Nikbanoo Ardalan completed her Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies at the University of Sydney. After finishing high school in her home country, Iran, she decided to study film and media in Australia. She is now pursuing a Master of Arts at the Free University of Berlin. 

 

Anna Jenica Bacud has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of the Philippines Diliman and has recently completed her Master of Media Practice at the University of Sydney. From being a student media producer to a multimedia officer with the Business Co-Design media team at the University of Sydney Business School, she has led the creation and production of Work, Live, Play, Learn: Co-Lab, a podcast series bringing student voices together during times of crisis and uncertainty. She also has extensive experience in content production, having worked in media (TV) and events as a copywriter, promo producer, content strategist and events writer. She aspires to travel the world and share little stories that matter.

 

Olga Boichak is a senior lecturer in Digital Cultures at the University of Sydney, where she leads the Computational Social Science Lab. She is a media sociologist whose research interests span networks, narratives and cultures of activism surrounding military conflicts. Boichak has written for a range of academic and popular media on the topics of participatory cultures and humanitarianism in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Her auto-ethnographic essay, “Hidden bread and hidden histories”, has inspired an award-winning Missing Chapter documentary (Vox, 2022). She is a chief investigator on an ARC-funded project that maps topographies of digital sovereignty, as well as a portfolio of other projects that explore the geopolitical implications of digital media.

 

Rebecca Bowman earned her Master of Media Practice degree from the University of Sydney in 2021 and holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Hull, UK. As the Communications Manager for the Foyer Foundation, Bowman now dedicates her time to expanding the reach and impact of Youth Foyers across Australia, working towards securing thriving, independent futures for children and young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. When she is not shaping impactful communication strategies, Bowman enjoys exploring the world with her husband and three sons. For a continuous stream of words and pictures, visit Bowman’s Instagram profile at @becs_life_in_boxes, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

 

Cindy Cameronne studied a Master of Media Practice from 2019 to 2021 at the University of Sydney and has a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University. She now works at legal news start-up Lawyerly as the Sydney bureau chief, with prior experience as a senior editor at Thomson Reuters.

 

Longtong (Sylvie) Chen is a 2021 graduate from the Master of Media Practice at the University of Sydney. She completed her undergraduate degree in English at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China. She is now working as a journalist in a news agency and enjoys using her skills to contribute to exciting news reports, listening to others, proposing questions and translating them into words on the page. She also likes to travel to different places and enjoy local cultures and customs. 

 

Chris Chesher is senior lecturer in Digital Cultures in the discipline of Media and Communications. He has been working at the University of Sydney since 2004. His research concerns the cultural dimensions of digital technologies such as the historical and conceptual development of computers, the everyday spatiality of video games, and the urban contexts of smart street furniture and mobile robots. He teaches the units ARIN6903: Digital Media and Society and ARIN3610: Technology and Culture.

 

Johanna Ellersdorfer is a writer and paintings conservator. She is currently completing a PhD at the University of Sydney exploring creative writing by contemporary artists and writers, examining experiences of materiality and publishing as a creative and artistic practice. She holds qualifications in art theory, creative writing and cultural materials conservation and has particular interests in technical art history and creative non-fiction. Her academic work has been published in journals including TEXT and the AICCM Bulletin and her creative work has appeared in the Australian Multilingual Writing Project and the University of Sydney Anthology. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Deborah Cass Prize and was the 2022 Ross Steele AM Fellow at the State Library of NSW.

 

Terry Flew is professor of digital communication and culture at the University of Sydney, and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. He is the author of 16 books (six edited), including The creative industries, culture and policy (Sage, 2012), Global creative industries (Polity, 2013), Media economics (Palgrave, 2015), Understanding global media (Palgrave, 2018), Regulating platforms (Polity, 2021) and Handbook of the digital media economy (SAGE, 2022). He was president of the International Communications Association (ICA) from 2019 to 2020 and was an executive board member of the ICA 2017–23. He was elected an ICA Fellow in 2019. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), elected in 2019. He has held visiting professor roles at City University, London, George Washington University, Communications University of China, and University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

 

Chris Gillies is a writer from the New South Wales Mid North Coast with a passion for creative non-fiction, landscape and farming. In 2019, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing at the University of Sydney. Outside of university he is a published journalist writing about farming for publications in Australia, the USA and the UK. Chris is undertaking a Master of Arts (Research) at the University of Sydney’s United States Study Centre specialising in how masculinity shapes the relationship between coach and player. He cannot play sport.

 

Kiran Gupta is a media and law graduate of the University of Sydney. He is a keen journalist, having published for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Mamamia, Popmatters and others. In 2023, he was a finalist for Young Journalist of the Year in the Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards. Throughout his degree, he completed exchange studies in International Journalism and Rural Indian journalism through the London School of Economics and Jindal Global University. He also undertook an internship at the Sydney Morning Herald where he published over 20 articles. He currently manages and writes for his own independent theatre publication.

 

Catharine Lumby is a professor of media at the University of Sydney where she was founding Chair of the Media and Communications department. She was also the founding Director of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at UNSW. Prior to entering academia, she worked for two decades as a print and TV journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC and The Bulletin magazine. She has written and co-authored 10 books, and numerous book chapters and journal articles. Her most recent book is Frank Moorhouse: A Life (2023).

 

Agata Mrva-Montoya is a lecturer and degree director of the Master of Publishing at MECO. Previously she worked for over 15 years in scholarly and educational book publishing, commissioning and project-managing a wide range of non-fiction titles, producing ebooks and implementing accessible publishing practices. Her research focuses on innovation, technology and power in the publishing industry. She has published on the impact of digital technologies and new business models on scholarly communication and the book publishing industry in general. She seeks to align her current research projects with her interest and experience with accessibility, design thinking and digital technologies, in the belief that publishing can play an important role in creating a better society.

 

Cheryl O’Byrne completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2023. Her research explores the relationships between aesthetics, ethics and politics in filial life narratives about mothers. Her work has been published in Australian Literary Studies, a/b: Auto/biography Studies and Life Writing. She is working on a monograph under contract with Routledge. 

 

Penny O’Donnell is senior lecturer in international media and journalism at the University of Sydney. Her current teaching roles include coordination of two postgraduate units of study: MECO6926: International Media Practice (core unit) and MECO6928: Media and Communication Internship (capstone unit). Her current research explores two important issues in international media and journalism: first, addressing journalism’s vulnerabilities in the era of generative artificial intelligence, by exploring the news/information skills and capabilities that smart machines may have trouble replicating. Second, addressing the rise of non-democratic rivals to Western transnational media networks, by critically analysing contraflows designed to counter the prevailing narratives of international news coverage. In 2023, O’Donnell was appointed to the role of vice-president (research) for the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA). Most recently, in partnership with Ayesha Jehangir, she co-convened the ECR/HDR Day for the JERAA 2023 Conference hosted by UTS.

 

Tim Piccione graduated from the University of Sydney in 2020, completing a Master of Media Practice in the Media and Communications department. He also previously completed a Bachelor of Political, Economic and Social Sciences at the university in 2016. During his postgraduate studies, Tim was awarded the Anne Dunn Memorial Prize for Outstanding Performance in both Podcasting and Media Writing, and contributed to The Junction journalism project. He remained involved with MECO after graduating, tutoring first year undergraduate Media Studies students under Margaret Van Heekeren. He now lives in the ACT, working as a court reporter for The Canberra Times. He previously wrote for The Daily Advertiser in Wagga as a local reporter and for national publications Urban List and Broadsheet.

 

Alexandra Spence is a sound-artist and musician living on unceded Wangal Land in Sydney. Through her practice Spence reimagines the intricate relationships between the listener, the object, and the surrounding environment as a kind of communion or conversation. Her aesthetic favours field recordings, analogue technologies and object interventions. Spence has presented her work globally including BBC Radio; Café Oto, London; Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Radiophrenia Festival, Glasgow; Sound Forms Festival, Hong Kong; Vancouver Art Gallery; & Liveworks Festival, Liquid Architecture, Carriageworks; Phoenix Central Park; &Volume Festival, AGNSW, Sydney. She’s received grants from the Australia Council, CreateNSW, APRA AMCOS, and has released her music with Room40, Longform Editions, and Mappa. Spence completed a Master of Fine Arts in sound installation at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, and works as a technical officer for the Digital Media Unit and a casual academic at the University of Sydney. Find her at alexandraspence.net.

 

Marco Stojanovik completed a Graduate Certificate in Media Practice at the University of Sydney in 2020, focusing on journalism and media theory units, having previously graduated with a Bachelor of International and Global Studies. During his studies, he took part in a communications internship at the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific and volunteered at other advocacy organisations concerning media freedom and digital rights, among other issues. His feature articles have been published in The Junction, Salience and Megaphone OZ, and his opinion pieces, essays and news reviews on the websites of the Organization for World Peace, Seven Pillars Institute for Global Finance and Ethics, and the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance. He also writes history and tourism-based web content and teaches English as a second language. In his spare time, he likes to visit and write about Sydney’s beaches for his blog Every Sydney Beach.

 

Weien Su has a Master of Media Practice (2021) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Media in Public Relations and Advertising (2020) from the University of New South Wales. During her studies, she participated in a range of university activities including a postgraduate student leader program and virtual student peer program, and led the Chinese Student Association in the department. Outside university, she worked for two years in a local advertising agency as a part-time account executive and content writer. In 2021, she moved back to China to pursue her passion in advertising.

 

Pam Walker joined MECO in 2008 as a casual lecturer. She has taught and coordinated MECO6900: News Writing, MECO6901: Dealing with the Media and MECO1001: Introduction to Media Studies. Walker is currently editorial director and editor-in-chief of Salience, which publishes outstanding student work, and the University of Sydney campus editor for The Junction, a website that showcases student journalism from 27 universities across Australia and the Pacific region. She has also taught news and feature writing, media law, and investigative journalism at UTS, Western Sydney University and UNSW. Walker has worked as a journalist and editor for more than 25 years and was press secretary for Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore.

 

Jenny Welsh currently works as a freelance editor and proofreader. After being employed for many years in the IT industry, she decided to embark on a career change and study a Master of Publishing at the University of Sydney. She has been studying and working part time for the past three years. She graduated with an honours degree in languages from the University of the West of England in the UK and spent several years living and working in the Netherlands before eventually emigrating to Australia. When she is not working, Welsh loves to spend time with her family on the coast, and to push herself to master new and more challenging yoga poses.

 

Olaf Werder holds a senior lectureship in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. After a professional career in the communication industry, working for broadcast media sales and advertising agencies, he held academic appointments at the University of Florida and the University of New Mexico in the United States prior to joining the University of Sydney in 2011. As the program director for health communication, he is responsible for all core units in the degree program each year, which are typically offered in multiple in-person seminars. In general, his research focuses on investigating how people communicate and understand health to identify community-collaborative pathways for system changes and improved health outcomes. Working with colleagues in Australia and abroad, he explores issues of health equity, health humanities and social practice approaches and how they relate to communication practice.

 

Victoria Wills is a Master of Publishing graduate and currently works at NewSouth Books. She lived in London for four years, working in the arts, before returning to her hometown of Sydney in 2020. Before that, she completed a Bachelor of International and Global Studies in 2016, also at the University of Sydney. Her postgraduate studies have been greatly affected by COVID-19, and the contrast between her experiences studying on campus and studying online greatly inspired her work on the pandemic chapter in this volume, cowritten with Rebecca Bowman. In her spare time, she writes short stories and other things, reads widely, bushwalks, sews and swims. 

 

Yonglin (Tina) Zhu has a Bachelor of Insurance and Accounting (2020) from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and is now taking postgraduate courses in Media Practice at the University of Sydney. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in a wide range of campus activities. She once served as reporter for the school newspaper and director of the Qidian Drama Troupe, and successfully directed four drama plays. After graduation, she worked as an intern at People’s Daily, Dentsu, Shopee and several other companies, engaging in advertising and public relations. She loves food, travel, photography and novels. She now lives with her parents in her hometown in China.