Edward Hurcombe
@eddyhurc.bsky.social
Academic @ RMIT. Researches: digi journalism, digi cultures, platforms, mis/disinfo. (he/him)
Watching the footage emerging of the police brutality from Sydney last night is truly sickening. People have a right to peacefully protest. And shame on the media for framing this as 'protesters clashed with police' when from the footage it was clear that 'peaceful protesters were bashed by police'
I had a chat with @pardisyarahmadi.bsky.social about the situation in Iran, and the horrors hidden behind and by the digital blackout. If you'd like to know more about the context and how you can help, have a listen.
QUT Digital Media Research Centre@qutdmrc.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe Read Them Sideways podcast is back from summer hiatus! Our first episode of 2026 welcomes Ehsan Dehghan and Pardis Yarahmadi to discuss the ongoing Iranian digital blackout, its implications, and how digital activism can assist. An important listen for your Monday!
It was a pleasure to write this piece for illiberalism.org on alternative news media - from bloggers to newsfluencers. I end with some thoughts on how legacy news media can learn from these developments.
Illiberalism Studies Program@illsp.bsky.social · 7mo agoNew piece! @eddyhurc.bsky.social on the past, present, and future of alternative news media and how mainstream actors are changing their response to it. @ieres-gwu.bsky.social
Planning to start a PhD in Media and Communications in 2026? Come work with me and others at the @qutdmrc.bsky.social! ✨
QUT Digital Media Research Centre@qutdmrc.bsky.social · 7mo agoPhD scholarship applications are open for a project investigating how public opinion is formed in online spaces, with a focus on the deliberative quality of discussions, social influence dynamics, and platform affordances and governance across major digital platforms. www.qut.edu.au/.../strength....
Our report titled “Resourcing, technology and audiences: an industry-led agenda for journalism practice and research” is out: apo.org.au/node/332662 @tjthomson.bsky.social @jammh.bsky.social @dbossio.bsky.social @eddyhurc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au @rmitcomputing.bsky.social
Resourcing, technology and audiences: an industry-led agenda for journalism practice and research
This report explores the gap between academic research and industry needs in the news media. It shares insights from a roundtable where media stakeholders identified key challenges and research priori...
apo.org.au
[THREAD] NEWSLETTER ALERT! Check out our ninth newsletter of 2025, featuring eight new research articles on how digital technologies, platforms, AI, and interface design are reshaping journalism. ➡️Click here to read our newsletter: drive.google.com/file/d/15qq8...
Here are the research articles from Issue 13(9), soon to be released—authored by scholars such as @eddyhurc.bsky.social, @marylynnyoung.bsky.social, @hermida.bsky.social, @lashakavtaradze.bsky.social, @felixsimon.bsky.social, @gravesmatter.bsky.social, @tgrootkormelink.bsky.social, and others.
📝 New article out in Communication Theory. In it, I define practices, a term studies often use without operationalising, as things we do for a reason with specific others, driven by certain knowledge, values, and supported and constrained by language and material environments doi.org/10.1093/ct/q...
Elements of practices in digital publics: a model for identifying collective doings on social media platforms
Abstract. Studies of public communication in digitally networked spaces have increasingly adopted the notion of practice to make sense of patterned doings
doi.org
Check out the latest issue of Public Relations Review for an article by 3C’s David Micallef and Juan Feng with @eddyhurc.bsky.social (also from RMIT University): “Long live Darth Vapour! Examining how audiences engage with influencers in an anti-vaping campaign”: doi.org/10.1016/j.pu...
So cool to see this article out by me and @juanfeng.bsky.social and @saysdavid.bsky.social! It's about how audiences on Instagram responded to a government-backed anti-vaping campaign that employed influencers. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Long live Darth Vapour! Examining how audiences engage with influencers in an anti-vaping campaign
Social media influencers (SMIs) have become role models for younger audiences, making them important stakeholders for engaging young people with healt…
sciencedirect.com
🚨I spoke to Crikey for this story on the need for better media reporting on the far right! Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...
How to report on neo-Nazis without giving them what they want
Media coverage of the anti-immigration marches was a 'propaganda triumph' for Australian neo-Nazis, who use media-baiting tactics to spread their message.
crikey.com.au
Very excited to share that my book, The Discursive-Digital Link, is now available for pre-order on Routledge: tinyurl.com/the-ddl. The e-book is already available to order with a 30% discount! You can also read the synopsis and the Introduction chapter on my website: essideh.com/ddl/ (thread)
Come and join our research network - reading group, grant proposal support, visiting scholars and industry events to come!
News, Technology, and Society Network@ntsnetwork.bsky.social · last yr.📆 Our next reading group is on 3 September. If you have suggestions for future readings or are Melbourne-based and would like to join, please send an email to ntsnetwork@rmit.edu.au. @sethclewis.bsky.social @tomasdodds.bsky.social @rodzam.bsky.social
It was awesome to run our first reading group of the newly established @ntsnetwork.bsky.social! Great to have some time in our busy schedules for thought-provoking discussions about new research
News, Technology, and Society Network@ntsnetwork.bsky.social · last yr.Eleven academics met today to discuss "The AI turn in journalism: Disruption, adaptation, and democratic futures" recent essay during our first News, Technology, and Society Network reading group. Thanks to @dbossio.bsky.social for facilitating and to all from RMIT and beyond who attended.
Absolutely pathetic. @australianlabor.bsky.social just rubber-stamps every violent whim of a decaying empire. Backing US airstrikes like obedient lapdogs. No debate. No soul. Just spineless war-mongering dressed up as “strategy.” We deserve so much better. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...
Australia backs US strikes on Iran while urging return to diplomacy
Penny Wong says action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon was acceptable, but that talks should now resume.
abc.net.au
I just wrote a new article for the Conversation! It's about how the Australian media landscape is changing, but also how politicians and legacy media are innovating to reach young people. theconversation.com/in-the-age-o...
In the age of the influencer, does the political backing of News Corp matter anymore?
Despite backing from the Murdoch-owned papers, the Coalition didn’t win the election. But it’s more complicated than simply old media versus new media.
theconversation.com
Our article 'The discursive function of the Meta Newsroom' is out! In it, me, @essideh.com, @voddenlaura.bsky.social, and @antmandan.bsky.social examine how Meta's blog framed issues to do with mis/disinfo, hate speech, etc on Meta platforms during 2016-2021. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Some reflections with colleagues @nedwatt.bsky.social and @riedlinm.bsky.social at @theconvo-bot.bsky.social on Meta's decision to end its professionally funded fact-checking model in its platforms and adopt the X crowdsourcing model with a new 'community notes'👇 theconversation.com/meta-is-aban...
Meta is abandoning fact checking – this doesn’t bode well for the fight against misinformation
Numerous studies have shown that fact checking has helped reduce the spread of misinformation and disinformation online.
theconversation.com
Make no mistake, colleagues: the exclusion of humanities & social science research from national competitive funding could easily happen here in Australia. The signs & actors are already clear. We let it happen at our collective peril.
Michael Plank@michaelplanknz.bsky.social · 2y agoThis is so backward 1. Science is more than just commercialisable widgetry 2. Making progress on our biggest problems (climate change, infectious diseases, misinfo to name a few) will need more collaboration between STEM and hum/social sci not less.
It's been really heartening working with @dezuanni.bsky.social, @aleeshajoy.bsky.social and Amanda Levido to produce the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child's response to the Social Media Ban for Under16s Bill that was tabled yesterday. digitalchild.org.au/research/pub...
It's really hard to overstate how many world-leading experts on digital media and social media are at Australian universities (I work with many of them!), and the overwhelming majority of them will tell you the social media ban is a bad and counterproductive idea.
lmao get absolutely owned, Albo. Good thing no university had already started its austerity budget and staff cuts in preparation for this policy 🤪 www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...
Labor's plan to cap international student enrolments from next year appears doomed after Coalition vows to block
The Coalition has announced it will oppose the government's bill to limit the number of international students able to enrol from next year, just weeks out from when the caps were meant to come into f...
abc.net.au
How does #polarisation manifest in media & communication at breaking points? Our new article identifies 5 key symptoms of destructive polarisation🔓: rb.gy/fp5akv @icsjournal.bsky.social T. Choucair, @vilkins.bsky.social , @svegaard.bsky.social, @snurb.bsky.social, C. Lubicz, K. O'Connor Farfan
This article also serves as a kind of conceptual companion to my recently funded ARC DECRA on 'influencer journalists'. Can't wait to start this amazing 3-year project next year!!
Edward Hurcombe@eddyhurc.bsky.social · 2y agoProud to announce that my conceptual piece on 'newsfluencers' is out now in Digital Journalism! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... This article traces how the news industry, influencer and fan cultures, and the platformatised creator economy are intersecting with and transforming each other.
Proud to announce that my conceptual piece on 'newsfluencers' is out now in Digital Journalism! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... This article traces how the news industry, influencer and fan cultures, and the platformatised creator economy are intersecting with and transforming each other.
Conceptualising the “Newsfluencer”: Intersecting Trajectories in Online Content Creation and Platformatised Journalism
Journalists and other news content creators are negotiating with participatory platforms and entrepreneurial business models. This conceptual article defines and traces the rise of “newsfluencers”:...
tandfonline.com