English and Creative Arts

Ms Kelly Fincham

Contact Details

Lecturer Above The Bar
E: kelly.fincham@nuigalway.ie

Biography

I’m the programme director for the Global Media and Communication MA at National University Ireland Galway and I also teach journalism (social media) in the undergraduate and graduate programmes with a focus on social and digital journalism and media theory.

My research focuses on the ways in which social media have impacted journalism norms and routines, particularly around politics, and I am currently close to finishing a PhD in this topic.

My research into journalists’ use of Twitter and online “boys on the bus” attitudes has been published here and I am also working on a study into news organisation logics in relation to their social media audiences and best practice for new and student journalists on social media, particularly Twitter.

I was previously a tenured professor at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York in 2015 where I helped redesign the journalism programme to better prepare students for the hybrid media industry in social media, data journalism and multi-platform storytelling and founded their award-winning student news site, Long Island Report.

I arrived in New York in September 2000 on a year's career break from the Irish Independent and stayed on in NY to become the founding editor of IrishCentral. com, the industry-leading U.S.-based Irish web site. During my time in NY I’ve helped non-profits such as the Rory Staunton Foundation, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and the Irish charity GOAL, build out their social and digital strategies.

Before switching to digital in 2000, and then academia in 2008, I worked at international newspaper titles including the Australian Financial Review (Fairfax) and Sydney Telegraph (News International) in Sydney; the Sunday Independent, Irish Independent and Evening Herald in Ireland and the Irish Voice newspaper and Irish America magazine in New York and I’ve written about the changes in the media industry and media education for Poynter and Education Shift.

Research Interests

My research focuses on the ways in which social media have impacted journalism norms and routines, particularly around politics, and I am currently close to finishing a PhD in this topic.My research into journalists’ use of Twitter and online “boys on the bus” attitudes has been published here and I am also working on a study into news organisation logics in relation to their social media audiences and best practice for new and student journalists on social media, particularly Twitter.

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2019)	'Exploring Political Journalism Homophily on Twitter: A Comparative Analysis of US and UK Elections in 2016 and 2017' Kelly Fincham (2019) 'Exploring Political Journalism Homophily on Twitter: A Comparative Analysis of US and UK Elections in 2016 and 2017'. Media and Communication, [DOI] [Details]

Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
		Political Studies Association of Ireland National Conference, Kelly Fincham Female political journalists sidelined as ‘boys on the bus’ dominate Twitter interactions. Political Studies Association of Ireland National Conference. Maynooth, Ireland. [National Refereed Conference Paper], Political Studies Association of Ireland National Conference, National University Ireland Maynooth . [Details]
	(2019)	International Communication Association Conference, Kelly Fincham (2019) #Twitterfail for news organizations: How newsroom Twitter policies fail to guide journalists on engagement. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], International Communication Association Conference, Washington, DC US , 12-MAY-19 - 14-MAY-19. [Details]