Dr Ceri Hughes

Lecturer in Media and Communications

Media

ceri.hughes@swansea.ac.uk

Intermediate Welsh Speaker

Office - 102
First Floor
Digital Technium
Singleton Campus

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9537-9016

About

Ceri is a lecturer in journalism the Department of Media, Communications, Journalism and PR. He researches in the area of political communication, with specific emphasis on minor party politics, religion and politics, contentious politics and misinformation.

He gained his PhD from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he was also a Knight Foundation Research Fellow for the Centre for Communication and Civic Renewal. He is a co-author on the recently published book examining the fracturing of civil communication and civil society within the state of Wisconsin, ‘Battleground: Asymmetric communication ecologies and the erosion of civil society in Wisconsin’

Before joining Swansea, he was a Research Associate at Cardiff University on an AHRC-funded study - 'Countering disinformation: enhancing journalistic legitimacy in public service media'. This research examined the role of public service media in the UK in the current ‘infodemic’, querying their ability to function in an environment of fake news and truthiness.

Ceri has taught across a wide range of theory and practical communication courses.

His research has featured in the Washington Post, The Conversation, Salon, The New Yorker, Vox and the Washington Post Monkey Cage, and he has featured on various television and radio stations.

Areas Of Expertise

Journalism
Political Communication
Misinformation
Research Methods
Religion and Politics
Content Analysis

Publications

Research Highlights

Morani, M., Hughes, C., Cushion, S., & Kyriakidou, M. (2024). Why media platforms police the boundaries of impartiality: A comparative analysis of television news and fact-checking in the UK. Journalism, 0
https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849241273599, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67632
Hughes, C., Morani, M., Cushion, S., & Kyriakidou, M. (2023). Does the Political Context Shape How “Due Impartiality” is Interpreted? An Analysis of BBC Reporting of the 2019 UK and 2020 US Election Campaigns. Journalism Studies, 24(14), 1715-1733.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2023.2173956, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62465
Hughes, C., Gyimah, D., & Jiménez-Martínez, C. (2023). Introduction: The Future of Journalism in a (Post?) Covid-19 World. Journalism Practice, 18(1), 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2253204, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64425
Kyriakidou, M., Cushion, S., Hughes, C., & Morani, M. (2023). Questioning Fact-Checking in the Fight Against Disinformation: An Audience Perspective. Journalism Practice, 17(10), 2123-2139.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2097118, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60722
Kyriakidou, M., Morani, M., Cushion, S., & Hughes, C. (2023). Audience understandings of disinformation: navigating news media through a prism of pragmatic scepticism. Journalism, 24(11), 2379-2396.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849221114244, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60721

All Research

Journal Articles

Morani, M., Hughes, C., Cushion, S., & Kyriakidou, M. (2024). Why media platforms police the boundaries of impartiality: A comparative analysis of television news and fact-checking in the UK. Journalism, 0
https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849241273599, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67632
Kyriakidou, M., Cushion, S., Hughes, C., & Morani, M. (2023). Questioning Fact-Checking in the Fight Against Disinformation: An Audience Perspective. Journalism Practice, 17(10), 2123-2139.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2097118, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60722
Kyriakidou, M., Morani, M., Cushion, S., & Hughes, C. (2023). Audience understandings of disinformation: navigating news media through a prism of pragmatic scepticism. Journalism, 24(11), 2379-2396.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849221114244, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60721
Hughes, C., Morani, M., Cushion, S., & Kyriakidou, M. (2023). Does the Political Context Shape How “Due Impartiality” is Interpreted? An Analysis of BBC Reporting of the 2019 UK and 2020 US Election Campaigns. Journalism Studies, 24(14), 1715-1733.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2023.2173956, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62465
Hughes, C., Gyimah, D., & Jiménez-Martínez, C. (2023). Introduction: The Future of Journalism in a (Post?) Covid-19 World. Journalism Practice, 18(1), 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2253204, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64425
Hughes, C. (2022). It’s Not Easy Being Green, White, Red, and Blue: Constituency Representations Versus Electoral Competition in the Wisconsin Green Party. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 35(1), 27-45.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09365-5, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60720
Foley, J., Wagner, M., Hughes, C., Suk, J., Cramer, K., Friedland, L., & Shah, D. (2021). Free and Fair? The Differential Experiences of Voting Barriers and Voting Policies in American Midterm Elections. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 33(3), 703-712.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edab009, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60719
Wells, C., Friedland, L., Hughes, C., Shah, D., Suk, J., & Wagner, M. (2021). News Media Use, Talk Networks, and Anti-Elitism across Geographic Location: Evidence from Wisconsin. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(2), 438-463.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220985128, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60716
Suk, J., Shah, D., Wells, C., Wagner, M., Friedland, L., Cramer, K., Hughes, C., & Franklin, C. (2020). Do Improving Conditions Harden Partisan Preferences? Lived Experiences, Imagined Communities, and Polarized Evaluations. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 32(4), 750-768.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edz051, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60715
Hughes, C. (2020). Thou Art in a Deal: The Evolution of Religious Language in the Public Communications of Donald Trump. International Journal of Communication, 20, 4825-4846.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60713
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/12691
Hughes, C. (2019). Debatable sphere: Major party hegemony, minor party marginalization in the UK leaders’ debate. Communication and the Public, 4(3), 189-203.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047319875863, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60717
Hughes, C. (2019). It’s the EU immigrants stupid! UKIP’s core-issue and populist rhetoric on the road to Brexit. European Journal of Communication, 34(3), 248-266.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323119830050, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60711
Hughes, C. (2019). The God Card: Strategic Employment of Religious Language in U.S. Presidential Discourse. International Journal of Communication, 13
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60712
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/8484
Hughes, C. (2016). It’s not easy (not) being green: Agenda dissonance of Green Party press relations and newspaper coverage. European Journal of Communication, 31(6), 625-641.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323116669454, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60714

Book Chapters

Friedland, L., Shah, D., Wagner, M., Cramer, K., Wells, C., Pevehouse, J., & Hughes, C. (2022). Studying the Wisconsin Communication Ecology. In Lewis A. Friedland, Dhavan V. Shah, Michael W. Wagner, Katherine J. Cramer, Chris Wells and Jon Pevehouse (Ed.), Battleground: Asymmetric Communication Ecologies and the Erosion of Civil Society in Wisconsin Cambridge University Press
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67996
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108946780

Supervision

Untitled (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Yan Wu
How YouTube video essays demonstrate investigative journalism techniques on a small scale and how they can encourage media literacy in non-academic communities. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Rhys Jones
Exploring the links between gender and terrorism in the media (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Richard Thomas
How the British new media presents Saudi : Three contemporary case studies. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Richard Thomas

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

This module will focus on introducing what it is to be human from a broad humanities and social science perspective. It will offer the opportunity to engage with key ideas, theory and literature within these disciplines. It will therefore prepare students for further academic work in the humanities and social sciences and initiate the development of critical thinking and creative abilities.
MS-241 Misinformation, Fake News and Fact-Checking

To properly function, democratic societies require informed public. A public able to make information-based decisions. And the estate of journalism has traditionally been the source of much of this information. However, evidence suggests that the public are not being informed, people cannot agree on facts and the current time has been called the ¿era of misinformation¿. How did this happen? This is a module that enables students to engage with one of the most pressing concerns within communication ¿ what is misinformation? How do you spot it? How and why does it spread? Why do so many people believe conspiracy theories? And what tools do we have to try and combat the problems of misinformation? Students will understand the theoretical underpinnings of the communication processes which lead to misinformation, the psychological reasons why we live in this era of misinformation and have an opportunity to understand and practice fact-checking journalism.
MS-310 Dissertation Preparation

This module introduces the practice of dissertation writing and research approaches for the study of media forms. texts and systems and their contribution to social life. It begins to explore the breadth of media studies through attention to the ways in which media matter. In what ways, and how significant are the media in the formation of individual identities and in the practices of everyday life? In the more public world, to what extent are media key to providing knowledge and enabling the debate necessary to the practices of democracy? The course enables students to build on their own experiences of media as consumers and users. But it also encourages critical attention to how the field of media studies has historically been forged: through argument and contestation between different academic approaches and disciplines.
MS-311 Dissertation

This dissertation enables students to engage in long term, in-depth research on a topic of their choice subject to the approval of the Department.
MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

An innovative practice-based alternative to a Masters dissertation. Students are encouraged to develop projects across more than one area of media practice and to do so with dual supervision that embraces both theory and practice. Work produced should be at a professional level, accompanied by a reflective essay and presentation exploring the contextual, theoretical and practical issues raised by the project.
MS-M18 Innovations in Journalism

Journalism is changing. Journalists need to change. Journalists no longer need to just meet the deadline of the presses running but write, tweet, edit, film to multiple deadlines through the day. This module reflects on some of these recent developments to the practice of journalism and provides theoretical analysis of what these developments may mean for those practicing journalism and those consuming journalism. Students will examine how developments such as social media impact on production and consumption of journalism, how newer forms of journalism such as advocacy journalism, citizen journalism and fact-checking journalism impacts society. And how new tech such as augmented and virtual reality and drones are being incorporated. One recent innovation in journalism is fact-checking as seen on websites such as PolitiFact, Full Fact and BBC Reality Check. This form of journalism examines claims made by prominent members of society and often makes judgements as to the veracity of the claim. Students will spend the last weeks of the course producing journalism copy in the form of a fact-check.

Dr Ceri Hughes

Email address

Welsh language proficiency

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Publications

Research Highlights

All Research

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

Supervision

Untitled (current)

How YouTube video essays demonstrate investigative journalism techniques on a small scale and how they can encourage media literacy in non-academic communities. (current)

Exploring the links between gender and terrorism in the media (current)

How the British new media presents Saudi : Three contemporary case studies. (current)

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

MS-241 Misinformation, Fake News and Fact-Checking

MS-310 Dissertation Preparation

MS-311 Dissertation

MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

MS-M18 Innovations in Journalism