Einar Thorsen is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, and Professor of Journalism and Communication.

Einar is Chair of the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA), and was previously the Editor of MeCCSA's Newsletter Three-D. He is a former member of the Executive Board of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network and a founding member of its journal Networking Knowledge. He was also instrumental in setting up the MeCCSA Climate Change, Environment and Sustainability Network.

Chair of the current QAA Subject Benchmark Statement review for Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies.

Prior to taking on the role as Executive Dean, he was Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice, Head of Research for the School of Journalism, English and Communication, and Associate Director of the Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community, at Bournemouth University. Before joining Bournemouth University in 2010, Einar worked at Teesside University (2008-2010), and as a visiting lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bristol (2005-2007).

He can be reached on:
Mastodon
Twitter

Research

Currently co-directing Media Action Against Rape (MAAR) with Dr Chindu Sreedharan, a GCRF funded research and capacity building project by Bournemouth University and UNESCO in New Delhi. This is a 20-month study to map the journalistic challenges of reporting rape and sexual violence across India. See http://www.maar.in or @MAARnews for details.

Einar's research covers online journalism, citizens' voices, and news reporting of crisis and political change - inextricably linked with protecting freedom of speech, human rights, and civil liberties - especially for journalists, vulnerable people, marginalised groups, and in contexts or countries where such liberties are being curtailed. Dr Thorsen has co-edited several books, including: Media, Margins and Civic Agency and Media, Margins and Popular Culture (with Jackson, Savigny and Alexander, 2015), India Election: 2014 First Reflections (with Sreedharan, 2015) and two volumes of Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives (with Stuart Allan, Volume 1: 2009, Volume 2: 2014). He has also published articles on online communication security, whistleblowers in the digital age, public service media online, Wikinews and WikiLeaks.

He has a PhD in Journalism Studies from Bournemouth University, funded by the AHRC. The thesis focused on civic engagement and representation of citizen voices on the BBC News website.

Einar welcomes PhD proposals from prospective students in any of the above areas or generally within the field of journalism studies.

Publications

Grants

Outreach & engagement

This page is a shortened version of a BU academic profile. To view the complete profile, visit our Staff Profiles site.