About the researchers
Research Associates
Amelia Johns is a Senior Lecturer in Digital and Social Media at the University of Technology Sydney. Her work spans the fields of youth digital citizenship, media activism and mis/disinformation on closed messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram) and across networked social media. She is the author of two books, has published in leading media and communications journals and provided commentary on contemporary trends in digital media and mis/disinformation to SBS, ABC radio and The Conversation. Her next book examines WhatsApp’s transformation from a one-to-one messaging app to a global communication platform.
Francesco Bailo is Lecturer in Digital and Social Media at the University of Technology Sydney. He researches forms of political engagement on social media, the emergence and dynamics of online communities, the relationship between news organisations and social media, and the interdependence between social media activists and news organisations. He is the author of a monograph on the online communities of Italy’s Five Star Movement and his research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, ABC and the Age.
Marian-Andrei Rizoiu is a Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Data Science with the Data Science Institute at UTS, where he leads the Behavioural Data Science group. He has extensive expertise in mathematically modelling online human behaviour and information spread, estimating user influence and assessing source trustworthiness. Marian-Andrei is leading the Department of Home Affairs’ initiative for countering online misinformation for social resilience. Marian-Andrei's research has received significant media attention—including from Bloomberg Business Week, Nature Index, BBC, and World Economic Forum.
Heather Ford is a writer and researcher interested in the social implications of technology and how to design technology to enable mutual understanding. She is Associate Professor at the School of Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) where she is Head of Discipline for Digital and Social Media. Her first book, Writing the revolution: Wikipedia and the travel of facts in the digital age (2022) answers questions about the ways in which knowledge about historical events is produced and circulated on the internet.
Simon Knight researches how people learn to ethically navigate uncertainty, disagreement, and evidence. He has primarily used the area of learning analytics to explore the use of data in education, and epistemic cognition as a lens onto design for learning to navigate conflicting information. Simon is an ARC DECRA 2023 Fellow, with a project in this area, and has conducted research with funder-partners including schools and edtech, and the ATN. Simon's 2017 piece in The Psychologist ‘A Lens onto Fake News’ discusses the importance of supporting students in searching for and critiquing information.
CMT researchers
Derek Wilding is co-director of the Centre for Media Transition and was previously Director of the Communications Law Centre at UNSW. He came to UTS after a decade working in government and industry regulatory roles. He was Executive Director of the Australian Press Council, implementing major structural changes to embrace online and other digital publishers. At the Australian Communications and Media Authority he managed the media ownership rules, broadcasting investigations and digital transition projects.
Monica Attard is co-director of the Centre for Media Transition and the former head of Journalism at UTS. She is currently researching the role of local and regional media in making more regional news and information available to metro audiences as well as its role in assisting metro media with fact checking and countering misinformation. Monica has a background in journalism, as a foreign correspondent and senior ABC journalist and radio and TV host.
Ayesha Jehangir is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre. Her PhD (2021) is in war and peace journalism from University of Wollongong. Her current research focuses on peace and conflict reporting, ethics and justice, and digital media cultures. She has worked as a journalist in Afghanistan, Australia, Germany, and Pakistan for several media organisations, including The Express Tribune (partners with the International New York Times), Deutsche Welle and SBS News Radio.
Michael Davis is research fellow at CMT. With a background in epistemology, Michael’s research focuses on developing a robust, empirically informed framework for understanding the nature of information disorder and developing effective policy and industry interventions. He has presented his research on information disorder at peak academic conferences in Australia and overseas, and has extensive experience at the regulatory coalface, conducting analysis and research with the Disinformation Taskforce at the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
