Professor Mel Bunce

Overview

Professor Mel Bunce is the Head of the Journalism Department at City, University of London. She is a researcher and media commentator focusing on changing journalism practice, media freedom, and the reporting of Africa and humanitarian crises.

Mel is the Principal Investigator of a major project, 'Promoting media freedom in a time of crisis' funded by a GCRF/AHRC Urgency Grant, with an international research team based in the UK, Sudan and the Philippines ( www.pressfreedom.co.uk ). She is also researching humanitarian journalism, focusing on the funding, production and impact of media reports about humanitarian crises.

Her previous work examined the work of foreign correspondents in Africa and the way that culture, power, technology and economics shape news narratives about the African continent. This included extensive fieldwork in Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal. In 2016 she co- edited 'Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century' (Routledge) on the media representation of Africa.

Mel's research has also explored how digital media and new technology are transforming journalistic practice. This has included studies of how collaborative platforms like Slack change journalistic work; how the introduction of website analytics can alter news outputs and power dynamics within newsrooms; and how foreign correspondents relate to their audiences through social media.

Finally, Mel has retained a strong interest in the media system and politics of New Zealand (her home country) and is the author of the best selling book, 'The Broken Estate: Journalism and Democracy in a Post-Truth World' (BWB, 2019) which was widely reported in the New Zealand media, including features in TVNZ, RNZ, Stuff, NZ Herald, Newsroom, Newshub and Spinoff.

Before coming to City, Mel taught at Birkbeck, University of London and at the University of Otago. She also worked as a columnist / media commentator in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand. She continues to do media commentary for a range of international and national outlets.

Qualifications

• DPhil in Politics (No corrections), University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 2013
• MPhil in Development Studies, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• BA (Hons) in Political Science & English (first class), University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Association

Fellowships

• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Association

Awards

• AHRC/GCRF Urgency Grant (2020) "Promoting Media Freedom in a time of Crisis" (Principal Investigator)
• International Communications Association (2020) Wolfgang Donsbach Outstanding Article of the Year Award
  For the best research article on journalism published in any journal in the year 2019.
• International Communications Association (2019) Top faculty paper, Journalism Studies Division
• University of East Anglia (2019) Best ‘Research Impact in Policy and Practice’ award
• The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) (2018) African Journalism Studies Best Paper Award, International Communication Division
• International Communication Association (2016) Best paper or panel on Africa, Global Communication Division

Research Grants

2020 GCRF/AHRC Urgency Grant - “Promoting media freedom in a time of crisis” (Principal Investigator)

2018 British Academy, Visiting Research Fellowship

2016 AHRC, “What is Humanitarian News?” (Co-Investigator)

2015 Independent Social Research Foundation, Small group grant (Co-Investigator)

2014 British Academy, “Changing International News Coverage of Africa” (Principal Investigator)

Publications by category