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About me

I have held different journalism-related research and teaching positions at Tampere University since 2007.

Currently, I work as a project researcher (50 %) in the project Journalistic Audience Work in the Digital Environment, which is run by our research centre COMET (NB! Link in Finnish only). The collaborative project between researchers, journalists, and journalism students aims to find out what audience work means for journalists, what forms it takes, and how it could be developed in the digital media environment. Concurrently, I am working on my doctoral dissertation that focuses on recent changes in Finnish political journalism.

In my earlier projects, I have investigated, for instance, journalists' professional values and working conditions in the Worlds of Journalism Study, and the media representations of the two school shootings in Finland in 2007-08. Before my academic career, I worked for about three years as a journalist during and after my studies. 

Responsibilities

In the academic year 2023–24 I will be involved with seven basic and subject study level courses in Journalism (all in Finnish): Journalismi ammattina (Periods 1 & 2), Journalismi ja julkisuus (Period 2), Politiikan journalismi (Period 2, online), Ajankohtaisjournalismi (Periods 3 & 4), Johdatus journalismin tutkimukseen (Period 3), Journalismi tänään (Period 3, online) and Viestinnän etiikka (Period 4, online).

In lifelong education, I work as convenor for the course Journalistic Audience Work in the Digital Environment (NB! Link in Finnish only). This three-year co-operative project between professional journalists, journalism students and journalism researchers focuses on how journalists understand and work with their audiences, and how journalists could improve their audience connection in the digital environment. The project continues until the end of 2023. 

In international co-operation, I am part of the University's team working on a Finnish-language version of an EU-wide MOOC that focuses on EU cohesion policy. The aim of the course is to develop journalism students' understanding of EU cohesion policy and improve journalistic reporting on the topic. The project is led by TU Dortmund University. 

In addition, I am webmaster and member of the steering group of TaRC (the Tampere Research Centre for Russian and Chinese Media), as well as one the representatives of the ITC faculty in the Digital Mentors network (NB! Link in Finnish only).

Fields of expertise

Political journalism, journalism change, journalism ethics and accountability, crisis/disaster journalism

Top achievements

Honorary prize in Tampere University Press's Book of the Year 2010 competition for the volume Journalism and School Shootings in Finland 2007–2008 (co-authored with Pentti Raittila & Kari Koljonen)

Teacher of the Year 2008, chosen by Tampere University journalism students' association Vostok

Main positions of trust

Board member, Finnish Association for Media and Communication Studies, 2022-

Board member and publicist, Tampere University Association of Researchers and Teachers, 2012-15

Mission statement

In my studies, I aim to locate the place of journalism and its changes as a part of society.

Research topics

Political journalism, journalism change, journalistic practices and professional values

Research unit

COMET

Research fields

Media and communication studies

Funding

3-year grant for PhD (70.000 €), Finnish Cultural Foundation, 2014

Selected publications

Väliverronen, Jari. (2022). Boundaries in Motion? Finnish Political Journalists’ External and Internal Boundary Work in a Time of Change. Journalism Studies (e-pub ahead of print).

Väliverronen, Jari. (2022). Political Journalism Content in a New Era: The Case of Finnish Newspapers, 1995–2015. European Journal of Communication (e-pub ahead of print).

Ramaprasad, Jyotika; Hanitzsch, Thomas; Lauk, Epp; Harro-Loit, Halliki; Hovden, Jan Fredrik; Väliverronen, Jari & Craft, Stephanie. (2019). Ethical Considerations: Journalists' Perceptions of Professional Practice. Teoksessa Hanitzsch, Thomas et al. (toim.) Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures around the Globe. New York: Columbia University Press, 199–232.

Heikkilä, Heikki & Väliverronen, Jari. (2019). Media Accountability in the Era of Fake News: Journalistic Boundary Work and Its Problems in Finland. Teoksessa Eberwein, Tobias; Fengler, Susanne & Karmasin, Matthias (toim.) Media Accountability in the Era of Post-Truth Politics: European Challenges and Perspectives. Routledge Studies in European Communication Research and Education 15. London: Routledge, 55–68. 

Väliverronen, Jari & Heikkilä, Heikki. (2018). Finland: The Empire Renewing Itself. Teoksessa Eberwein, Tobias, Fengler, Susanne & Karmasin, Matthias (toim.) The European Handbook of Media Accountability. London: Routledge, 73–79. 

Ahva, Laura; van Dalen, Arjen; Hovden, Jan Fredrik; Kolbeins, Guðbjörg Hildur; Löfgren Nilsson, Monica; Skovsgaard, Morten & Väliverronen, Jari. (2017). A Welfare State of Mind? Nordic Journalists' Conception of Their Role and Autonomy in International Context. Journalism Studies 18(5): 595–613.

Fengler, Susanne; Eberwein, Tobias; Alsius, Salvador; Baisnée, Olivier; Bichler, Klaus; Dobek-Ostrowska, Boguslawa; Evers, Huub; Glowacki, Michal; Groenhart, Harmen; Harro-Loit, Halliki; Heikkilä, Heikki; Jempson, Mike; Karmasin, Matthias; Lauk, Epp; Lönnendonker, Julia; Mauri, Marcel; Mazzoleni, Gianpietro; Pies, Judith; Porlezza, Colin; Powell, Wayne; Radu, Raluca; Rodriguez, Ruth; Russ-Mohl, Stephan; Schneider-Mombaur, Laura; Splendore, Sergio; Väliverronen, Jari & Zambrano, Sandra Vera. (2015). How Effective Is Media Self-Regulation? Results from a Comparative Survey of European Journalists. European Journal of Communication 30(3), 249–266. 

Jaakkola, Maarit; Hellman, Heikki; Koljonen, Kari & Väliverronen, Jari. (2015). Liquid Modern Journalism with a Difference: The Changing Professional Ethos of Cultural Journalism. Journalism Practice 9(6), 811–828. 

Lauk, Epp; Harro-Loit, Halliki & Väliverronen, Jari. (2014). Media Accountability through the Eyes of Journalists: Feedback, Responsiveness, Interaction. Teoksessa Fengler, Susanne et al (toim.) Journalists and Media Accountability: An International Study of News People in the Digital Age. New York: Peter Lang, 83–98. 

Väliverronen, Jari; Koljonen, Kari & Raittila, Pentti. (2012). Vital Explanations or Harmful Gossip? Finnish Journalists’ Reflections on Reporting the Interpretations of Two School Shootings. Teoksessa Muschert, Glenn W. & Sumiala, Johanna (toim.) School Shootings: Mediatized Violence in a Global Age. Bingley: Emerald, 161–180. 

You can find all my publications in the TUNICRIS portal