Miriam Brems

Research

My research revolves around the relationship between media, politics, and society, including the democratic impact of the use of new types of news media and social media on democracy. In my PhD dissertation, I investigated the use of alternative media in Denmark, focusing on how widespread the use of this type of news is, motivations for seeking out alternative news, and relationships between alternative news use and trust in traditional news media, political trust, populist attitudes, policy attitudes, and party choice. In my current research project, I investigate whether influencers can affect their followers' political attitudes, values, and democratic participation. I also study what characterizes so-called opinion leaders, that is, citizens who are more interested in news and politics than others and play a central role in informing their networks. Here, I am interested in what sources of information these opinion leaders rely on and to what extent they trust central societal institutions.

Profile

I am a postdoctoral researcher at Department of Media and Journalism Studies, Aarhus University, where I also obtained my PhD degree. I am affiliated with Anja Bechmann's project on Social Media Influence. As a part of this project, I investigate whether influencers on social media can affect their followers' policy atttudes, values, and democratic participation. My research is interdisciplinary and draws on political communication, journalism studies, and media studies, and I use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, online experiments, quantitative and qualitative content analysis, and qualitative interviews.

Teaching

Jeg har tidligere undervist på kandidatuddannelsen i journalistik (cand.public.) og i digital kommunikation på bacheloruddannelsen i Informationsvidenskab. Derudover har jeg holdt gæsteforelæsninger ved forskellige danske og internationale universiteter.

Job responsibilities

In addition to my work as a researcher and lecturer at Aarhus University, I am a part of the Nordic research journal, Journalistica's, editorial team. Among other things, I am involved in the journal's methods section and in awarding Journalistica's newly launched price for the best MA thesis within journalism studies.