Biography summary
Kristy's research focuses on the relationship between journalism, place-making and social order, especially in local and digital settings. She is interested in issues of media power and how everyday media-related practices inform understandings of news sustainability in the digital era. She also examines centre/periphery tensions, especially in regards to perceptions of the rural, local and agricultural issues. Kristy is the co-author of two books (Palgrave, Routledge), co-editor of two published edited collections (Routledge) and is the associate editor of Digital Journalism (Routledge). She is currently a chief investigator on two projects funded by the Australian Research Council. Kristy is especially passionate about education and training of practicing journalists in local/regional settings and encouraging media professionals to pursue life-long learning.
Research interests
local, hyperlocal and community news; media power and society, media, social capital and civic participation, journalistic place-making, media, rurality and agriculture.
Teaching interests
Units taught
ALJ111
ALJ304
Honours supervision
Phd supervision in areas of digital journalism, local, rural and agricultural communication, media and place-making, media, social order and civic participation.
Awards
- Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education Mid Career Researcher Award - 2019
- Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education Early Career Researcher Award - 2018
- National Teaching Excellence Award nomination, 2015
- OLT Citation for teaching excellence, 2014
- APA Scholarship PhD University of South Australia 2010-2013
- Deakin University Vice Chancellor Award for Teaching Excellence ,2009
- Deakin University Vice Chancellor Award for Contribution to Rural and Regional Engagement, 2009
- Dean's award for excellence in team teaching 2009
- Deakin University Faculty of Arts & Education teaching award for an early career
teacher, 2008.
Projects
FOR RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS PLEASE VIEW https://deakin.academia.edu/KristyHess
CURRENT ARC PROJECTS
Lead investigator LP18010013 'Media Innovation and the civic future of Australia's country press 2019-2022 (with Prof. Lisa Waller (RMIT), Prof. Matthew Ricketson (Deakin).
Chief Investigator DP190101282 'Breaking Silences: Media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission' 2019-2022 (with Prof. Kerry McCallum (University of Canberra), Assoc Prof Tanya Dreher (UNSW), Prof. Lisa Waller (RMIT).
OTHER CURRENT FUNDED PROJECTS
Chief investigator 'Social impact of war in a regional Australian setting', Department of Veteran Affairs Saluting their Sevice Community Commenorative Grant 2019-2020 (with Dr Sarah Pinto (Deakin)).
Publications
Gabi Mocatta, Eve Mayes, Kristy Hess, Michael Everitt Hartup
(2022), pp. 1-21, Media Culture and Society, London, Eng., C1
Local newspapers and coronavirus: conceptualising connections, comparisons and cures
K Hess, L Waller
(2021), Vol. 178, pp. 21-35, Media International Australia, C1
M Magasic, K Hess
(2021), Vol. 43, pp. 99-114, Australian Journalism Review, C1
Local journalism and the ethics of inquiry
Kristy Hess, Kerry McCallum, Lisa Waller, Alanna Myers
(2021), Vol. 18, pp. 20-35, Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics, Suffolk, Eng., C1
Local newspaper audience survey National report 2021
Kristy Hess, LISA WALLER, A Blakston, J Lai
(2021), Geelong, Vic, A6
Exploring the social. A report on Facebook users who don't read local newspapers
Kristy Hess, LISA WALLER, A Blakston, J Lai
(2021), Geelong, Vic., A6
Local journalism in Australia: policy debates
Kristy Hess, Lisa Waller
(2020), pp. 102-111, Routledge companion to local media and journalism, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Going glocal: Local journalism and global ethics
Kristy Hess, Ian Richards
(2020), pp. 635-654, Handbook of Global Media Ethics, Berlin, Germany, B1
Kristy Hess, Sarah Pinto
(2020), Vol. 26, pp. 105-121, Media history, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Lisa Waller, Tania Dreher, Kristy Hess, Kerry McCallum, Eli Skogerbo
(2020), Vol. 21, pp. 180-196, Journalism studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Moral compass: How a small-town newspaper used silence in a hyper-charged controversy
K Hess, L Waller
(2020), Vol. 21, pp. 574-590, Journalism, C1
Placeification: The Transformation of Digital News Spaces into "Places" of Meaning
R Gutsche,, K Hess
(2020), Vol. 8, pp. 586-595, Digital Journalism, C1
Charting the media innovations landscape for regional and rural newspapers
K Hess, L Waller
(2020), Vol. 42, pp. 59-75, Australian Journalism Review, C1
Contesting communities: Reimagining journalism and social order
Robert Gutsche, Kristy Hess
(2020), pp. 473-482, Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World., London, Eng., A7
Geographies of journalism: the imaginative power of place in making digital news
Robert Gutsche Jr., K Hess
(2019), Abingdon, Eng., A1
K Hess
(2019), pp. 88-99, Digitizing democracy, Abingdon, Eng., B1
LIsa Waller, Kristy Hess
(2019), pp. 1-6, International encyclopaedia of journalism studies, Hoboken, N.J., B1
Navigating the scholarly terrain: introducing the digital journalism studies compass
S Eldridge, K Hess, E Tandoc, O Westlund
(2019), Vol. 7, pp. 386-403, Digital journalism, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Total eclipse of the social: what journalism can learn from the fundamentals of Facebook*
K Hess, R Gutsche
(2019), Vol. 13, pp. 1013-1017, Journalism practice, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Local and hyperlocal journalism
K Hess, Lisa Waller
(2018), pp. 144-159, Oxford research encyclopedia of communication, Oxford, Eng., B1
K Hess, R Gutsche
(2018), pp. 1-16, Journalism Studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Communication life line? ABC emergency broadcasting in rural/regional Australia
J Freeman, K Hess, L Waller
(2018), Vol. 4, pp. 342-360, Communication research and practice, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Contesting Communities: The problem of journalism and social order
R Gutsche, K Hess
(2018), Vol. 12, pp. 136-145, Journalism Practice, C1
Community and hyperlocal journalism: a 'sustainable' model?
K Hess, L waller
(2017), pp. 194-203, Routledge companion to digital journalism studies, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Shifting foundations: journalism and the power of the 'common good'
K Hess
(2017), Vol. 18, pp. 801-816, Journalism, London, Eng., C1
Making inroads: a critical examination of the ABC's commitment to local news
J Freeman, K Hess, L Waller
(2017), Vol. 165, pp. 117-130, Media international Australia, London, Eng., C1
L Waller, K Hess, J Freeman, M Ricketson
(2017), Geelong, Vic., A6
Mixed fortunes: examining circulation rise and decline in two Victorian news communities
K Hess
(2017), Flemington, Vic., A6
Witness, judge or watchdog?: Journalism and regional courts
K Hess, L Waller
(2016), pp. 120-128, Locating crime in context and place, Sydney, N.S.W., B1
River flows and profit flows: The powerful logic driving local news
K Hess, L Waller
(2016), Vol. 17, pp. 263-276, Journalism Studies, C1-1
Hip to be Hyper: The subculture of excessively local news
K Hess, L Waller
(2016), Vol. 4, pp. 193-210, Digital Journalism, C1
Ritual power: Illuminating the blind spot of births, deaths and marriages in news media research
K Hess
(2016), Vol. 17, pp. 511-526, Journalism, C1
Power to the virtuous? Civic culture in the changing digital terrain
K Hess
(2016), Vol. 17, pp. 925-934, Journalism studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Rethinking news media and local government: journalism, politics and symbolic power
K Hess, L waller
(2016), Vol. 38, pp. 5-17, Australian journalism review, Bathurst, N.S.W., C1
L Waller, K Hess, K Demetrious
(2016), Vol. 38, pp. 47-60, Australian journalism review, Adelaide, Sth. Aust., C1
Community journalism in Australia: a media power perspective
K Hess, L Waller
(2015), Vol. 4, pp. 2-9, Community journalism, Texas, U.S., C1
Friend or foe? Regional newspapers and the power of Facebook
K Hess, K Bowd
(2015), Vol. 156, pp. 19-28, Media international Australia, Thousand Oaks, Calif., C1
The digital pillory: media shaming of 'ordinary' people for minor crimes
K Hess, L Waller
(2014), Vol. 28, pp. 101-111, Continuum: journal of media & cultural studies, Abingdon, England, C1
Geo-social journalism: reorienting the study of small commercial newspapers in a digital environment
K Hess, L Waller
(2014), Vol. 8, pp. 121-136, Journalism practice, Abingdon, England, C1
Are there news gaps in rural/regional Australia? Researching media plurality beyond Finkelstein
L Waller, K Hess, M Ricketson
(2014), Vol. 36, pp. 157-169, Australian journalism review, Adelaide, S.Aust., C1
Making connections: mediated social capital and the small town press
K Hess
(2014), Vol. 16, pp. 482-496, Journalism studies, London, Eng., C1-1
Naming and shaming: a report on media shaming for minor crimes in Victoria
K Hess, L Waller
(2014), Geelong, Vic., A6-1
Breaking Boundaries : recasting the "local" newspaper as "geo-social" news in a digital landscape
K Hess
(2013), Vol. 1, pp. 48-63, Digital journalism, Abingdon, Eng., C1
K Hess
(2013), Vol. 23, pp. 112-130, Communication theory, London, England, C1
News judgements: a critical examination of reporting non-convictions for minor crimes
K Hess, L Waller
(2013), Vol. 35, pp. 59-70, Australian journalism review, Magill, South Australia, C1
Honk against homophobia : rethinking relations between media and sexual minorities
P Venzo, K Hess
(2013), Vol. 60, pp. 1539-1556, Journal of homosexuality, Abingdon, England, C1
'The Snowtown we know and love' : small newspapers and heinous crimes
K Hess, L Waller
(2012), Vol. 21, pp. 116-125, Rural society, Maleny, Qld., C1
Blockbusters for the youtube generation : a new product of convergence culture
K Hess, L Waller
(2011), Vol. 19, pp. 1-12, Refractory : a journal of entertainment media, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Packaged good : responses from Australian journalism educators on the Reporting Diversity project
K Hess, L Waller
(2011), Vol. 17, pp. 11-26, Pacific journalism review, Auckland, New Zealand, C1
The pillory effect : media, the courts and the punitive role of public shaming in Australia
L Waller, K Hess
(2011), Vol. 16, pp. 229-240, Media and arts law review, Chatswood, N.S.W., C1
Teaching journalism students and regional reporters how to work with cultural diversity
K Hess, L Waller
(2010), pp. 137-152, Asia Pacific media educator, Wollongong, N.S.W., C1
Play it again, Sam : How journalists cashed in on Youtube's favourite koala
K Hess, L Waller
(2009), Vol. 31, pp. 75-84, Australian journalism review, St. Lucia, Qld., C1
K Hess, L Waller
(2008), Vol. 9, pp. 151-159, Asia Pacific public relations journal, Geelong, Vic., C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Breaking silences: Media, marginalised voices and the child abuse royal commission
A/Prof Kerry McCallum, Dr Tanja Dreher, Prof Kristy Hess, Prof Lisa Waller, Prof Eli Skogerbo
ARC - Discovery Projects
- 2022: $700
- 2021: $9,948
- 2020: $16,344
- 2019: $10,120
Media innovation and the civic future of Australia's country press
Prof Kristy Hess, Prof Lisa Waller, Prof Matthew Ricketson, Bruce Morgan
ARC Linkage - Projects
- 2021: $47,689
- 2020: $72,432
- 2019: $35,025
Other Public Sector Funding
Taking notice: the social and emotional impact of war in a regional Australian community
Dr Sarah Pinto, Prof Kristy Hess
Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program
- 2019: $2,844
Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.
Prof Rebecca Lester, Dr Ashley Macqueen, Mr David Downie, Prof Kristy Hess
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
- 2022: $250,000
- 2021: $375,000
Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub - Agri - innovation extension.
Prof Rebecca Lester, Dr Ashley Macqueen, Prof Kristy Hess, Ms Kirsten Diprose
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
- 2022: $343,351
Industry and Other Funding
Naming and shaming: A multi-perspectival view of media shaming for minor crimes and its relationship to the courts
A/Prof Lisa Waller, Prof Kristy Hess
VIC Law Foundation Grant - Research
- 2014: $2,000
- 2013: $3,000
Mixed Fortunes: An examination of circulation rise and decline in two Victorian news communities
Prof Kristy Hess
Country Press Australia Incorporated
- 2016: $4,558
Media innovation and the civic future of Australia's country press
Prof Kristy Hess, Prof Lisa Waller, Prof Matthew Ricketson, Bruce Morgan
Country Press Australia Incorporated
- 2020: $20,000
- 2019: $20,000
Brophy-Deakin Research and Evaluation partnership-key deliverables.
Prof Vincent Versace, A/Prof Kevin Mc Namara, Prof Kristy Hess, Ms Kate Schlicht, Mr Chris Healey, Mrs Hannah Beks, Dr Anna Wong Shee
Brophy Family & Youth Services Incorporated
- 2022: $45,000
Supervisions
Marco Magasic
Thesis entitled: Mining for News: Examining the impacts of a local newspaper¿s closure in the Australian town of Lightning Ridge
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts