Areas of interest:
- Crisis communication
- Mediatized conflicts
- Media anthropology
- Humanitarian communication
Current research projects:
I-Witnessing: Global Crisis Reporting Through the Amateur Lens (2011-2012). This international comparative research project examines how major news organizations and their audiences are responding to the growing availability of user-generated content (with special reference to citizen produced imagery) in Finland, Sweden and the UK. This project’s focus on citizen contributions to news reporting, in particular crisis reporting, offers a distinctive vantage point to examine key aspects of the changing media environment (e.g. “participatory media culture”, “crisis of journalism”).
Past research projects:
Charlie Bit My Finger! What the News Media Can Learn from YouTube? research project (2010-2011) aims at offering new knowledge about the use of visual communication media and how YouTube establishes communality and a sense of belonging in today’s media-saturated society. The project is carried out by the Communication Research Centre at the Department of Communication, University of Helsinki. The project is funded by Helsingin Sanomat Foundation.
The Role of the Finnish Red Cross in the Organization and Communication of an Acute Crisis research project (2010). The main focus is on the crisis communication of the Finnish Red Cross and its operations as an organizer in an acute crisis. The project on the Finnish Red Cross is closely related to the Crisis and Communication Research Project, where the co-operation of the local and regional authorities and the voluntary rescue service has emerged as an essential section of the study. The previous study have shown that in the Asian tsunami, school shootings of Jokela and Kauhajoki and Nokia water crisis the roles and the responsibilities of the authorities and the voluntary rescue service are confused. The operations of the Finnish Red Cross are directed by law. This makes the role of the Finnish Red Cross different from the roles of other voluntary agencies. The project is funded by the Finnish Red Cross and carried out by the Communication Research Centre at the Department of Social Research.
Summary in English
Research report in Finnish (pdf)
Crisis and Communication: A Comparative Study research project (2007-2009) was carried out by the Communication Research Centre at the Department of Communication, the University of Helsinki. The aim of the project was to analyse the social and cultural implications of different types of crises from Nokia town water crisis to the Jokela and Kauhajoki school shooting. The project was funded funded by Helsingin Sanomat Foundation.
Recent publications:
Sumiala, Johanna & Tikka, Minttu (2011) Reality on Circulation – School Shootings, Ritualised Communication, and the Dark Side of the Sacred. ESSACHESS. Journal for Communication Studies, vol. 4(8).
Sumiala, Johanna & Tikka, Minttu (2011) Visualizing Globalized Fears: School Shooting Videos and Circulation of Violence on YouTube. Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale vol. 19(3).
Tikka, Minttu & Sumiala, Johanna (2010) YouTuben medialogiikkaa etsimässä. IPR-info 5/2010, 22-23.
Tikka, Minttu, Hakala, Salli & Pedak, Maarit (2010) Kriisi, SPR ja mediayhteiskunta. Suomen Punaisen Ristin organisoituminen kotimaisissa kriiseissä. Viestinnän tutkimuskeskus CRC/ Viestinnän tutkimusraportteja 1/2010 Helsinki. Helsinki: Yliopistopaino.
Sumiala, Johanna & Tikka Minttu (2009) ”Netti edellä” kuolemaan – koulusurmat kommunikatiivisena ilmiönä. Media & Viestintä vol. 32(2).
Tikka, Minttu (2009) Kirja-arvio kirjasta Huhtala, Hannele & Hakala, Salli (2007) Kriisi ja viestintä. Yhteiskunnallisten kriisien johtaminen julkisuudessa. Työ ja ihminen 1/2009
Conference papers and activities:
