Dr Imke Henkel
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Overview
Overview
Biography
Imke Henkel's research interests include the intersection of media and politics, the role news media have in democracies, as well as comparative research, investigating the differences between digital and non-digital journalistic practices and ideologies in different countries. Imke is part of the Worlds of Journalism Study (https://worldsofjournalism.org/) as Co-Investigator for the UK data. Before joining Birkbeck, she taught Journalism at the University of Lincoln.
Previously, Imke has worked as a journalist for German national media. She trained as a radio journalist with Deutschlandfunk (a German equivalent of BBC Radio 4). Since 1999, she has covered British politics and economics for German media, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, and Focus magazine as London-based foreign correspondent. In 2010, her article “Young, Wild, Conservative” (published in Focus on April 12, 2010) was shortlisted for the Foreign Press Association Media Awards.
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Passau, Germany
- HE Fellowship, Advance HE
Web profiles
Administrative responsibilities
- Programme Director for MA Journalism and MA Investigative Reporting
Honours and awards
- BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant (SG2122\210958), British Academy, May 2022
- 2022 Tress prize in Arts and Humanities (for high quality research by early career researchers), Birkbeck, University of London, May 2022
ORCID
0000-0001-7754-7977 -
Research
Research
Research overview
I am interested in the role media perform in democracies. My research has explored how disinformation in news stories has been used to convey a Eurosceptic ideology, and how news stories display positive emotions to assert national superiority. I have also investigated how journalistic role conceptions differ across European countries, and how journalists' professional ideologies diverge depending on whether they work for digital or non-digital platforms. My recent book "Destructive Storytelling: Disinformation and the Eurosceptic Myth that Shaped Brexit" (published with Palgrave Macmillan in spring 2021) applies Roland Barthes' mythology to investigate why false news stories prevailed against fact-checking. My research was also published in peer reviewed journals including Journalism and Journalism Studies.
Research clusters and groups
- Co-Chair, Media and Democracy Working Group
- Co-Investigator for UK survey, Worlds of Journalism Study
Research projects
Exploring the democratic role of news media during Covid-19: Triangulating digital news outputs, journalists’ professional reflections, and audiences’ experiences in the UK and Germany.
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in any of the following research areas:
- digital media and democracy
- mis- and disinformation in news media
- journalists' role conceptions
Current doctoral researchers
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ARNE MOLFENTER
Teaching
Teaching modules
- Final Project / Dissertation / Portfolio (ARMC047D7)
- Researching Arts and Media (ARMC125S5)
- Investigative Project (ARMC236D7)
- Introduction to Investigative Reporting (ARMC237S7)
- Introduction to Investigative Reporting (ARMC237S7)
- Digital Journalism (FDME014S7)
- Digital Journalism (FDME014S7)
- Journalism and Politics (FFME013S5)
- Journalism and Politics (FFME013S5)
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Henkel, Imke (2021) Euphoric defiance: the role of positive emotions in the British Eurosceptic discourse. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism 22 (5), pp. 1223-1238. ISSN 1464-8849.
- Henkel, Imke and Thurman, N. and Möller, J. and Trilling, D. (2020) Do online, offline, and multiplatform journalists differ in their professional principles and practices? Findings from a multinational study. Journalism Studies 21 (10), pp. 1363-1383. ISSN 1461-670X.
- Henkel, Imke (2019) The witty Briton stands up to the European bully. How a populist myth helped the British Eurosceptics to win the 2016 EU referendum.. Politique européenne 2019/4 (66), pp. 72-94. ISSN 1623-6297.
- Henkel, Imke and Thurman, N. and Deffner, V. (2019) Comparing journalism cultures in Britain and Germany: confrontation, contextualization, conformity. Journalism Studies 20 (14), pp. 1995-2013. ISSN 1461-670X.
- Henkel, Imke (2018) How the laughing, irreverent Briton trumped fact-checking: a textual analysis of fake news in British newspaper stories about the EU. Journalism Education 6 (3), pp. 87-97. ISSN 2050-3930.
Book
- Henkel, Imke (2021) Destructive storytelling: disinformation and the Eurosceptic myth that shaped Brexit. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030695026.
- Henkel, Imke (1995) Lebens-Bilder. Untersuchungen zur Wahrnehmung im Romanwerk Heimito von Doderers. Observations about the concept of perception in Heimito von Doderer's novels. Mannheimer Beitraege zur Spach- und Literaturwissenschaft. 28, Tübingen, Germany: Gunter Narr. ISBN 9783823350286.
Book Section
- Henkel, Imke (2021) Ideology and disinformation: how false news stories contributed to Brexit. In: Lopez Garcia, G. and Palau Sampio, D. and Palomo, B. and Campos Dominguez, E. and Masip, P. (eds.) Politics of Disinformation. Wiley. ISBN 9781119743231. (In Press)
- Henkel, Imke (2014) The perils of ignoring the odd one out: what Europe (and Germany) can learn from Britain. In: Finkel, I. and Jungclaussen, J.F. and Littger, P. and Ryland, C. (eds.) Common Destiny vs. Marriage of Convenience. What do Britons and Germans Want From Europe?. Hamburg, Germany: ke7.net Publishing. pp. 36-46. ISBN 9783981503517.
- Henkel, Imke (1999) Professorenverguetung seit dem Mittelalter: vom Hoerergeld zur Vollversicherung Remuneration for university professors since the Middle Ages: from college tuition to all including salary. In: Ellermann, H. (ed.) Rohstoff Bildung: die deutsche Hochschule zwischen Wandel und Stillstand. Berlin, Germany: Ullstein TB. pp. 108-123. ISBN 9783548267012.
Other
- Henkel, Imke (2016) Support for Brexit is no longer minority viewpoint on the British left. EUROPP London School of Economics and Political Science.