating the production, output and reception of dis/mis-information reporting.

Between June-July 2023 I was granted internal funding as Principal Investigator to design a six-week study and supervise a student researcher on the project: Reporting on the UK Illegal Migration Bill and the criminalisation of human mobility and displacement. A content analysis of TV news bulletins. 

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2018

2017

2016

Articles

Book sections

Monographs

Thesis

Websites

Research

I have conducted research in the following areas:

  • Global 'crisis' reporting (incl. migration / displacement / public health)
  • Discursive constructions of national / cultural identity / ethnic minorities / citizenship
  • UK Public Service Broadcasting
  • Dis/mis-information and fact-checking
  • Election reporting
  • Alternative media
  • Citizenship rights activism
  • Multi-/Interculturalism (theories and debates)

Overview of research projects

  • Role: Principal Investigator

Project title: Reporting on the UK Illegal Migration Bill and the criminalisation of human mobility and displacement. A content analysis of TV news bulletins. 

Student internship scheme (June-July 2023)

Co-Investigator: Dr Lizzy Willmington (Cardiff School of Law and Politics)

Rwanda deal: why the media should focus more on the policy and less on the politics of immigration The Conversation

Curated Playlist for Learning on Screen: Reporting of the UK Illegal Migration Bill in television news

  • Role: Research Associate

Project title: Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media

Research Associate on the AHRC-funded research project (2020-2022) investigating the production, output and reception of disinformation reporting led by Professor Stephen Cushion and Dr Maria Kyriakidou at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture.

The aim of the study was to find editorial solutions to countering disinformation in election, routine and pandemic reporting, identifying the ways in which the legitimacy of journalism can be enhanced according to news users. In collaboration with leading public service media (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) and a commercial news organisation (Sky News), the project will be the most in-depth UK comparative study of its kind. As part of my role as  Research Associate I led the design of  systematic content analyses of broadcast and online news output alongside conducting extensive audience research including focus groups and surveys.

  • Role: Research Assistant:

    • Content Analysis of UK 2015 General Election (ESRC-funded)

    • Content Analysis of UK 2017 General Election (ESRC-funded)
  • Doctoral thesis title: 'New Italians' and digital media: an examination of intercultural media platforms 

    The study critically examines a form of alternative media developing in Italy from the early 2000s which experimented with alledgedly more inclusive and pluralist media practices and discourses about citizenship, national identity and belonging. By combining a quantitative mapping of the alternative media landscape with an in-depth multimodal critical discourse analysis of digital media content and a production study, the work critically explores contemporary fast-evolving news media ecologies, increasingly influenced by digital practices, citizen engagement and demands for change towards more equal, inclusive and diverse media spaces.

Teaching

Lecturer / Module Coordinator

  • Media Scholarship (BA: 2023/24, 2022/23)
  • Politics of Global Communication (MA: 2023/24, 2022/23)
  • The Making and Shaping of News (BA: 2023/24)
  • Media and Political Understanding (MA: 2022/23)
  • Reporting Conflict and the Civil Sphere (BA: 2021/22)

Guest Lecturer

  • The Making and Shaping of News (BA)
  • Introduction to Multimodal Analysis (PhD: Research Methods workshop series)
  • Introduction to Political Communication (MA)
  • Practice in Public Service Leadership and Innovation (MSc: Cardiff Business School)

Teaching Assistant

  • Media, Racism and Conflict
  • The Making and Shaping of News
  • Doing Media Research: Theories and Methods
  • Media, Power and Society
  • History of Mass Communication and Culture
  • Advertising and the Consumer Society
  • Understanding Journalism Studies
 

Biography

Ph.D. in Journalism
School of Journalism, Media, and Culture
Cardiff University
Awarded with no corrections

M.A. in Communication Sciences
Theories of Communication | Semiotics
University of Bologna
Graduated with distinction (110 cum laude/110)

M.A. Exchange Programme (Erasmus+)
Institute of Cognitive Semiotics
Aarhus University

B.A. in Philosophy
Ethics and Aesthetics | Moral Philosophy
University of Bologna
Graduated with distinction (110/110)

Supervisions

Subject areas:

  • News media representation of  humanitarian crises (displacement/migration)
  • Media representation of national/cultural identity, ethnic minorities, citizenship rights advocacy
  • News media representation of public health crises (COVID-19)
  • UK Public Service Broadcasting and impartiality regulations
  • Election reporting
  • Dis/mis-information and fact-checking
  • Alternative media

Methods:

  • Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
  • Content Analysis
  • Multimodal Analysis
  • Semiotics
  • Visual Analysis
  • Framing Analysis
  • Thematic Analysis
  • Survey 
  • Interviews
  • Focus Groups
  • Netnography 

Engagement

Engagement and Impact

My research aims to enhance the quality of news discourse across various subjects, including migration/displacement, citizenship/civic rights advocacy, general elections/politics, and public health crises, by focusing on mainstream and alternative media. My contexts of interest include media systems and cultures in the UK, Italy and cross-European comparative studies. As researcher, I have contributed to impact-oriented reports assessing the standards and quality of UK Public Service Broadcasting, producing reviews for the BBC Trust, Ofcom, and UNHCR. Additionally, I served as a Research Associate on an AHRC-funded project (2020-22) addressing misinformation in UK PSB. This work has contributed to outlining recommendations for editorial practices and enhancing broadcast journalism standards, recognised in the REF.

 

News Media

I contributed as a researcher to studies published in The Guardian (2015, ESRC-funded election project) for example:

 

Research Blogs

I published as both author and co-author on platforms such as The Conversation and LSE Blog, for example:

 

Website

As a Research Associate on a AHRC-funded disinformation project (2020-22), I curated the Engagement section of the project's website as well as arranged and took part in a range of research communication and dissemination initiatives:

International Conferences

  • Presented conference papers at several international conferences since 2012, including, in recent years, AEJMC 2021, IMISCOE 2021, NordMedia 2021, ICA 2022, and SanctuarySongs 2023.
  • Contributed to organising conferences, including the Future of Journalism biennial conferences.

Research themes

External profiles