Media and Communication

People love stories. But what happens if the story is a conspiracy theory? Then you need to be able to know the difference between a story and reality. To do this, you need narrative literacy. And assistant professor Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar believes you cannot start learning this too soon. Ideally, it should start in primary education.

Local journalism is alive, still plays an important role in our lives and definitely has a future. In fact, local journalism can play a more crucial role than ever in creating our sense of community. But for that to happen, journalists will have to work differently than they do now. Professor by special appointment Yael de Haan, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts, gives five “ingredients” for modern, future-proof local journalism.

Barbara Postema’s room is filled with books. Although many may expect seeing books by Shakespeare or Chaucer on the shelves of an English teacher at the Faculty of Arts, they are actually stacked with comics, strip cartoons, and graphic novels such as Fun Home, Persepolis, and Watchmen. Classics too, but within the world of comics. Postema is a scholar in comics studies and she would be delighted to see both society and academia finally appreciate these books. Because comics are about more than just Gauls, Smurfs, and superheroes — and they are certainly not just for boys either.

Children between the ages of 8 and 12 are best able to develop their digital literacy through play, which includes both offline and online interactions. Although some children’s digital media activities, such as watching online videos or gaming, may at first appear as simple entertainment or be perceived as superficial by adults, these seemingly playful pursuits serve an important purpose.

Humour and satire, can help keep environmental communication positive and encourage eco awareness, argues UG researcher Massih Zekavat.

Chilean journalist María Pilar Uribe Silva has dedicated half her life to making the clothing industry more sustainable. This summer, she started a PhD project at the RUG. ‘I think it is possible, a more just and sustainable clothing sector. What we need is a different narrative.’

How do you archive the internet? What are you going to keep and what are you not going to keep? And who decides this? These are questions that Susan Aasman thinks about on a daily basis. The media historian and Professor of Digital Humanities at the UG is a strong advocate of preserving the digital cultural heritage. ‘Eighty percent of the history of the internet is already gone.’

The aios operates, the surgeon has the role of supervisor. Three cameras record what happens, aiming to unravel the mechanisms of 'workplace learning'.

The pros and cons of menstrual tracking apps. Lisa Stuifzand Master's thesis.

Marcel Broersma, Professor of Media and Journalistic Culture, and Joëlle Swart, assistant professor of Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, are conducting research on the topic of digital literacy and inclusion. Their aim: to make our digital society more accessible to those who are digitally challenged.

The far-reaching digitization of society means these are turbulent times for journalism. News is freely available online, resulting in decreasing newspaper sales, social media taking up all of our time, and algorithms dishing up news items that are right up our – prejudiced – alley. It is high time for journalism to radically change its course! Right? Well, journalism doesn’t change that quickly, says Frank Harbers, assistant professor of Media and Journalistic Culture at the Faculty of Arts. And actually, Dutch journalism is not in that bad a state at all.

In what ways do streaming platforms and social media platforms influence the creativity, identity, and working conditions of musicians, and how does the 'platformization' of our society specifically impact the music industry and our culture in general? Media scholar Robert Prey is researching this topic.

What are the consequences of the digitization of medieval manuscripts? This was the research topic of PhD student Suzette van Haaren. She will gain her PhD degree from the University of Groningen on 9 May.