English and Creative Arts

Dr Andrew Ó Baoill

B.Sc., MA., PhD

Biography

Dr. Ó Baoill holds a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied at the Institute for Communications Research. His work focuses on the political economy of the mass media, with a particular interest in the interplay of technological change, regulation and not-for-profit media. He has also published on critical pedagogies for media studies, including on open scholarship.

At NUI Galway, he contributes to modules in English and Media Studies, including the BA in English and Media Studies. He is the recipient of an Irish Research Council New Foundations grant.

A graduate of NUI Galway, where he earned a BSc in Mathematics, he was the founding station manager of the university radio station, Flirt FM. He was appointed to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission by the Irish government in 1997, serving a three year term, and also worked as a Market Analyst within eircom's Strategic Pricing Unit from 1998-2002. He holds an MA in Communications and Cultural Studies from Dublin City University. He was a member of the founding Steering Group of Media Literacy Ireland. He is a member of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR, where he currently serves as a vice-Chair of the Community Communication and Alternative Media (COM) section, and is active with the International Communication (INC) section.

While studying towards his PhD at the University of Illinois, he served as producer of Media Matters with Bob McChesney (WILL-AM, Illinois Public Media), as station manager of WRFU-LPFM, as a presenter with WEFT-FM, and as a member of the steering group of the Urbana Independent Media Center. He is currently producer of A Critical Ear, broadcast in Galway on Flirt FM, and in the US on WRFU-LP, and occasionally on other stations such as WORT FM (Madison, WI).

He was also president of the Graduate Employees' Organization (IFT/AFT 6300, AFL-CIO). Subsequent to his PhD studies, Dr Ó Baoill served from 2009-2014 on the faculty of Cazenovia College, where he was faculty advisor of WITC FM.

Research Interests

Grounded in the critical/cultural tradition, my research is focused on the structure of our evolving media environment, with a particular focus on the interplay between technology, participation, and democratic systems. My work draws together both the attitudes and activities of media participants, and the role of external factors such as economics and media policy. In my work I have drawn on my wide professional experiences – in media production and management; as a member of the Irish Broadcasting Complaints Commission; and in market analysis at eircom – as well as on my extensive work in socially engaged media to foster an understanding of the connections and tensions between our economic and legal systems and our social experiences.

I am particularly interested in how alternative media practitioners, such as community media outlets, navigate the landscape of regulatory, technological and funding constraints to secure production opportunities, and the tensions inherent in such strategies. I am currently examining this dynamic in a number of contexts, including study of the Sound & Vision scheme operated by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. This line of work has also involved a study of the manner in which alternative media practitioners have leveraged ‘second tier’ broadcast outlets when access to traditional broadcast channels has been removed, or unavailable in the first place, as well as the changing role of radio stations as curators of cultural content.

Underlying this work is an interest in how institutional constraints shape the actions of those seeking to engage in social change. My grounding in the critical/cultural tradition of communication studies serves to support my interest in investigating how individuals and groups come together to change their societies, and the conditions under which this occurs. My previous research projects have dealt with a variety of cases where technology and public participation are entwined. In examining these issues, I am able to draw, in addition to my scholarly training, on my varied experiences both as a member of a regulatory body as well as someone who has worked with a variety of such bodies in the communications and media field.

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2022)	'Fragility and Empowerment: Community Television in the Digital Era' Ó Baoill, A; Scifo, S (2022) 'Fragility and Empowerment: Community Television in the Digital Era'. International Journal of Communication, 16 (19):566-584 [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2021)	'Beyond a spot on the dial' Ó Baoill, A (2021) 'Beyond a spot on the dial'. Radiofonias ¿ Revista de Estudos em Mi¿dia Sonora, 12 (1):9-34 [Details]
	(2021)	'Towards wide-scale adoption of open science practices: The role of open science communities' Armeni, K, Brinkman, L, Carlsson, R, Eerland, A, Fijten, R, Fondberg, R, Heininga, VE, Heunis, S, Koh, WQ, Masselink, M, Moran, N, Ó Baoill, A, Sarafoglou, A, Schettino, A, Schwamm, H, Sjoerds, Z, Teperek, M, van den Akker, OR, van't Veer, A, Zurita-Milla, R (2021) 'Towards wide-scale adoption of open science practices: The role of open science communities'. Science And Public Policy, 48 (5):655-611 [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Using the crisis: media studies pedagogy and the pandemic' Ó Baoill, A (2021) 'Using the crisis: media studies pedagogy and the pandemic'. Media¿lni¿ studia, 15 (1):9-21 [Details]
	(2018)	'Pressing Pause: Critical Reflections from the History of Media Studies' Dolber, B,O'Baoill, A (2018) 'Pressing Pause: Critical Reflections from the History of Media Studies'. Triplec-Communication Capitalism & Critique, 16 :264-279 [Details]
	(2014)	'Copyright, Community Radio, and Change: How the U.S. Community Radio Sector is Negotiating Changing Copyright Rules and the Rollout of Digital Distribution' Ó Baoill, Andrew (2014) 'Copyright, Community Radio, and Change: How the U.S. Community Radio Sector is Negotiating Changing Copyright Rules and the Rollout of Digital Distribution'. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 21 (1):163-176 [DOI] [Details]
	(2000)	'Slashdot and the public sphere' Ó Baoill, Andrew (2000) 'Slashdot and the public sphere'. First Monday, 5 (9) [DOI] [Details]

Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	IAMCR 2018, Ó Baoill, A (2018) Panel Discussant. [Other], IAMCR 2018, Eugene, OR, USA , 20-JUL-18 - 24-JUL-18. [Details]
	(2016)	IAMCR 2016, Ó Baoill, A (2016) A Community-based Research approach to reviewing community media structures. [Refereed Abstracts], IAMCR 2016, Leicester, UK , 27-JUL-16 - 31-JUL-16. [Details]
	(2018)	IAMCR 2018, Ó Baoill, A (2018) The challenge and paradox of sustainability for community media. [Refereed Abstracts], IAMCR 2018, Eugene, OR, USA , 20-JUN-18 - 24-JUN-18. [Details]
	(2018)	IAMCR 2018, Ó Baoill, A (2018) Media literacy for the digital age: placing the Irish experience in international context. [Refereed Abstracts], IAMCR 2018, Eugene, OR, USA , 20-JUN-18 - 24-JUN-18. [Details]
	(2015)	IAMCR 2015, Andrew Ó Baoill (2015) The prospects and challenges for Irish college radio. [Conference Paper], IAMCR 2015, Montreal, Canada , 12-JUL-15 - 16-JUL-15. [Details]

Thesis

	Year	Publication
	(2009)	Broadcasting in an On-Demand World Creating Community Radio in the Era of Podcasting and Webcasting. Ó Baoill, Andrew (2009) Broadcasting in an On-Demand World Creating Community Radio in the Era of Podcasting and Webcasting. Thesis [Details]

Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	H-Podcast (a project of H-net)	Member, Advisory Board	30-AUG-15 /
	INSIGHT@ NUI Galway, News Lab Team	Advisory Associate Member	14-AUG-15 /

Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Media Literacy Ireland	Member, Interim Steering Group	01-SEP-17 /

Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Cazenovia College	Assistant Professor	15-AUG-09 / 11-JUN-14

Teaching Interests

Based in the discipline of English, I teach on both the BA in English and the BA in English and Media Studies, and coordinate the minor in Media Studies. My teaching interests include media technology; media industries and political economy of the media; cultural studies of media and journalism.

I am interested in hearing from potential PhD students interested in critical study of our media environment, and in those interested in post-graduate work in the fields of journalism and media studies.

External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country	Description of Collaboration
	Salvatore Scifo	Bournemouth University	UNITED KINGDOM	Sustainability and community media. Currently guest editors for the Journal of Alternative and Community Media.
	Brian Dolber	UC San Marcos	U.S.A.	Political economy of media studies. The first publication of our collaboration, 'Pressing Pause: Critical Reflections from the History of Media Studies', is available from TripleC: https://triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/927