The Team

The Research Team

Lead Investigators

Associate Professor Tanya Notley

Tanya Notley leads the Advancing Media Literacy research program at Western Sydney University. She has 20 years of experience working with NGOs, public institutions, universities and the United Nations in the area of communication, technology and social change. Tanya collaborates with organisations to address media literacy, human rights and social justice and to design communication initiatives for social impact and has published widely on these issues. She is the Deputy Chair of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance (AMLA).

Professor Michael Dezuanni

Michael Dezuanni is Program Leader for Digital Inclusion and Participation in the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology. He is also a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Michael has been a media literacy educator in schools, a past president of Australian Teachers of Media (Queensland), a teacher educator in media literacy, and he was the expert adviser to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) for the development of Media Arts in the Australian Curriculum.

Professor Sora Park

Sora Park is the Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Arts & Design, University of Canberra. She was former Director of the News & Media Research Centre. She is the project leader of the Digital News Report Australia, and author of Digital Capital (2017, Palgrave). She has published widely on the impact of digital technology on audiences, with a special focus on digital and social exclusion and the distribution of opportunities and privileges in society. She has extensive international experience in policy research and consultancy.

Project Researchers

Dr Simon Chambers

Simon Chambers’ research background is in quantitative and qualitative cultural sociology, with a particular interest in the dynamics of cultural fields and musical taste. He has previously worked at ABC Radio National and Classic FM and is currently a consultant analyst at both APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre. He has also worked on a range of Australian Research Council projects spanning Australian cultural fields, the value of music exports and the development of personalised recommendation algorithms.

Dr Luigi Di Martino

Luigi Di Martino is an Institute Associate at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. He teaches research methods and digital media at Western Sydney University, social media analysis and data visualisation at the School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales and public communication courses at the University of Technology Sydney. Luigi’s PhD study examined Public Diplomacy and Social Media.

Dr Hua Flora Zhong

Hua Flora Zhong has rich experience in managing research activities throughout the life cycle of projects, and undertaking advanced quantitative and qualitative analysis for studies in the fields of education, applied linguistics, gender studies and educational psychology. Flora has also worked on a number of large scale research projects funded by the Australian Research Council in educational and social psychology, school education, and Indigenous education. As a Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Flora is responsible for providing high level research support and coordinating the day-to-day management of research activities at the Institute.