Who
Maarit Jaakkola, Dr. Soc. Sc., associate professor, is a journalism and media researcher, teacher and educator living in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a background in Tampere, Finland. She speaks English, Swedish, Finnish and German.
Work
Jaakkola is working as the co-director of Nordicom, a centre for Nordic media research at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Jaakkola is also an associate professor in journalism at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMG) at the University of Gothenburg, and an adjunct professor in journalism at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC) at Tampere University.
At Nordicom, Jaakkola’s field of expertise is journalism content and media literacy, and she focuses on developing Nordic research collaborations and science communication that form the so-called third assignment of the university. She is the editor-in-chief and responsible editor of NordMedia Network, a digital platform for Nordic media and communication researchers that has since August 2022 a spin-off sister platform for African media researchers, AfroMedia Network. Jaakkola is also the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed scientific journal in cultural studies in Finland, Kulttuurintutkimus – Kulturstudier, and part of the editorial team of the international peer-reviewed journals Journal of Media Literacy Education (National Association for Media Literacy Education), Nordicom Review (Nordicom), Journal of Creative Communications (Sage) and Information & Media (Vilnius University Press). Until 2018, she was the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Nordicom Information, established in 1979.
Jaakkola co-founded the temporary working group (TWG) on media literacy at ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association), the Media Literacies and Communication Competencies (MLCC), and is chairing it since 2023. Furthermore, Jaakkola is the founder and coordinator of the Academic Forum for MIL Research at the Swedish Agency for the Media (Mediemyndigheten), a national platform for media literacy researchers in Sweden, as well as a member in different interdisciplinary research groups and networks such as the COST Action Network Language Plurality in Europe’s Changing Media Sphere (PLURIMEDIA), the Visual Media Literacy Group (VIMIK) at the Centre for Collaborative Visual Research (GPS400) and Research Group in Children’s Culture (BiG) at the University of Gothenburg. She has also been the chair of the Nordic collaboration committee for journalism education (2019–2022) and is currently a representative of the academic Nordic journalism schools in the World Journalism Education Council (WJEC). She has also been the co-lead of the UNESCO/UNAOC MILID University Network (2020–2022; MILID stands for “media & information literacy and intercultural dialogue”) and is currently a member of the North American and European regional chapter of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance (former GAPMIL). She has been a board member in a number of associations and projects related to media, journalism and education – among other things, the Media & Learning Association, GPS400: Centre for Collaborative Visual Research and Språkkraft (ongoing).
Research
Jaakkola’s research is interdisciplinary in its character and located at the intersection of questions related to journalism and media, culture, technology, and learning. Her research is anchored in the traditions and paradigms of journalism research, sociology of arts, cultural studies and media pedagogy. More specifically, her research interests include arts/cultural journalism, arts criticism, journalistic professionalisation and specialisation, as well as journalism as a form of public pedagogy. Moreover, she is also interested in questions of new literacies, public pedagogies and heutagogy (study of self-determined learning) in different contexts.
Jaakkola has authored the research monographs Reviewing culture online: Post-institutional cultural critique across platforms (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and Pedagogical opportunities of the review genre: Learning in cultures of evaluation (Routledge, 2024) on user-generated reviewing of cultural products. Her newest research monograph is titled Journalists as media educators: Pedagogies of journalistic production (Lexington Books/Bloomsbory, forthcoming). She has also authored academic textbooks such as Hyvä journalismi (Kansanvalistusseura, 2013) on journalistic work and practice, used as course literature in academic journalism study programmes in Finland, and AI-journalistik (Studentlitteratur, forthcoming, together with Jenny Wiik) on the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms. One of her most recent edited volumes is the international textbook Reporting on artificial intelligence: A handbook for journalism educators (UNESCO, 2023).
In addition, Jaakkola has written over 60 research articles and published her work on journalism in international peer-reviewed journals such as Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and International Journal of Cultural Studies. She has also authored articles on pedagogical issues related to media, published, for example, in Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research and Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. In addition, she has edited collections related to journalism and media literacy studies and acted as a peer reviewer for many leading academic journals, including Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, New Media & Society, and International Journal of Communication.
Education
Jaakkola defended her dissertation The contested autonomy of arts and journalism: Change and continuity in the dual professionalism of cultural journalism in 2015. She holds a Licentiate’s degree in Journalism (2010) as well as Master’s degrees in Journalism (2005, Master of Social Sciences) and German Philology (nowadays German Language and Literature; 2008, Master of Philosophy).
Jaakkola obtained her teacher’s education at the University of Tampere in Finland in 2005, with specialization in social sciences and media education. She also has a Swedish teacher’s certificate granted by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket), with eligibility to teach in subjects related to media, communication and culture in the upper secondary school, as well as Finnish language as a national minority (second) language (Stockholm University) in primary school and upper secondary school and Swedish as a second language (Linnæus University) in primary school. In 2000–2010, she worked in Finland as a teacher in journalism at upper secondary schools specialized in media and communication, and she also worked as the head of the communications study programme with a national admission at the upper secondary school. She has also given journalism and communication courses at all grades, ranging from universities of applied sciences to folk high schools. She holds an exam in educational administration and management approved by the Finnish National Board of Education, and she has taken a number of courses in university pedagogy (more than 60 ECTS).
During the years, Jaakkola has complemented her education with short courses in e-learning, didactics, theories and didactics of multilingualism, digital research methods as well as leadership and management, including a university-intern mentorship programme in academic leadership and the mentorship programme for female leaders provided by the Finland Chamber of Commerce. However, the best way of lifelong learning is, according to her, to organize a course, seminar or workshop in the context of continuing education by herself. Recently, she has been delivering courses for researchers, doctoral students and practitioners of different occupations on media or digital literacies, the different uses (academic, journalistic, educational, everyday communicative) of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media, scientific writing and publishing, as well as research outreach work.
Previous work experience
Previously, Jaakkola worked over 15 years at Tampere University, holding the permanent position of a Lecturer in Journalism at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC). She also worked at the Tampere University of Technology (now part of the newly established Tampere University) as a senior lecturer in organizational communication. She has given courses in journalism theory, journalistic practice, the journalistic uses of social media, online journalism, and media criticism. As part of her work, she has developed a pedagogical model for journalistic internship and career counseling, embedded in academic journalism training and work simulation. In her teaching, she got early on interested in integrating social media and e-learning tools in her teaching and is developing online-related pedagogies and has been part of many educational development projects such as creating e-lecturing from universities to public schools, wiki pedagogy, and the digitalization of the upper secondary school exams.
In 2000–2011, Jaakkola worked as an upper-secondary-school teacher in media and communication, delivering courses in journalism, media production, visual and digital cultures and other media-relevant topics. She was also the head of a communication study programme at a Finnish upper secondary school with a national specialization assignment for media studies. Besides her teaching, she coordinated teachers’ regional networks with a focus on e-learning and digital pedagogical competences.
To combine her pedagogical experience and theoretical knowledge, Jaakkola worked in 2007–2013 as an educator for professionals within continuing education, mainly for teachers and journalists. In 2007, she founded the national media literacy network Mediaskooppi, the idea of which was to teach teachers and adults the use of information and communication technology (ICT) with inspiration and ideas borrowed from young people’s digital cultures. The working method in Mediaskooppi’s workshops was based on youth-led supervision and guidance and a structured practice drawing on socio-cultural animation. Mediaskooppi organised seminars, workshops and lectures where young people, aged from 16 to 20, took the lead. Mediaskooppi co-operated with Finnish municipalities, authorities, associations and companies, such as the biggest cities in Finland, the Finnish National Board of Education, Youth Academy, and CIMO.
As an independent educator, Jaakkola also regularly worked as a teachers’ educator for Educode, the Finnish national centre for teachers’ continuing education (former Opeko). She contributed to the introduction of a new concept of educational mass events, Treduka (2015, 2018) for 3,000 primary school teachers and Vasu-päivä (2017) for 2,500 pre-school teachers. She was also a co-author of Jukola (Sanoma Pro, 2016), a textbook in Finnish language and literature for the upper secondary school.
Additionally, Jaakkola has worked as a staff journalist for the largest Nordic daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the Finnish Press Agency STT-Lehtikuva, the public broadcasting company YLE and the regional newspaper Aamulehti, and as a press officer at the Tampere International Film Festival. As a freelancer journalist and educational consultant, she has worked for dozens of other organizations, for example, delivering tailor-made courses and guest lectures, conducting on-demand analyses and contributing to development projects.
Other current activities
Jaakkola is engaged as a mentor in a number of mentorship programs in Sweden (e.g. Öppet hus, Yrkesdörren) and Finland (e.g. Suomen mentorit ry), coaching young people to find their career paths by combining their strengths in the unique mix of media, language, communication and cultural competences they possess. Mentoring and coaching is natural continuation of teaching at different levels of schooling, and the annual summer schools and pre-conferences that Jaakkola has been involved in organizing for doctoral students and junior researchers in the Nordic and Baltic countries – for example, the Baltic summer school for cultural journalism, the pre-conference of the NordMedia Conference and the master class in scientific writing and publishing in cultural studies in Finland.
Jaakkola is also involved in activities focusing on the national minority language Finnish in Sweden and the related national minority culture(s) of Sweden-Finns. In 2023, she was elected to a member of the board of the Sweden-Finnish Delegation, the national umbrella organization for Sweden-Finnish organizations, in 2021 to a member of the advisory board of the national language centre for Finnish at the Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof) established by the Swedish Government, and in 2023 to the consultative group for grant applications of the national minorities at the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet). Previously, she was the first vice-chair of the Swedish-Finnish Council of the City of Gothenburg, as well as the chair of its reference group Language and Education and the vice-chair of the reference group Culture. Together with professor emerita Leena Huss she has launched a network (2022) and an association (2024) dedicated to research focusing on the national minority of Sweden-Finns and Finnish language in Sweden. In 2021–2023, she was involved in the Erasmus+ project PEaCH (Preserving and Promoting Europe’s Cultural and Linguistic Heritage through Empowerment of Bilingual Children and Families) as a Swedish bilingual parent ambassador, and since 2024 she is the research liaison partner of the continuation project Bilingual Family, an international non-profit organization registered in Scotland. She is also actively involved in producing local cultural events such as literary events and workshops related to the Finnish language and Sweden-Finnish culture around Sweden.