Current research:
I am currently working on a research project on comparative European journalism, running for three years (2007-2010) at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. The project is funded by the
Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. I am interested in how and why journalism (be it press, broadcasting, or online) is different in different European countries. I am also interested in whether journalism in Europe is becoming more
similar across nations. I want to find out how these twin trends of homogenisation (everything becoming more similar) and heterogenisation (everything becoming more different) interact and balance in contemporary European journalism. I am particularly interested in the role new technologies have in changing journalism across Europe.
Sounds impossibly broad? Well, keep reading this blog to find out how the project is developing!
Previous research:
My PhD was on the history of current affairs debate programmes on Swedish television - what interested me was how and why the terms and conditions of public debate on TV had changed over the last 50 years. Who gets to set the agenda of the debate, who gets to speak, and how do journalists frame these debates? A summary of my findings was published in English in 2003.
As a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics I continued working on television history, this time on the role of TV in creating great national events. My case study was on the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Some of the findings from this study appeared in 2004 and more are set to appear in a book chapter in 2007.
I have also been researching the history of tabloid journalism in different countries (focusing on the UK, Sweden, and the US), and studying the history of news and journalism in the late 19th century in general. So far I have published two articles and one book chapter on these subjects.
List of publications (a selection):
Örnebring, Henrik (2007, forthcoming) ‘Writing the history of television audiences: the case of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953’, in Wheatley, H. (ed.)
Re-viewing Television History. London: I B Tauris.
Örnebring, Henrik (2007) ‘A necessary profession for the modern age? 19th century news, journalism and the public sphere’, in Butsch, R. (ed.)
Media and Public Spheres. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Örnebring, Henrik (2006) ‘The Maiden Tribute and the Naming of Monsters: two case studies of popular journalism as alternative public sphere’, pp 851-68 in
Journalism Studies vol 7 (6).
Örnebring, Henrik (2004) ‘Revisiting the Coronation: A critical perspective on the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953’, pp 175-197 in
Nordicom Review 25 (1-2).
Örnebring, Henrik & Jönsson, Anna Maria (2004) ‘Tabloid Journalism and the Public Sphere: A Historical Perspective’, pp 283-95 in
Journalism Studies 5(3).
Örnebring, Henrik (2003) ‘Televising the Public Sphere. 40 years of current affairs debate programmes on Swedish television’ pp 501-527 in
European Journal of Communication 18 (4).
Örnebring, Henrik (2001)
TV-parlamentet. Debattprogram på svensk TV 1956-1996. [
The Television Parliament. Current affairs debate programmes on Swedish television 1956-1996] (423pp). Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet. (PhD dissertation, published)
Örnebring, Henrik (1997) ‘Journalistisk produktion av populariserad vetenskap’ [Journalistic production of popular science] VEST 11(3-4): 111-125 (15 p) [
VEST, Swedish Journal of Science Studies].
