Research team

In the course of the project we were ten researchers from the universities of Södertörn, Wrocław, Tampere, Kaunas and Helsinki. 

• Auksė Balčytienė is Professor of Journalism at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas. Her scholarly interests lie in media and modernization theories, media and democratization, comparative journalism and communication cultures, political communication, and the European public sphere. 

• Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska is Professor of Communication at the University of Wrocław. Her research interests include comparative media systems, journalism studies, political communication, and transformation of politics, media and journalism in Central and Eastern Europe.    

• Elena Johansson is Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies at the University of Gothenburg. She was Researcher at the School of Social Sciences at Södertörn University until 2017. Her research focuses on political communication, professional journalistic cultures, and social media. 

• Karl Magnus Johansson, principal investigator of the project, was formerly Professor and is now Affiliate Professor of Political Science at Södertörn University. An ongoing area of research for him is government communication. His field of work centres on the intersection of political leadership, institutions and communications in central government in Sweden and elsewhere, including the role of media advisers to prime ministers and ministers.

• Milda Malling is Lecturer in Strategic Communication at Lund University. She was employed as a PhD candidate in the research project. Her primary research interest lies on formal and informal, visible and invisible interactions and relationships between journalists and their political sources.

• Tom Moring is Professor Emeritus of Communication and Journalism at the University of Helsinki. His research interests include political communication, the media and election campaigns.

• Risto Niemikari is PhD candidate in Political Science at Tampere University. His doctoral thesis is devoted to the relations between politicians and the media in Finland. His research interests also include political philosophy, rhetoric, and argumentation.

• Jacek Nożewski is now Assistant Professor at Kozminski University, Warsaw. He holds a PhD from the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Wrocław. His scholarly interests include political communication through social media, agenda setting and citizens' news activity. 

• Gunnar Nygren is Professor Emeritus of Journalism at Södertörn University. His primary research interests are local journalism, professional roles of journalists, and changing journalistic practices.

• Tapio Raunio is Professor of Political Science at Tampere University. His research interests include legislatures and political parties, the Europeanization of domestic politics, semi-presidentialism, and the Finnish political system.