Lisa Waller

Professor Lisa Waller

Associate Dean, Communication

Details

Open to

  • Media enquiries
  • Industry Projects
  • Mentoring (long-term)
  • Membership of an advisory committee

About

I am the Associate Dean of Communication in the School of Media and Communication where I lead a large team of academics who teach and research across Advertising, Digital Communication, Journalism and Public Relations. I also lead the RMIT Information Integrity Hub, which is dedicated to empowering people and communities to be critical media producers and consumers, and to advance an information ecosystem that promotes accurate, trustworthy and reliable information through education, civic engagement and research that is applied, inclusive and impactful.

My research and PhD supervision practice centres on Journalism. I've been a chief investigator on 5 Australian Research Council projects, including Discovery and Linkage grants. I'm currently the leading chief investigator on the DP 'Democratic Promissory Representation: Election Promises in Australia', which has a focus on the role of political journalism in public perceptions of government performance. My previous work has contributed fresh theoretical insights on First Nations peoples and news and local journalism. IMore recently, my research has centred on fact-checking, media and crime and explored how a 'rural imaginary' shapes media representations of regional Australia. I've published many articles and chapters since 2007. My book publications include: Local Journalism in a Digital World (Palgrave) and The Dynamics of News and Indigenous Policy in Australia (Intellect).

Industry experience:
Prior to joining RMIT University, I worked in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University from 2007 to 2019. I bring news industry experience to both teaching and research, having worked in various editorial roles at major news outlets including The Canberra Times, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.

Research fields

  • 4701 Communication and media studies

UN sustainable development goals

  • 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • 4 Quality Education
  • 5 Gender Equality
  • 10 Reduced Inequalities

Supervisor projects

  • Devising an Empathetic Framework: identifying antecedents and implications in female-authored true crime
  • 1 Oct 2025
  • The Russian War in Ukraine: The Emergence of the Offshore War Correspondent in Cotemporary Territorial Conflicts
  • 19 Feb 2025
  • Intrusion and Inclusion: Towards an ethical death knock practice for Australian journalists
  • 1 Jun 2023
  • From Screen Celebrity to Social Media Influencer
  • 18 Oct 2022
  • Towards algorithmic literacy: exploring how young Australians understand news algorithms.
  • 14 Jan 2022
  • Expanding practice: translating fact-check methodology to new and emerging formats
  • 3 Dec 2021
  • The embodied dispatch: Considering the affective nature of the foreign correspondent's journalism practice through creative practice research
  • 23 Nov 2021
  • Ceremony of Restoration: A Practice-Based Experiment in Civil Celebrancy
  • 28 Jan 2021

Teaching interests

Supervision interests:
I am not currently taking new PhD student. I'm currently supervising PhD projects investigating a range of topics centred on news media and texts. These include: 

  • Fact checking
  • Journalism practice
  • Teenagers and news algorithms
  • Foreign correspondence

Research interests

  • Journalism 
  • Politcal Communication
  • Fact checking
  • First Nations and news 
  • News Media representation
  • Creative practice research

 

aboriginal flag float-start torres strait flag float-start

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

More information