@sabinamihelj.bsky.social
Professor of Media & Cultural Analysis @ Loughborough University, UK - media & the politics of culture - nationalism - illiberalism - Cold War culture
Estuary with sandbanks and mountains in the mist
Sun through dark cloud reflected over wet beach
Aquamarine sea over jetty with mountains and high clouds in a blue sky
Pale sunrise reflected in sea with dark grey clouds
Scenes from a wild, wet, windy, wonderful Welsh weekend with @sabinamihelj.bsky.social
14.09.2025 21:00 β π 72 π 5 π¬ 2 π 0
For more on the Illiberal public sphere and its development over time, check our book share.google/A73Vc2t9wflD...
23.07.2025 07:59 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0We also point out that under certain conditions β namely, wherever the majority of the mainstream media market has been captured by illiberal political actors or their business allies β social media might act as channels of resistance against the forces of illiberalism.
23.07.2025 07:59 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0If we consider how the political information environment changes as illiberalism gains strength, we see that it is often the traditional media and domestic actors β not social media and hostile foreign powers β that take the central role in spreadiing false information of illiberal ideas.
23.07.2025 07:59 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0As democracy crumbles and authoritarianism gains ground around the world, digital media are increasingly being blamed for driving these developments. However, as I and @vstetka.bsky.social argue in a recent piece for Le Monde, the role of digital media in these developments is often exaggerated.
23.07.2025 07:59 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0Congratulations to @sabinamihelj.bsky.social and @vstetka.bsky.social for winning this prestigious award!
18.06.2025 09:57 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0π¨New article written by Vera Tolz, @stevhutch.bsky.social, @vitalykaz.bsky.social, and Sofia Tipaldou, published in @icahdq.bsky.social - "Disinformation as Process: Modelling the Lifecycle of Disinformation". @uomsalc.bsky.social @sabinamihelj.bsky.social @neilsadler.bsky.social
02.06.2025 17:32 β π 5 π 4 π¬ 1 π 1
π Excited to share the APSA Technology & Politics Section Award winners! π
π Best Book
The Illiberal Public Sphere: Media in Polarized Societies
by @sabinamihelj.bsky.social & @vstetka.bsky.social. You can access it, it is in open access!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
π§΅
Truly honoured by this award for our book with @sabinamihelj.bsky.socialπ Many thanks to APSA @apsaitp.bsky.social, as well as to almost 20k people who have accessed the book online so far! #illiberalism
05.06.2025 08:49 β π 7 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
If you missed yesterday's presentation by @vstetka.bsky.social and @sabinamihelj.bsky.social on their new book, The Illiberal Public Sphere, the full recording is now available on our YouTube!
youtu.be/ySHWGIbuB9U
It was a real pleasure to talk about our book with @sabinamihelj.bsky.social to such an engaged audience. Many thanks to Marlene Laruelle and @jchrobie.bsky.social for having us!
04.04.2025 09:42 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Strategic narratives between global influence and local
appropriation: Chinaβs COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy in
Serbia
New study by Ana StojiljkoviΔ & @sabinamihelj.bsky.social here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
We're looking forward to this online event next week!
The Illiberal Public Sphere: Media in Polarized Societies with @vstetka.bsky.social & @sabinamihelj.bsky.social
ποΈ April 2, 2025
π 12:00-13:00 EDT
πOnline (Zoom)
Register here to join: tinyurl.com/5n6f82rd
An amazing @mgsesrcdtp.bsky.social Collaborative PhD @lborouniversity.bsky.social: "Digital Gaming/Gambling Harms and Students: Financial Literacy and the Transition to Adulthood". Sadly due to funding, now only available to Home fee status applicants. Deadline 23/04 @ 11am: tinyurl.com/mr4582zh
18.03.2025 17:36 β π 6 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0
Join us for an online presentation of a new book by @vstetka.bsky.social and @sabinamihelj.bsky.social: The Illiberal Public Sphere Media in Polarized Societies!
Hear about increasing #illiberalism, #polarization, and declining trust in mass media in CEE
Register here: tinyurl.com/5n6f82rd
Yellow orange and pink streaks of cloud in blue skies across low hills and a stone wall plus bare trees
Yellow orange and pink streaks of cloud in blue skies across low hills and bare trees
Yellow orange red and pink streaks of cloud in blue skies across bare trees
Deep red clouds in a pale blue sky with bare trees in the foreground
We thought the skies were too hazy for a good #sunset but the colours were wonderful just after the sun disappeared - @sabinamihelj.bsky.social and I watched with a cuppa at Beacon Hill #Loughborough
09.03.2025 19:01 β π 120 π 9 π¬ 2 π 0Congratulations π
06.03.2025 21:51 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0π Delighted to learn I have been awarded funding for comparative, mixed-methods research on Russian #disinformation in Poland, Romania & Serbia, with Fanni Toth @durhamuniversity.bsky.social as Co-I, & in collaboration with @m-deceit.bsky.social @sabinamihelj.bsky.social @stevehutchings.bsky.social
06.03.2025 16:55 β π 9 π 1 π¬ 2 π 0Deadline approaching soon for this unique PhD studentship, supervised by @sabinamihelj.bsky.social and myself, in collaboration with @bbcmediaaction.bsky.social - if you are interested in researching disinformation in the #Baltics, #Afghanistan or #Libya, do apply by 24 February!
21.02.2025 10:30 β π 2 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Orange sunset in pale skies with grey streaks of cloud and bare trees in silhouette
Orange sunset in pale skies with grey streaks of cloud and the Beacon in the foreground
Orange sunset in pale skies with grey streaks of cloud and bare trees in silhouette
Orange sunset in pale skies with grey streaks of cloud and rocks and bare trees in silhouette
Back in #Leicestershire for a chilly but beautiful hazy #sunset at the Beacon with @sabinamihelj.bsky.social βοΈ
17.02.2025 19:44 β π 34 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
"Wonderfully structured and accessible, it appeals not only to
scholars but also to the broader democratic public grappling with the question: 'What on earth is happening to democracy?'β
Delighted to read such a nice review of our book! @sabinamihelj.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Thank you, Ben!
03.02.2025 21:02 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Three stages of a liberal public sphere being replaced by an #illiberal one. Very useful framework from @vstetka.bsky.social & @sabinamihelj.bsky.social - all we see happening in the US fits. Q = how to win the struggle against it? Needs creativity and will: www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstr...
03.02.2025 11:32 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 2 π 0Still 3 week to apply for this unique PhD studentship at our Communication & Media Department @lborocrcc.bsky.social, in collaboration with #BBC @bbcmediaaction.bsky.social - if you are interested in researching disinformation in the #Baltics, #Afghanistan or #Libya, we would love to hear from you!
03.02.2025 14:45 β π 2 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0Great opportunity for PhD candidates interesting in studying Russian disinformation in the Baltics, Afghanistan or Libya.
23.01.2025 08:41 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Excited to advertise a new (post-)doctoral position in my team at Uni Passau in a new @bidt.bsky.social-funded project on "Authoritarian AI: How LLMs Align with Russia's Propaganda". Looking forward to all types of applications! shorturl.at/vc43x
06.12.2024 11:03 β π 13 π 7 π¬ 1 π 2
Out now in Nature Human Behaviour: Our 68-country #survey on public attitudes to #science π£
It shows: People still #trust scientists and support an active role of scientists in society and policy-making. #OpenAccess available here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natureportfolio.bsky.social
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Delighted to hear that our panel proposal with @sabinamihelj.bsky.social on "Communicating illiberalism: new approaches to the role of media in the erosion of liberal democracy" was accepted for the @icajsd.bsky.social conference in Denver! π @newsprof1.bsky.social @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social
16.01.2025 15:19 β π 7 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0β° Deadline for applications: 24 February 2025
π₯ Start date: 01 October 2025
Further details about the project, criteria, and the application process: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLN069/p...
