Monash Journalism staff: Dr Louise North
Latest work
The Gendered Newsroom is a vivid exploration of the gendered production of news - and in particular the experiences of women – in the Australian print news media. The book engages with the question of how gender shapes newsroom culture and in so doing is concerned with production practices and cultural processes. It considers the dilemmas, constraints, negotiations and compromises which shape journalists’ day-to-day routines.
North’s astute empirical research provides a distinctive account of how Australian print news media journalists experience newsroom culture. The in-depth interviews with journalists ranging in age and industry experience reveal a complex culture coming to terms with dramatic industry change.
Senior lecturer
Dr Louise North is a Senior Lecturer in the Journalism program. She has written extensively on gender and newsroom culture and has taught in the disciplines of Sociology, Gender Studies, Journalism and Media Studies. Her work has appeared in international and national scholarly journals. Her first book, The Gendered Newsroom, is due to be published in early 2009 by US publisher Hampton Press.
Before joining Monash in late 2008, Louise lectured in Journalism, Media and Communications at the University of Tasmania. There she co-ordinated the Feature Writing and Professional Placement units. She also lectured in the first year Journalism and Media Studies program and the Honours unit Media Research Methodology.
Louise has worked as a print journalist for 19 years on regional, suburban and metropolitan newspapers in South Australian, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. She has also worked for the Australian Associated Press (AAP). Her last industry post in 2007 was as Regional Editor for the News Ltd suburban stable Messenger Newspapers in Adelaide.
Louise’s PhD, “The Gendered Newsroom: Embodied Subjectivity and Changing World of Media”, received a University of Tasmania Dean’s Commendation Award in 2007.
Current projects
Louise is the Regional Research Co-ordinator (Australia, New Zealand and Fiji) for the international media study, Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media. The project is supported by the US-based organisation International Women’s Media Foundation.
Research interests
Louise’s research has focused on the gendered aspects of news production in the print media, exploring the dilemmas, constraints, negotiations and compromises which shape journalists’ day-to-day routines in a rapidly changing, globalised industry. Her research is located within a theoretical framework underpinned by feminist media studies about news, while also drawing from journalism studies, media studies, cultural studies, the sociology of media, and organisational and occupational studies.
Research supervision
Louise enjoys encouraging higher research students to develop their ideas and their research and establish a publication record. Her areas of supervision and expertise include:
- Newsroom culture
- Journalism Studies
- Feminist Media Studies
- Media ethics
Publications
Books
- 2009: The Gendered Newsroom. Cresskill, HJ: Hampton Press
Refereed journal articles
- 2009: "Gendered experiences of industry change and the effects of neoliberalism", Journalism Studies
- 2009: "Blokey Newsroom Culture", Media International Australia
- 2009. "Rejecting the ‘F’- Word: How Feminism and Feminists are Understood in the Newsroom", Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, vol. 10(6).
- 2007, " ‘Just a Little Bit of Cheeky Ribaldry’?: Newsroom Discourses of Sexually Harassing Behaviour", Feminist Media Studies, vol. 7(1): 81-96.
- 2004,"Naked Women, Feminism and Newsroom Culture", Australian Journal of Communication, vol.31(2):53-68.
Review articles
- Meikle, Graham 2009, /Interpreting News/, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, in /Media International Australia
- 2008: Creedon, P J and J Cramer 2007, /Women in Mass Communication/ (3^rd ed), Thousand Oaks, Sage, in /Media International Australia, / iss.127, pp.188-9.
Papers presented
- 2009: '/Blokes, ‘Biffo’ and Newsroom Culture', / Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) conference, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, July 8-10.
- 2005. ‘Just a Little Bit of Cheeky Ribaldry’?: Newsroom Discourses of Sexually Harassing Behaviour", Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) conference, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, July 4-7.
- 2005. Global Industry Change and its Implications in the Newsroom: A Gendered Analysis", Labour and Gender Studies seminar series, University of Adelaide, October 8.
- 2004. Naked Women, Feminism and Newsroom Culture, Removing the Boundaries, University of Tasmania, Hobart, August 6.
- 2004. Naked Women, Feminism and Newsroom Culture, Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) conference, University of Sydney, July 7-9. (Grant Noble Prize for best postgraduate paper)
- 2003. Naked Women, Feminism and Subjectivities in the Newsroom, 9th Australasian Philosophy Postgraduate Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart, October.
- 2001. Myths, Morals and Makeovers: How the Print Media Portrays Abortion, Abortion Providers Federation of Australasia biennial conference, Novotel Hotel, Adelaide, November 3-4.
- 2000. How the Media Positions Women, Tasmanian Government Lobbying and Media Skills Workshop, Hobart, November 9-11.
