- Dodds, T., Arafat, R. and Yeung, W.N. (2024). Bound by Exile: Exploring Kinship Dynamics and Role Perceptions among Diaspora Journalists. Journalism Studies. doi:10.1080/1461670x.2024.2366344.
- Arafat, R. and Porlezza, C. (2023). Exploring News Innovations, Journalistic Routines, and Role Perceptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Egyptian Journalists. Journalism Studies, 24(14), pp. 1775–1796. doi:10.1080/1461670x.2023.2192295.
- Blumell, L.E., Mulupi, D. and Arafat, R. (2023). The Impact of Sexual Harassment on Job Satisfaction in Newsrooms. Journalism Practice pp. 1–20. doi:10.1080/17512786.2023.2227613.
- Arafat, R. (2022). Rethinking digital media use for diasporic political participation: An investigation into journalism advocacy, digital activism, and democratic divides (Dissertation summary). Studies in Communication Sciences, 22(3). doi:10.24434/j.scoms.2022.03.3878.
- Porlezza, C. and Arafat, R. (2022). Promoting Newsafety from the Exile: The Emergence of New Journalistic Roles in Diaspora Journalists’ Networks. Journalism Practice, 16(9), pp. 1867–1889. doi:10.1080/17512786.2021.1925947.
- Arafat, R. (2021). Examining Diaspora Journalists’ Digital Networks and Role Perceptions: A Case Study of Syrian Post-Conflict Advocacy Journalism. Journalism Studies, 22(16), pp. 2174–2196. doi:10.1080/1461670x.2021.1990110.
- Arafat, R.K. (2020). Rethinking framing and news values in gamified journalistic contexts: A comparative case study of Al Jazeera’s interactive games. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(3), pp. 550–571. doi:10.1177/1354856520918085.
- Arafat, R.K. (2020). Between authoritarianism and democracy: Examining news media usage for political re-socialization and information acquisition in diasporic contexts. Journal of Global Diaspora & Media, 1(1), pp. 15–33. doi:10.1386/gdm_00002_1.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
About
Overview
Dr. Rana Arafat is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Digital Journalism in the department of journalism at City, University of London. She holds a PhD degree in journalism and political communication from the Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG) at Universita della Svizzera italiana in Switzerland (Summa cum laude, highest distinction). She is the recipient of the 2022 AEJMC Nafziger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award, the 2022 SGKM Best Dissertation Award by the Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research, and the 2021 Best Dissertation Award presented by the Activism, Communication and Social Justice Division (ACSJ) in the International Communication Association (ICA).
Before joining City University of London, she was appointed as a teaching and research assistant at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society in Università della Svizzera italiana where she was responsible for co-teaching and co-supervising MA students’ projects. From 2013 to 2017, she worked as an assistant lecturer of journalism at the department of media in the College of Language and Communication (CLC) at the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, a leading educational institution in Egypt.
Her research agenda focuses on examining activist/advocacy journalism, conflict reporting, and journalism innovations including news gamification and the adoption of automation and AI technologies in newsrooms. Her research appears in top peer-reviewed journals including Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Studies in Communication Sciences, Convergence, and others. She is the current Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R) Chair of the Broadcast and Mobile Journalism (BAMJ) Division in AEJMC
Along with her solid academic track, Dr. Arafat has an eight-year experience as a journalist in many local and international newspapers and magazines. From 2012 to 2013, she worked as a full-time environment and culture reporter in Egypt Independent newspaper where she was responsible for writing daily articles about the Egyptian contemporary art scene, the latest literary works, and the important cultural events in the Arab region. From 2014 to 2018, she worked as a part-time society, arts, and culture reporter in Daily News Egypt newspaper where she was committed to writing about the latest trends in the Egyptian society's culture, lifestyle, and civil society initiatives. On the international level, she wrote for the print and online editions of the German Orange magazine, the Finnish Ilta-Sanomat newspaper, and the Swiss Saint-Gallen symposium magazine and she occasionally write for the European Journalism Observatory operated by City, University of London.
Academic Awards
Mar. 2023 Transformational Research Award (Honorable Mention), the Social Justice + Media Symposium, Nevada, USA.
Aug. 2022 AEJMC Nafziger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
(AEJMC).
May 2022 Wolfgang Donsbach Outstanding Journal Article of the Year Award, Journalism Studies Division, the International
Communication Association (ICA)
May 2022 Top Poster Award, Journalism Studies Division, the International Communication Association (ICA)
Apr. 2022 SACM Best Dissertation Award. The Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research.
May 2021 ACSJ Best Dissertation Award. Activism, Communication and Social Justice Division, the International Communication
Association (ICA).
Aug. 2021 Top Faculty Paper (Second Place). Newspaper and Online News Division (NOND), Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
Apr. 2021 Top Paper Award (PhD Holder), ECREA Migrant Belongings. Digital Practices and the Everyday Conference, Utrecht
University
July 2020 The 2020 Dallas Smythe Prize, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).
Oct.2019 Best Paper Award (Honorable Mention), European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA): Digital
Fortress Europe: Exploring boundaries between media, migration and Technology Conference, Brussels.
Dec. 2016 Cairo University's appreciation certificate for the significant contribution to the Egyptian media scene.
Grants and Fellowships
2017 Recipient of the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship to support PhD studies in Switzerland
2020 Recipient of the Swiss National Science Foundation's (SNFS) Early Postdoc Mobility grant to fund postdoctoral studies in
London.
2019 Full grant to participate in ECREA Doctoral Summer School for media and communication in Estonia
2018 Full grant to participate in the Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut held by the American Lebanese University in
Beirut
2015 Full grant to participate in the Foreign Correspondents' Program organized by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Journalism and Political Communication, Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland, 2017 – 2021
- Master's degree in International Journalism, Cairo University, Egypt, 2013 – 2016
Postgraduate training
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom, 2021 – 2022
Languages
Arabic and English.
Publications
Publications by category
Chapters (2)
- Porlezza, C. and Arafat, R. (2024). Promoting Newsafety from the Exile: The Emergence of New Journalistic Roles in Diaspora Journalists' Networks. Journalism and Safety (pp. 129–152). Routledge.
- Arafat, R. (2023). Reporting on the Syrian conflict from exile. In Galal, E., Shehata, M. and Pedersen, C.V. (Eds.), Middle Eastern Diasporas and Political Communication (pp. 161–181). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-03-243029-4.