Publications

Peer-reviewed papers
Book chapters
Industry reports

Peer-reviewed Papers

2026

• Hermida, A., & Bruns, A. (2026). Twenty Years Later: Twitter, Transformation, and Platform Legacies. M/C Journal, 29(2).
  Abstract: Published on the 20th anniversary of the platform’s inception, this editorial introduction contextualizes the structural history, academic significance, and ultimate transformation of Twitter into X. The authors evaluate Twitter’s multi-decade legacy not merely as a corporate entity or standalone software product, but as a critical piece of global public communication infrastructure whose historic rise and recent, drastic decline offer profound insights into platform economics and systemic failure.

• Hermida, A. (2026). Ambient Journalism after Twitter: Algorithmic Curation and the Emergence of Synthetic Ambience. M/C Journal, 29(2).
  Abstract: This article revisits and redefines the foundational concept of “ambient journalism”—originally conceptualized around Twitter’s decentralized, asynchronous, and citizen-inclusive news feed. The author argues that the collapse of Twitter’s public-interest infrastructure and its mutation into X have signaled a profound shift away from social media as a collective intelligence awareness system. In its place, an era of “algorithmic ambience” has emerged, wherein platforms privilege affective resonance and passive user watch time over editorial continuity.

2025

• Blanchett, N., Ono, S., Lecourt, S., & Hillis, C. (2025). The Conversation Canada and journalistic boundaries: A case study in the challenges of defining journalism. Canadian Journal of Communication, 50.
  Abstract: Using The Conversation Canada as an empirical case study, this article investigates the structural and conceptual challenges of defining the boundaries of modern journalism. While the platform blends “academic rigour” with “journalistic flair” and has its content frequently republished by major news outlets, it failed to meet the Canadian government’s legal definition of a Qualified Canadian Journalistic Organization (QCJO) on the grounds that its content is not directly “written or reported by a journalist.”

• Chen, S., Blanchett, N., & Lecourt, S. (2025). The dark side of public visibility: How academic authors perceive and cope with anti-press hostility. Facts and Frictions, 4.
  Abstract: This study explores the professional risks and emotional toll faced by academic researchers who step outside the ivory tower to engage in public scholarship through collaborative media platforms like The Conversation. Utilizing qualitative interviews, the authors analyze how scholars experience growing “anti-press hostility,” online harassment, and ideological backlash when their data-driven research is thrust into polarized public spaces.

• Hermida, A., & Simon, F. M. (2025). AI in the Newsroom: Lessons from the Adoption of The Globe and Mail’s Sophi. Journalism Practice, 19(10), 2323–2340.
  Abstract: This case study examines the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and traditional journalistic values through an analysis of Sophi, an algorithmic recommendation engine developed by Canada’s The Globe and Mail. By tracking Sophi’s deployment across multiple international news publishers, the research investigates the professional conditions and institutional environments that dictate how AI systems are integrated into news production.

• Misri, A., Blanchett, N., & Lindgren, A. (2025). “There’s a Rule Book in my Head”: Journalism Ethics Meet A.I. in the Newsroom. Digital Journalism, 1–19.
  Abstract: The burgeoning use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create journalistic products is challenging the ethical standards in Canadian newsrooms and calling into question the efficacy of existing norms and practices worldwide. Utilizing Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory and drawing on qualitative interviews with newsworkers, this article examines how Canadian newsrooms are implementing AI and whether formal ethical frameworks are adequately evolving alongside technological adoption.

2024

• Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2024). Why Infrastructure Studies for Journalism? Digital Journalism, 12(10), 1535-1543.
  Abstract: This article makes a case for the value of infrastructure studies in analyzing journalism’s evolving landscape. It argues that “infrastructural thinking” is highly valuable for understanding the changing neighborhood of journalism, encompassing not just newsrooms but also the broader sociotechnical systems, resources, values, and practices shaping contemporary news production, distribution, and consumption.

• Hermida, A. (2024). Prólogo. En Periodismo e Inteligencia Artificial. Espejo de Monografías de Comunicación Social.
  Abstract: This introductory prologue sets the stage for a critical monographic collection exploring the multi-faceted implications, structural shifts, and professional ethics emerging from the integration of Artificial Intelligence within modern journalistic practices and newsroom environments.

• Parratt-Fernández, S., & Hermida, A. (2024). Inteligencia artificial para la relación con las audiencias: El sistema de recomendación Sophi. En Periodismo e Inteligencia Artificial. Espejo de Monografías de Comunicación Social, (25).
  Abstract: This case study analyzes how automated, AI-driven recommendation systems function as crucial instruments for managing audience engagement. Specifically, it evaluates the deployment and structural impact of the Sophi recommendation engine as a mechanism for optimizing content distribution, tailoring user experience, and reshaping the traditional editorial relationship with news consumers.

• Duncan, S., Dwyer, L., Smith, H., Vallesi, D., Zeller, F., & Davis, C. (2024). Towards a Computational Mixed Methods Framework to Measure Online Deliberative Discourse. Communication and the Public, 9.
  Abstract: This paper addresses the scaling limitations of traditional manual content analysis in measuring the quality of public deliberation in massive digital spaces. The authors propose an automated, computational mixed-methods approach to analyze and assess the structural and text-based dimensions of online deliberative discourse on platforms like Twitter (X) and Reddit.

• Bartleman, M., Dubois, E., & Macdonald, I. (2024). A framework for examining hybridity: The case of academic explanatory journalism. Convergence.
  Abstract: This paper develops an analytical framework to interpret architectural and professional hybridity within contemporary news media. By investigating academic explanatory journalism, the authors chart how scholarly knowledge systems and traditional news values merge, offering a clear methodological lens for analyzing hybrid publishing models.

• Tworek, H. J. S. (2024). Digitized newspapers and the hidden transformation of history. The American Historical Review, 129(1), 143-147.
  Abstract: Focusing on the intersections of media history and digital methodology, this article treats mass-digitized newspaper archives as active historical interventions. It details how commercial digitization frameworks, algorithm selection, and optical character recognition (OCR) engineering quietly shape the preservation, visibility, and modern interpretation of historical media.

• Lewis, S. C., Hermida, A., & Lorenzo, S. (2024). Jobs-to-be-done and journalism innovation: Making news more responsive to community needs. Media and Communication, 12, Article 7578.
  Abstract: Developing successful innovations in journalism remains an elusive problem. This article argues for a fresh approach built around the “jobs-to-be-done” (JTBD) hypothesis, suggesting a bottom-up model to appreciate what community members actually need from local news outlets. It reorients news organizations to prioritize underserved localized expectations, balancing editorial value with long-term financial sustainability.

• Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2024). Google’s influence on global business models in journalism: An analysis of its Innovation Challenge. Media and Communication, 12.
  Abstract: This study critiques platform dependencies by investigating how Google’s funding initiatives shape emerging revenue strategies within global journalism. By tracking corporate funding patterns, the research uncovers how tech giants implicitly govern the infrastructural pathways, data logic, and commercial boundaries of digital newsroom innovations.

2023

• Dwyer, L., Crawford, C., & Zeller, F. (2023). Media framing of dominant ideologies in explanatory journalism concerning artificial intelligence and robotics. Canadian Journal of Communication, 48(4), 715-742.
  Abstract: This case study evaluates how multinational explanatory journalism outlets construct socio-technological narratives around AI and robotics. Analyzing media frames before and during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper demonstrates how tech-reporting can implicitly reinforce hegemonic corporate or institutional ideals, directly influencing public perception and regulatory expectations.

• Allen, G., & Lucky, N. (2023). (New) media and the circulation of knowledge: A historical framework for The Conversation Canada. Information & Culture, 58(3), 221-246. https://doi.org/10.7560/IC58301
  Abstract: This article contextualizes modern knowledge curation platforms within a broader historical continuum of print media evolution. Using The Conversation Canada as a baseline, the authors outline how public scholarship models navigate traditional gatekeeping, public literacy efforts, and historical shifts in how specialized intellectual knowledge circulates across public spheres.

2022

• Fleerackers, A., Riedlinger, M., Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. (2022). Academic explanatory journalism and emerging COVID-19 science: How social media accounts amplify The Conversation’s preprint coverage. Media International Australia, 192(1), 130-149.
  Abstract: Investigating the rapid dissemination of un-peer-reviewed science during a public health emergency, this study analyzes how social media accounts propagate “second-order citations.” By tracking links to The Conversation’s coverage of early COVID-19 preprints, the paper highlights the benefits and systemic risks of relying on decentralized networks to translate preliminary scientific findings.

2021

• Chen, S. (2021). Assessing the use of explanatory journalistic texts for crisis communication education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication Teacher, 36(3), 1–19.
  Abstract: This article outlines an innovative pedagogical approach that utilizes contemporary explanatory journalism texts to teach public crisis communication and health literacy to undergraduate students during an active public health emergency. The author evaluates how unpacking the narrative structure, complex translations of medical data, and structural values of data-heavy explanatory reporting helps students bridge the gap between abstract academic theories and real-world application

2020

• Burgess, J., & Bruns, A. (2020). Digital methods in Africa and beyond: A view from down under. African Journalism Studies, 41(4), 16–21.
  Abstract: This article offers a reflective commentary on the global transferability and contextual adaptation of digital research methods. Drawing on their experiences at the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) in Australia, the authors discuss the challenges and opportunities of applying computational toolkits—originally developed within Western and Global North infrastructures—to the diverse media ecosystems and unique platform dynamics of Africa and other Global South regions.

• Hermida, A. (2020). Post-publication gatekeeping: The interplay of publics, platforms, paraphernalia, and practices in the circulation of news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(2), 469–491.
  Abstract: This article addresses a critical gap in traditional gatekeeping theory by developing a comprehensive conceptual framework for “post-publication gatekeeping.” While historical communication models focus almost exclusively on how editors choose what enters the news stream, the author argues that the contemporary life cycle of a story is primarily determined after publication.

2019

• Burgess, J., & Hurcombe, E. (2019). Digital journalism as symptom, response, and agent of change in the platformed media environment. Digital Journalism, 7(3), 359–367.
  Abstract: Serving as the introduction to a special issue, this article outlines an analytical framework for conceptualizing digital journalism’s evolving, interdependent relationship with global tech platforms. The authors argue that contemporary newsroom transformations should be understood simultaneously as a symptom of platform capitalization, an adaptive response to changing audience distribution habits, and an active agent of socio-technological change.

• Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2019). From peripheral to integral? A digital-born journalism not for profit in a time of crises. Media and Communication, 7(4), 92–102.
  Abstract: This article examines the evolving role of non-traditional media organizations in contemporary news ecosystems through a case study of The Conversation Canada. Introducing the concept of a “complex peripheral actor,” the authors analyze how this non-profit, digital-born entity operates fluidly across individual, organizational, and network boundaries to blend academic knowledge with professional journalistic practices. 

Book chapters

• Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2025). Shifting the narrative: Digital journalism startups as catalysts of social change. En Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Digital Media and Democracy (pp. 258–268). Routledge.
  Abstract: This book chapter investigates the democratic potential of digital-born journalism startups that explicitly position themselves as alternatives to legacy media architectures. The authors analyze how small-scale, independent news ventures leverage decentralized web environments to introduce marginalized perspectives, dismantle historical structural exclusions, and reconstruct civic discourse around social change.

• Davis, C. H. (2025). Transmedia storytelling and innovation. In R. Gershon (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Media Technology and Innovation (pp. 289–306). Walter de Gruyter.
  Abstract: This book chapter provides an analytical overview of transmedia storytelling, examining its distinct features, operational dynamics, opportunities, and structural challenges as an intriguing mode of modern media innovation. The author highlights how technological, social, economic, aesthetic, and cultural factors co-evolve in a digital era where audiences are no longer confined to a single medium or platform.

• Rochester, B., Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2024). Canada: A challenged media ecosystem. En A. K. Schapals & C. Pentzold (Eds.), Media Compass: A Companion to International Media Landscapes (pp. 219–229). John Wiley & Sons.
  Abstract: This book chapter examines the contemporary structural realities, systematic pressures, and evolving infrastructure of the Canadian media landscape. Operating within a liberal, commercial media system, the authors evaluate how severe market disruptions and shifting advertising models have introduced localized patterns of market failure across both Anglophone and Francophone sectors.

• Hermida, A., Varano, L., & Young, M. L. (2022). The university as a “giant newsroom”: Not-for-profit explanatory journalism during COVID-19. En P. Ferrucci & S. A. Eldridge II (Eds.), The Institutions Changing Journalism: Barbarians Inside the Gate (pp. 95–108). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003140399-6
  Abstract: This book chapter explores the expanding role of higher education sectors and academic experts within contemporary journalism networks through a dedicated case study of The Conversation Canada during the COVID-19 crisis. The authors trace how the pandemic sparked a substantial surge in audience demand for high-trust explanatory reporting, data transparency, and objective health guidance.

• Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2021). Journalism innovation in a time of survival. En M. Luengo & S. Herrera-Damas (Eds.), News Media Innovation Reconsidered: Ethics and Values in a Creative Reconstruction of Journalism (pp. 40–53). Wiley-Blackwell.
  Abstract: This book chapter critiques the pervasive industry tendency to define journalism innovation through narrow, short-term economic or technological lenses. Drawing on empirical research within the Canadian media landscape—an ecosystem showing acute signs of structural market failure—the authors argue that newsrooms frequently engage in reactionary, defensive “pivots” driven purely by a corporate fear of missing out and platform dependencies.

Industry Reports

•  Young, M. L., Hermida, A., & Castaneda, C. (Eds.). (2024). Novel directions in media innovation and funding. Global Journalism Innovation Lab, University of British Columbia.
  Abstract: This comprehensive report examines the systemic necessity for a human-centered journalism industry by exploring emerging paradigms in ownership, equity, diversity, and alternative media funding. It details policy and organizational frameworks aimed at countering monopolies and supporting a sustainable, civic-minded media ecosystem vital for democratic health.

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