Dr Aljosha Karim Schapals
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Communication
Biography
Dr Aljosha Karim Schapals (FHEA) is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Political Communication in the School of Communication at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, and a Chief Investigator in the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC). His work sits at the intersection of digital journalism, political communication, and emerging media systems, with a particular focus on alternative media, “peripheral actors”, and the reconfiguration of journalistic authority in the platform age.
He is internationally recognised for his research on digital journalism and has published widely in leading Q1 journals, alongside his monograph Peripheral Actors in Journalism: Deviating from the Norm? (Routledge, 2022). His research has been supported by competitive funding, including Australian Research Council Discovery Projects, and he serves as Co-Lead (Australia) of the global Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) project.
Dr Schapals plays an active leadership role in advancing journalism studies internationally. He is Book Review Editor for Media International Australia and lead editor of Media Compass: A Companion to International Media Landscapes (Wiley, 2024), a large-scale collaborative project involving scholars from over 70 countries.
In teaching, he contributes to curriculum leadership and innovation within QUT’s Bachelor of Communication (KC40), with a strong focus on work-integrated learning (WIL) and industry-engaged pedagogy, including his role as Academic Lead of the Queensland Parliament Research Internship (QPRI), where he oversees student placements and research projects in collaboration with Members of Parliament.
Prior to joining QUT, he was a Visiting Lecturer at City St George's, University of London, and worked as a journalist for the Financial Times and as a foreign correspondent for the German Federal Agency for Civic Education.
Personal details
Positions
- Senior Lecturer (Journalism)
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Communication
Keywords
Journalism Studies, Political Communication
Research field
Communication and media studies, Creative and professional writing
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (City University, London)
Professional memberships and associations
- Member - Australia and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA)
- Member - Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
- Member - Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC)
- Member - European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
- Member - International Communication Association (ICA)
- Member - Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA)
Teaching
Semester 1, 2026:
Political Communication (CJB303): This unit surveys the theory and professional practices of political and governmental communication, especially through journalism, media and communications industries. It examines contemporary and historical political issues and communications in Australia and internationally from the perspectives of democratic theory, media influence, strategic image, and issue management. The unit comprises an overview of theoretical approaches to political communication, the construction of political discourse, and the mobilisation of audiences/voters; an understanding of the relationship between communication strategies and the management of politics, with cases drawn from Australian and international politics. Students will develop the capacity to critically appraise strategic issues such as political persuasion, electoral strategy, uses/impacts of digital and social media, and public opinion formation and to create messages about issues connected to politics and government.
Critical Issues in News and Factual Media (CJB304): This advanced unit engages with critical and contemporary issues that are upending news media business practices, values, and trends. It builds upon core knowledge and skills, and is designed to increase confidence in your analytical capacity and problem solving ability as a future reporters and factual storytellers in a rapidly changing industry. Drawing on the latest from our world-leading researchers, this unit will enable you will apply historical, economic, political, technological, and cultural perspectives to understand and master the real world issues facing the factual media landscape.
Publications
- Schapals, A. & Porlezza, C. (2026). AI in journalism: An industry and profession at a crossroads. In T. Flew, A. Stepnik & T. Koskie (Eds.), Valuing News: Digital Platforms and Journalism Futures (pp. 285–300). Palgrave Macmillan. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/262963
- Moreira, V., Hendrickx, J. & Schapals, A. (2026). "Talk to Me as a Friend!": How Teenagers Prefer Their Newsfluencers on Social Media. Journalism and Media, 7(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/262962
- Bartleman, M., Schapals, A. & Dubois, E. (2026). Generative AI and the New Landscape of Automated Journalism: A Systematized Review of 185 Studies (2012-2024). Journalism and Media, 7(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/263337
- Stepnik, A., Fisher, C. & Schapals, A. (2026). Reflection, Contemplation, Speculation: Stakeholder Perspectives on the Sustainability of News. In T. Flew, A. Stepnik & T. Stepnik (Eds.), Valuing News: Digital Platforms and Journalism Futures (pp. 191–215). Palgrave Macmillan. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/262964
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Aljosha Karim, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/aljosha.schapals
Awards
- Type
- Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2024
- Details
- Chief Investigator in the DP220100589 project ‘Valuing News’ (A$ 423,769) and in the DP240103362 project ‘Understanding and Combatting Dark Political Communication’ (A$ 610,364)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Top Reviewer Award from the Journalism Studies Division (JSD) of the International Communication Association (ICA)
- Type
- Visiting Professorships/Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2024
- Details
- Digital Media & Society Fellowship at Leipzig University, Germany
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- Learning and Teaching Commendation from the School of Communication
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2026
- Details
- Keynote speaker during conference
Selected research projects
- Title
- Understanding and Combatting 'Dark Political Communication'
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP240103362
- Start year
- 2024
- Keywords
- Title
- Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP220100589
- Start year
- 2022
- Keywords
- Title
- Journalism Beyond the Crisis: Emerging Forms, Practices and Uses
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP160101211
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Collaborative Investigative Journalism in Indonesia in the Digital Age
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Stephen Harrington - Reporting on Men's Violence Against Women: Influences on Journalists' Decision-Making and Implications for Primary Prevention
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Cassandra Cross
Supervision topics
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.