University of Wollongong academic Julie Posetti will move to Paris for 12 months to investigate the future of journalism.
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A prestigious research fellowship will place Ms Posetti at the heart of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) as she advances her PhD on the "Twitterisation of journalism". As well, using $20,000 in federal governing funding, Ms Posetti will arrange internships at WAN-IFRA for up to 10 UOW journalism students.
WAN-IFRA is a trade organisation that promotes press freedom, quality journalism, and new businesses and technology in the industry. It represents more than 18,000 news publications and 15,000 online sites in more than 120 countries.
"I'll get the chance to work with editors, journalists and news publishing organisations globally," Ms Posetti said.
"This sort of access amounts to an enormous privilege."
The opportunity arose after Ms Posetti visited WAN-IFRA in July to deliver a seminar on her research, which looks at how social media has disrupted traditional modes of newsgathering and reporting.
Her PhD is concerned with the challenges and opportunities social media has stirred up for journalists - the question of whether a journalist should report on information gleaned on Twitter, for instance, bypassing traditional methods of verification.
"Ultimately, there will need to be professionals who are funded, on a daily basis, to deliver content that is trustworthy, that will rise above the masses of information that can confuse and confound," Ms Posetti said.