QUT | Staff Profiles | T.J. Thomson

Name

Dr T.J. Thomson

Position(s)

Senior Lecturer
Faculty of CI, Education & Social Justice,
School of Communication

Discipline *

Communication and Media Studies, Journalism and Professional Writing

Phone

+61 7 3138 5919

Email

tj.thomson@qut.edu.au

Location

View location details (QUT staff and student access only)

Identifiers and profiles

Qualifications

PhD, Journalism (University of Missouri), MA, Journalism (University of Missouri), Graduate Certificate, Qualitative Research (University of Missouri), BA, Communication Arts (Other)

Professional memberships and associations

International Liaison, Visual Communication Studies Division, International Communication Association
Member, Visual Communication Studies Division, The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (USA)
Member, Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia
Member, European Communication Research & Education Association
Member, Society for Phenomenology & Media

Keywords

visual communication, visual journalism, journalism, media production, self-representation, visual representation, visual depictions, image culture, visual literacy, visual sociology

* Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008

Dr T.J. Thomson, SFHEA, is a senior lecturer in visual communication and media and a chief investigator at the QUT Digital Media Research Centre. He recently published “To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images” (winner of the NCA 2020 Diane S. Hope Book of the Year Award) and is the 2019 Anne Dunn Scholar of the Year (jointly bestowed by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia and the Australia and New Zealand Communication Association).

T.J. is a chief investigator on the Australian Research Council-funded Amplifying Voices from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Discovery Project ($310,672, 2020-23) and has also received research funding from the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

T.J. undertakes research, postgraduate supervision, and media commentary in the following areas:

visual communication
visual journalism
media production
visual culture
journalism studies

Google Scholar Profile — click here

Focus and approach

T.J.’s research focuses on how visual journalism is produced—by whom, in what environments, through which processes, and with what results. He also examines visual self-representation on social media and everyday image making. His approach is based on a combination of ethnography (both physical and virtual), interviews, textual analysis, and digital media methods.

His major publications include the following books and articles:

To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images (published by Rowman & Littlefield)
In Front of the Lens: The Expectations, Experiences, and Reactions of Visual Journalism’s Subjects (published in Journalism and Communication Monographs)
I “Like” That: Exploring the Characteristics That Promote Social Media Engagement With News Photographs (co-authored with Keith Greenwood and published in Visual Communication Quarterly)
Freelance Photojournalists and Photo Editors: Learning and adapting in a (mostly faceless) virtual world (published in Journalism Studies)
Beyond Framing: Influences of subject–photographer interactions on visual journalism (published in Journalism Practice)
Politicians, Photographers, and a Pope: How state-controlled and independent media covered Francis’s 2015 Cuba visit (published in Journalism Studies)
Black, White, and a Whole Lot of Gray: How White Photojournalists Covered Race During the 2015 Protests at Mizzou (published in Visual Communication Quarterly)
Framing the migration: A study of news photographs showing people fleeing war and persecution (published in the International Communication Gazette)
The Evolution of Story: How Time and Modality Affect Visual and Verbal Narratives (published in Visual Communication Quarterly)
Mapping the emotional labor and work of visual journalism (published in Journalism)
From the Closet to the Beach: A Photographer’s View of Gay Life on Fire Island From 1975 to 1983 (published in Visual Communication Quarterly)
Image-Sharing Via Social Media: Reflections from an Ethnically-and Age-Diverse Sample of People Living with HIV in the Midwest (published in the Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services)

T.J. sits on the editorial board of the journal Visual Communication Quarterly and has, since 2017, also served as its associate editor. He is on the advisory board of the Society for Phenomenology and Media and is also an officer in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Visual Communication Division and the International Communication Association Visual Communication Studies Division.

This information has been contributed by Dr T.J. Thomson.

In the classroom, Dr. T.J. Thomson, SFHEA | AFHEA (Indigneous), has helped students explore and deepen their understandings of multimedia reporting, multimedia planning and design, visual editing, photography, interviewing, and the principles of journalism. He is the winner of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s 2021 Visual Communication Teaching Excellence award

This information has been contributed by Dr T.J. Thomson.

Dr. T.J. Thomson, SFHEA, has experience with both journalistic and corporate communication. Before entering academia, he worked as a freelance visual journalist and designer for a number of news outlets and organizations, including The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and the Omaha World-Herald. Corporate clients include QuickFire Networks, which was acquired by Facebook in 2015; Colorado Academy; and HotelTonight.

This information has been contributed by Dr T.J. Thomson.

Awards and recognition

Type: Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
Reference year: 2019
Details: Recipient of the 2019 Anne Dunn Scholar of the Year Award, awarded by the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association and the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia. This internationally competitive award recognises critical research of high academic standard and excellence in research about the fields of communication and journalism and is accompanied by a $3,000 cash prize.

Type: Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
Reference year: 2020
Details: The National Communication Association's Visual Communication Division recognised Dr T.J. Thomson, SFHEA, for his research monograph, 'To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images' (published in 2019 by Rowman & Littlefield International), and bestowed upon it the 2020 Diane S Hope Book of the Year Award. Thomson is the sixth winner of the annual award and the first from an institution beyond North America. The prize was established in 2015 to honour the memory of Dr Diane S Hope, professor emerita at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and to recognise excellence in visual communication research. NCA reviewers called the book 'a signature achievement in understanding the process of media production and the ethics of photojournalism' and commended Thomson's approach and the thoroughness of his research. The National Communication Association, headquartered in Washington, DC, USA, was founded in 1914 and stylizes itself as the preeminent schol

Type: Visiting Professorships/Fellowships
Reference year: 2020
Details: The School of International Communications at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China selected me in 2019 through a competitive application process as the inaugural recipient of its fully funded visiting scholar fellowship to spearhead a research project, 'Investigating How Visual Social Media Are Remediating News Images', with its academic staff.

Type: Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
Reference year: 2021
Details: The Humanities Travelling Fellowship Scheme is one of the Academy's most popular programmes and attracts a large number of high-quality applications. Winners receive $4,000 and join the Academy¿s grants and awards alumni of over 500 humanities researchers who have gone on to forge significant careers.

Type: Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
Reference year: 2021
Details: The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication announced in April 2021 that Dr TJ Thomson, SFHEA | AFHEA (Indigenous) had won its fourth-annual Visual Communication Teaching Excellence Award.

Type: Appointment to Prestigious Positions
Reference year: 2020
Details: I was elected in 2019 by a body of my peers for a three-year term as the International Communication Association Visual Communication Division's International Liaison, a position charged with gathering opinions and feedback from members of the division, especially new members from less represented cultures; liaising across the divisions and interest groups on general issues that go beyond any given unit of ICA; assisting with the planning of ICA annual conferences; and taking initiative to suggest new ideas for improving ICA's overall internationalisation endeavours. ICA is the largest academic communication association of its kind with more than 4,500 members spread across 80 countries and I was one of 86 new individuals (and one of three living in Australia) elected to ICA leadership across its more than 30 divisions and interest groups.

Type: Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
Reference year: 2017
Details: Named associate editor of Visual Communication Quarterly, an international, peer-reviewed journal of theory, research, practical criticism, and creative work in all areas of visual communication, in 2017.

Type: Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
Reference year: 2020
Details: I was invited in February 2020 as 'a leading researcher in the field' to participate in an industry panel during the 'Catchlight Visual Storytelling Summit' focussed on the importance of context in visual narratives. I was invited alongside several other panelists, such as Pamela Chen, former creative director of Instagram and JSK Fellow at Stanford.

Type: Advisor/Consultant for Community
Reference year: 2018
Details: Nominated in March 2018 by Society for Phenomenology and Media founder Paul Majkut and confirmed the following month by the organisation's board of directors to serve as an advisor for the Society and provide insight on strategic priorities and operations.

Dr T.J. Thomson

Awards and recognition

Grants and projects (Category 1: Australian Competitive Grants only)

Current supervisions

Completed supervisions (Doctorate)