School of Communication Studies - Te Kura Whakapāho
Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/1316
The School of Communication Studies is committed to innovative, critical and creative research that advances knowledge, serves the community, and develops future communication experts and skilled media practitioners. There is a dynamic interaction between communication theory and media practice across digital media, creative industries, film and television production advertising, radio, public relations, and journalism. The School is involved in research and development in areas of:
- Journalism
- Media and Communication
- Media Performance
- Multimodal Analysis
- Online, Social and Digital Media
- Asia-Pacific Media
- Political Economy of Communication
- Popular Culture
- Public Relations
- Radio
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Recent Submissions
Item Rituals of Violent Masculinity: A Feminist Comparative Historical Analysis of Male-Male Fighting, Shame and Misogyny(Hipatia Press, 2026-01-23) Batistich-Vogels, ChristinaThis article uses a combination of two feminist research methods to further understanding of the enduring nature of men’s use of ritualised forms of violence. In particular, this article examines men fighting other men to mitigate the effects of feminized shame and to stabilise masculine honour. Using a feminist comparative historical analysis alongside a feminist systematic review, two manifestations of ritualised honour-based fighting will be explored: men’s duelling of the eighteenth and nineteenth century and today’s (hetero)romantic and homosocial practice of territory marking: men claiming ownership over their (hetero)romantic partner by threatening to fight other men who appear to be romantically interested in her. By looking at the relationship between two types of ritualised fighting from different time-periods, the enduring nature of why men fight other men to mitigate feminized shame can be discussed in new ways. This type of analysis helps shed light on inherent fragilities within these violent practices, signalling how men’s ritualised fighting could be destabilised in the future.Item From Immersion to Identity: A Systematic Review and Framework for Understanding Metaverse Consumers(Taylor & Francis, 2026-01-21) Jiang, Xiyuan; Richter, Shahper; Kadirova, Djavlonbek; Laufer, Daniel; Hooper, Val; Du, XinkeMetaverse marketing has emerged as a rapidly expanding research domain, yet scholarship on consumer behaviour within this context remains fragmented and often embedded within broader marketing or technology reviews. This study addresses this gap through a systematic literature review (SLR) of 84 peer-reviewed journal articles explicitly situated at the intersection of consumer behaviour and marketing in the Metaverse. The review synthesises insights into four thematic domains: (1). consumer engagement, (2). technology adoption, (3). avatar dynamics, and (4). fashion/luxury branding. The review maps three theoretical foundations: motivational, identity-based, and design-oriented perspectives. By integrating these strands, the paper develops a novel conceptual framework that captures how immersive, multisensory, and identity-driven experiences in the metaverse shape consumer–brand interactions and extend into real-world consumption. The analysis highlights the need for metaverse-specific behavioural theorisation and outlines key research gaps, offering a targeted agenda to advance understanding in this evolving field.Item Linguistic Resistance and Power in Indian Political Public Relations Practice: A Video-Ethnographic Study(SAGE Publications, 2025-12-29) Rasquinha, M; Sissons, HIndia’s multilingual landscape presents political public relations (PPR) practitioners with both strategic opportunities and communicative challenges. Campaigns often rely on Hindi and English, but regional languages such as Kannada and Tamil are also used to assert identity and push back against Hindi and English dominance. This article draws on 56 hours of video from ethnographic fieldwork and ten semi-structured interviews with social media teams at two South Indian political parties during the 2019 general election. Using Ethnographic Communication Analysis (ECA), it examines an everyday professional interaction through critical discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and gestural analysis. The findings show how multilingualism functions as a site of symbolic struggle, where practitioners negotiate belonging, exclusion and representational legitimacy. Humour, code-switching, and language-based microaggressions emerge as communicative tactics of solidarity and resistance. By foregrounding the Global South context and adopting a multimodal ethnographic approach, this study extends critical public relations scholarship by showing how multilingualism is used in the reproduction of power and inequality.Item Manufacturing Settler-Colonial Consensus: ‘Conservative’ Media Commentaries and the Treaty Principles Bill(Informa UK Limited, 2025-12-13) Devadas, VijayThis article investigates how selected media commentators in Aotearoa New Zealand framed the Treaty Principles Bill (TPB). Drawing on a discourse analysis of opinion pieces in The New Zealand Herald, Stuff and Newstalk ZB, this paper examines the rhetorical and ideological work in selected media commentaries by prominent media professionals in Aotearoa. The analysis identifies three dominant media frames – hegemony of logocentrism, spectacle of the indigenous other and weaponization of multiculturalism – that collectively manufactures a settler-colonial consensus around the TPB.Item Discourses of Place and Profession: A Thematic Analysis of Support for Architecture NZ Magazine in a Crisis(Project MUSE, 2025-12-11) Watts, Jennie[Introduction] Industry-specific magazines are a genre imbued with identity-forming symbolism and rhetoric. Magazines belonging to professions serve a purpose different from popular publications, which is to reflect the profession back at itself. The organizing principle of Architecture NZ magazine’s content is that it is of Aotearoa New Zealand, whether that be discussion of design for this landscape or acknowledgement of a professional heralding from this country.1 To that end, Architecture NZ represents issues of place-based concern to readers in Aotearoa New Zealand, and elsewhere. It is a lens through which to understand and to critique and shape the profession’s impact, and it serves as one of the few central points around which the architecture profession in Aotearoa New Zealand, is oriented, and therefore expresses much about the identity of the profession. This study is an examination of the role of a print publication in a community of place and a community of practice at once. The study thematically analyzes the written statements of support by architects from around Aotearoa New Zealand, about why it is crucial, in their view, that Architecture NZ magazine should continue to be published given the crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. These statements of support were sought by the publisher and editors of Architecture NZ in what they term a “reader rally,”2 along with the request for individual subscriptions to the magazine. The written support from a cohort of passionate architects served to further encourage subscription, which provided the necessary financial resource to get through the period of uncertainty in magazine publishing that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. This article begins with an overview of relevant literature that puts the magazine and the moment of crisis into context. The changing media landscape [End Page 53] and the advent of digital-media publishing have put pressure on print to no small extent, and this is discussed in the context of architecture publishing in particular. The literature also examines the long tradition of architectural magazine publishing as a place of discourse and critique, and this provides context for the findings later in the article, where it is shown that discourse—discussion, debate, and critical opinion—on the architectural profession is one of the most valued aspects of Architecture NZ. This is interpretive research, which focuses on understanding the subjective meanings and experiences of individuals within their social and cultural contexts. Methodologically, a discourse-analysis approach in tandem with thematic analysis provides the framework for examining how these meanings and values are constructed and negotiated by the respondents to the publisher’s call for support.Item A Practice-led Proposal for Online Live-streamed Intermedial Theatre(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-12-22) Brannigan, Ross; Nicholson, James; Zalipour, ArezouThis article discusses a possible solution for creating a theatre production when participants – including the crew, cast, and audience – are physically separated. The proposed form of online live-streamed intermedial theatre offers a sustainable approach for conditions of physical separation (such as those imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic) as well as other remote performance scenarios. This article focuses on the conceptualisation phase of an intermedial theatre model specifically designed for online live-streamed performance. This article examines three foundations of the proposed model – acting, screen interface and production setup, and cinematography – bringing together insights developed through multiple iterations of the practice-led project Foolish Prating Knave and its associated experimental trials. Our proposal discusses production strategies that combine distinct elements of stage and screen. It is neither an adaptation for television nor a filmed stage play; rather, the proposed model requires an agile production process to meet the challenges of remote collaboration and production. Key to our discussion is how the liveness of theatre performance can be preserved in an online streamed environment.Item Who is Sean Baker, the indie filmmaker behind Oscar sweeper Anora?(The Conversation, 2025-03-04) Caillard, DuncanItem Aotearoa New Zealand Media Ownership 2025(AUT Research Centre for Journalism Media and Democracy, 2025-12-10) Myllylahti, Merja; Hope, Wayne; Daniels, Rachel; Hoar, Peter; Middleton, Atakohu; Mountfort, Paul; Selman Julian, Danielle; Treadwell, GregItem How NZ Streaming Costs and Choices Could Change After the Epic Netflix-Paramount Battle for Warner Bros(The Conversation, 2025-12-15) Daniels, RachelItem Constructive Media in New Zealand: The Role of an Independent News Group( Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa Incorporated, 2025-11-24) Rahman, Khairiah A; Brown, AdamNew Zealand has close ties with its Pacific neighbours but its mainstream media often overlooks issues involving major power influences on Pacific affairs. Also, while Asians form the largest population increase by ethnic group, issues impacting them are largely underrepresented. To address the issues impacting the Asia Pacific region and their people, the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN) was established in 2022. It uses the talents of its diverse membership pool comprising academics, journalists, researchers and community activists to improve Asia Pacific advocacy and communication for social change and justice. This study aims to analyse the role and work of APMN as constructive media, a practice anchored in ethics, civic engagement, democratic deliberations and social responsibility. Findings show that APMN promotes constructive journalism that has an inclusive outlook, with a focus on the future and countering negative bias in the media. Beyond presenting social problems, it also looks for solutions and empowers marginalised groups.Item Media & Communication Studies Through a Multimodal Lens (A Global Report)(IAMCR - International Association for Media and Communication Research, 16/07/2025) Ristovska, Sandra; Zalipour, Arezou; Arsoy, Aysu; Shtern, Jeremy; Jackson, John L; Sumiala, Johanna; Carpentier, Nico; Pinto de Oliveira, PedroItem "My Body, My Choice": Discursive Brandjacking and the Strategic Reframing of Protest Language(Elsevier, 22/11/2025) Wolf, Katharina; Theunissen, PetraThis paper critically examines the strategic appropriation—or brandjacking—of feminist rhetoric by the COVID-19 antivax movement in Australia and New Zealand. Specifically, it explores how the slogan “My body, my choice,” historically rooted in reproductive rights activism, was co-opted to oppose vaccination mandates during the pandemic. Based on a social-constructivist approach and framing theory, the study employs ethnographic observation combined with an analysis of media discourse to investigate how language functions as a vehicle for ideological contestation. Findings suggest that the antivax movement’s use of the slogan was not incidental but a calculated form of discursive brandjacking that leveraged the feminist movement’s social capital to construct legitimacy, foster group identity, and broaden its mainstream appeal. It is argued that the adoption of familiar feminist rhetoric provided rhetorical coherence and moral cover for the antivax movement. Such appropriation undermines long-standing social justice struggles by reframing collective advocacy as individual resistance. It is proposed that brandjacking should be re-conceptualized beyond commercial and advertising contexts to highlight the vulnerability of progressive messaging to ideological subversion. To counter such destabilization, communicators and activists must develop a greater awareness of the strategic repurposing of emotionally resonant language by non-progressive movements.Item Reflecting on Student Radio Work: Stories from the Studios(Informa UK Limited, 18/11/2025) Mollgaard, Matt; Neill, KarenThis article sets out to illuminate an often-overlooked aspect of radio broadcasting, the experiences of its workers. It uses the reflections of workers from student radio in New Zealand to discuss the profound impact working in this sector has had on the lives of these people. We do this by conducting a thematic analysis of online survey feedback in order to understand how student radio work shaped the lives of the respondents. This article is designed to center the place of workers and their experiences in media organizations and of media work. The article interrogates the life-long impacts of working in student radio in terms of workers’ careers, wellbeing and sense of belonging to a unique community. It does this by drawing thematic conclusions about student radio as a space for developing purpose, identity and belonging, a catalyst for the independent music scene and a breeding ground for creativity and media careers. This led to a lifelong passion for student radio and a lasting legacy for student radio workers.Item Delicate Interactions: Relational Skills in Public Relations(Elsevier, 10/10/2025) Bhargava, Deepti; Theunissen, PetraPublic relations consultants rely primarily on relationships to sustain their work. However, existing scholarship has largely overlooked the use of interpersonal strategies for public relations, and even more significantly, there has been insufficient exploration of public relations consultants’ professional practices. This study, which is part of wider research exploring consultancies in New Zealand, aims to fill this gap. Utilizing video ethnography, ethnographic communication analysis (ECA) and participant observation, this paper presents findings from a routine interaction between a consultant and her client. The analysis shows that consultants strategically use empathy, politeness, humor, and purposeful linguistic choices to manage relational harmony while asserting their professional expertise. The study highlights the importance of sophisticated interpersonal skills for public relations consultants. It also highlights the need for further research into public relations practices using a wider range of methodological approaches to better understand relational labor and power dynamics within consulting work.Item Will New Zealand’s School Phone Ban Work? Let’s See What It Does for Students’ Curiosity(The Conversation, 1/05/2024) Usmar, Patrick RichardItem A Hawaiian Epic Made in NZ: Why Jason Momoa’s Chief of War Wasn’t Filmed in Its Star’s Homeland(The Conversation, 1/08/2025) Caillard, DuncanItem Transforming Pedagogical Practices and Teacher Identity Through Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis: A Case Study of Novice EFL Teachers in China(MDPI AG, 3/08/2025) Zhou, Jing; Li, C; Cheng, YThis study investigates the evolving pedagogical strategies and professional identity development of two novice college English teachers in China through a semester-long classroom-based inquiry. Drawing on Norris’s Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis (MIA), it analyzes 270 min of video-recorded lessons across three instructional stages, supported by visual transcripts and pitch-intensity spectrograms. The analysis reveals each teacher’s transformation from textbook-reliant instruction to student-centered pedagogy, facilitated by multimodal strategies such as gaze, vocal pitch, gesture, and head movement. These shifts unfold across the following three evolving identity configurations: compliance, experimentation, and dialogic enactment. Rather than following a linear path, identity development is shown as a negotiated process shaped by institutional demands and classroom interactional realities. By foregrounding the multimodal enactment of self in a non-Western educational context, this study offers insights into how novice EFL teachers navigate tensions between traditional discourse norms and reform-driven pedagogical expectations, contributing to broader understandings of identity formation in global higher education.Item Rural Hauntings and Black Sheep: Comic Turns, Violence and Supernatural Echoes in New Zealand’s Gothic Comedy Films(Edinburgh University Press, 30/06/2024) Piatti-Farnell, Lorna; Nairn, AngeliqueItem Untethered: Resisting Unhelpful Assumptions About News Trust and Trust in Other Social Institutions(SAGE Publications, 20/06/2025) Myllylahti, Merja; Treadwell, GregIn both the academic and grey literature, trust in news is often connected with trust in other societal institutions, including governments, politics, businesses and non-governmental organisations. This study investigates, through a lens of social-contract theory, the extent to which we can be confident that trust in news is directly connected to trust in government and politics, and to trust in other social institutions. Using a general-elimination method, we compare trends in trust-based social relationships to see which connections between trust in the news and public institutions should be retained in future studies. To help identify these (dis)connections, we explore mixed-methods data from a longitudinal study in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our findings suggest trust in news is connected to changes in trust in other social institutions but is not tethered to them, encouraging exploration of bespoke solutions for trust issues facing public-interest journalism.Item Film Practitioners’ Perspectives on Australasia-China Co-production(Te Mātāpuna | AUT Library, 17/11/2022) Wang, XinmuFilm as a medium has become a tool to carry out the mission to serve the purposes of both economic gain and cultural communication in China (China Film Association, 2020). In addition, the “14th Five Year Plan” on China’s film development report highlighted that Chinese films will serve diplomatic outreach, promote co-productions and strengthen the international influence of Chinese cinema while demonstrating Chinese values (China Film Administration, 2021). The academic scholarship on Sino-foreign co-production has focused primarily on the textual analysis of co-produced films and China’s soft power (for example, Peng, 2015). In the existing scholarship, what has not been significantly researched and rarely addressed are the practitioners’ insights and practical experiences in Sino-foreign film co-production. Filling the gaps in this area, this PhD research project examines Sino-foreign co-production in the Australasian region to provide a comprehensive understanding of the practitioners’ perspectives, ideas, experiences, and strategies. Looking briefly at the critical review of related studies, in this presentation, I focus on an in-depth qualitative analysis of interview data with film practitioners and industry personnel who have worked in co-production film projects with China in the Australasian region. I explore and analyse the practitioners’ strategies and negotiations that have taken place in a few examples.