Binnenwerk 2007 - Amsterdam School of Communication Research

138 Pages·2008·2.99 MB·English

The Amsterdam School of Communications Research
Annual
report
’07
The Amsterdam School of Communications Research ASCoR
Production: Drukkerij De Raat & De Vries
Design: P. Stroomberg
Editors: C. de Vreese & S. Zwier
Coordinator: M. Smit
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 1
2. About ASCoR 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 The research program 2006-2010 8
2.3 PhD program 11
2.4 Organizational structure 13
2.5 Personnel 14
2.6 Faculty profiles 16
3. Review per research program 27
3.1 Persuasive Communication 27
3.2 Media, Journalism and Public Opinion 37
3.3 Media Entertainment and Popular Culture 53
Appendix A Faculty 67
Appendix B Scientific output 73
Appendix C Honorary events 75
Appendix D PhD program 79
Appendix E Sponsoring 89
Appendix F Key publications 93
Appendix G Professional publications 113
Appendix H Scientific meetings 119
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
1. Introduction
Welcome to the 2007 annual report of The Amsterdam School of
Communications Research ASCoR.
The 2007 annual report is a special edition because it celebrates ASCoR’s 10th
anniversary. A bit of history is in place here. Communication research has been
part of the University of Amsterdam since the late 1940s, and from this
tradition have sprung very renowned researchers such as Kurt Baschwitz and
Denis McQuail, and research programmes such as those of the Dutch Press
Institute and the Kurt Baschwitz institute.
ASCoR’s own institutional history of ten years starts in
1997, with prof. dr. Jan J. van Cuilenburg as the founder
and the first scientific director of ASCoR. Having served
as the communication science Department Chair for
over ten years previously, Jan van Cuilenburg possessed
the experience, qualities and courage to engage in the
launch of own-institute for communication research at
the University of Amsterdam which was to be named The
Amsterdam School of Communications Research
Jan van Cuilenburg
ASCoR. Still professor of media and telecommunications
policy and management at ASCoRtoday, Jan van Cuilenburg is also chair of
the Dutch Media Authority.
The foundation of ASCoRin 1997 also came with the launch of a PhD program
in communication science at UvA. Whereas the Department had known PhD
students previously, among whom Edith Smit, presently associate professor
and adjunct professor of Customer Media in ASCoR, the launch of an own PhD
program meant further institutionalization of PhD training and a significant
rise in the number of PhD students.
Introduction 1
The first group of ASCoRPhD students in 1997 was a group of six: Sudeep
Dasgupta, Mark Deuze, Thom Duyvené de Wit, Marjolein Moorman, Hans van
Nieuwpoort, and Tijs Timmerman.
Sudeep Dasgupta Mark Deuze Marjolein Moorman
They were the pioneers in a program that has hosted over 70 PhD candidates
since then, and they contributed much to what the program at present looks
like. Moreover, Sudeep Dasgupta, Mark Deuze and Marjolein Moorman have
advanced to hold senior academic research positions in academia nowadays.
Prof. dr. Peter C. Neijens was Jan van Cuilenburg’s
successor as ASCoRscientific director in 1998. Little did
he know at the time that his period of serving as ASCoR
scientific director would last for seven years until 2005.
During those years, Peter Neijens showed his talents not
only as a researcher and professor of Persuasive
Communication, but also his exceptional skills for
directorship while at the same time contributing greatly
to the further internationalization and programmatic
coherence of communication research at UvA. ASCoR Peter Neijens
undoubtely owes much of its current strengths and successes to Peter Neijens’
qualities.
Prof. dr. Claes H. de Vreese took over the scientific directorship in late 2005.
Having obtained his PhD from the ASCoR PhD program himself, Claes de
Vreese’s directorship is one sign of what has been achieved over the last ten
years by the ASCoR faculty and PhD students. ASCoR’s 10-year track record
includes:
π 337 articles in ISI-ranked, international peer-reviewed journals, 219 articles
in other international peer-reviewed journals, and 155 articles in national
peer reviewed journals
π 1st in Europe in number of ISI-ranked articles published by a European
research institute in communication (1994-2004)
2 Annual Report 2007
π 4 ASCoRresearchers among the top-10 most productive communication
researchers in Europe (1994-2004)
π 5 NWO Veni-grants, 1 NWO Vidi-grant, and 2 NWO Vici-grants
π 15 NWO-sponsored PhD projects
π 46 PhD dissertations
π Zero unemployment and 60% of ASCoR PhD graduates employed as
academic faculty
As ASCoRis coming of age, we will work hard to further improve the scope
and quality of our research activities while remaining in the spirit of 70 years
of communication research at the University of Amsterdam. ASCoRis facing
its biggest challenge yet when the search for replacement for the Research
Manager dr. Sandra Zwier will commence. Having served ASCoRfor a decade,
dr. Zwier is moving on to new challenges. Her commitment, capacities and
skills shall be dearly missed by ASCoR.
We look back at a year of celebrations. A number of internationally renowned
scholars in our field were invited for expert seminars, and during the 2007
conference of the International Communication Association ICA, the first
ASCoRDenis McQuail Article of the Year prize was awarded. The beginning of
what certainly is to become a tradition in our field.
Other ASCoRfaculty were awarded: Prof. dr. Loet Leydesdorff was awarded an
honorary professorship at China’s Institute for Scientific and Technical
Information; Claes de Vreese was awarded the ICA Young Scholar Award, which
was the first time in the history of this important award for a body of work that
has contributed to knowledge in the communication science field that a non
US-based scholar was awarded; dr. Hajo Boomgaarden and dr. Rens Vliegent-
hart both received a cum laudefor their PhD dissertation; prof. dr. Liesbet van
Zoonen was awarded a grant for a postdoc and PhD student in the NWO-
Contested Democrary program, dr. Stijn Reijnders was awarded an NWO Veni-
grant, and prof. dr. Claes de Vreese was awarded an NWO Vici-grant.
Dr. Mark Leenders and dr. William van der Veld left ASCoR during 2007 to take
up research positions at other academic institutes. So did dr. Wouter van der
Brug, who became UvA’s chair of general political science. The number of new
faculty members however far outnumbered those leaving: We welcomed dr.
Wouter de Nooy as new associate professor, and dr. Hajo Boomgaarden, dr(s).
Guda van Noort, dr. Eva van Reijmersdal, dr. Nel Ruigrok, dr. Rens Vliegenthart,
and dr. Julia van Weert as new assistant professors, and dr. Isabel Awad Cherit
as postdoctoral fellow. Moreover, nine new PhD students joined whereas nine
others successfully defended their PhD theses in 2007.
Introduction 3
It will be a big challenge for 2008 to beat or equal this year’s achievements,
but initiatives to try are in the making. Worth mentioning is among others the
implementation of the Amsterdam Graduate School of Communications
Science, a joint venture of ASCoRand the teaching institute M&CI, in which the
Master, Research Master, and PhD program in communication research will be
united. Equally worth mentioning is the creation of a new Chair in Journalism
Studies, for which recruitment has recently begun. Finally, but not lastly, 2008
is the year in which communication research in the Netherlands will be
externally assessed. In 1995 and 2001 respectively, communication research
in the country was assessed together with political science and public
administration research. 2008 will be the first year in which communication
science research will be assessed as a discipline on its own. Among the best
researchers in our field wordwide are in the review committee, and this ensures
that the 2008 external research assessment will be a rewarding experience.
Claes de Vreese (left), ASCoR scientific director, and Sandra Zwier, ASCoR research manager
4 Annual Report 2007

Chapter 2