I'm a scholarship doctoral candidate with the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. I hold a BA in Media Studies and English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington, and an Honours degree in Media and Communication from UOC. My research focuses on the political economy of the mass media, and non-parliamentary modes of mediated democratic participation and social activism, with a particular focus on the Internet and public spheres.

My thesis aims to provide a new model of Neo-Habermasian public sphere theory, and uses hacktivism as a portal into this reformulation. I've been a research assistant for several departmental projects, including a large-scale content analysis of the media coverage of the 2008 New Zealand general election, and the the past and present state of alternative and underground media in New Zealand, and have taught classes in introductory mass communication, media and conflict, media and social change, journalism, and advertising and cultural consumption.

Feel free to get in touch with me with any further questions,
Tessa