Introducing the FUS Faculty: Alessandro Martinisi

Assistant Professor, Media and Communication Studies

Ph.D. School of Media and Communication, The University of Leeds, The United Kingdom
M.Sc. in Communication Sciences, Major in Media Management, USI Universita’ della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland
B.A. Faculty of Education Sciences, Universita di Torino, Italy

Office: Lowerre Academic Center, Office 10
Phone: +41 91 986 36 56
Email: amartinisi@fus.edu

Alessandro Martinisi is Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies. He holds a Ph.D. from the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds (UK), where his doctoral research examined the role of statistics in journalism practice and received special commendation for research excellence in 2018.

Balancing academic scholarship with professional experience, Martinisi is a member of The Chartered Institute of Journalists (UK) and the Italian Journalists Federation, grounding his research and teaching in the practical realities of journalism. Earlier in his career, he served as a Communication Officer in South America under projects of the UNDP – United Nations Development Program, contributing to international development initiatives aligned with the Millennium Development Goals, now reframed as the Sustainable Development Goals.

His research spans two principal strands. The first investigates the use of data in media storytelling and public discourse, with emphasis on data-driven journalism, science communication, and constructive journalism. The second examines how the field of media criticism can be broadened through the theoretical perspectives of De-Westernization. More recently, his publications have focused on Media Literacy and its strategic importance in the age of artificial intelligence, particularly as AI reshapes knowledge production.

Prof. Martinisi has helped universities place learning communities at the center of their educational vision. His teaching experience extends across Qatar, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Italy, and Switzerland. He has also been the recipient of grants from CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico), the British Council, and the Annenberg School of Communication.

He collaborated as co-investigator on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality projects with Samsung Nederland, exploring immersive technologies for media education and digital storytelling. In the Netherlands, he also contributed to Executive Education programs in Media Innovation at Media Park, Hilversum, working directly with media professionals in one of Europe’s most influential creative hubs. Prior to joining Franklin University Switzerland, he served as a postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator on a UK-wide AHRC-funded initiative in partnership with Newsquest Media Group and Solutions Journalism Network examining how solutions-oriented journalism could support Covid-19 recovery across local and regional communities.

2025-2026 Courses

COM 201	Fundamentals of Media Studies and Criticism	FALL 2025
Media pervades our social and private lives. We make it and in turn it makes us. This course offers an introduction to media studies, a field which seeks to understand and use media in complex and intentional ways. The course explores media as content, as an industry and as a social force. In this way, media is understood as both as an artifact (constituted by many parts) and as a set of complex processes (including production, distribution, regulation and consumption). Students will learn key vocabularies and concepts in and approaches to media studies that will help them to define, describe, and critique media artifacts and processes in a variety of written and spoken formats. In addition to equipping students with the skills to understand and critique media, this course encourages and provides students with the building blocks to produce media content. Students who successfully complete this course will be prepared to take advanced courses in media studies.
COM 243	Principles of Strategic Communication	FALL 2025
Not open to Students who have previously taken COM 238 - Strategic Communication and Social Media: Theory and Practice). "Principles of Strategic Communication" is an introductory course designed for students with no previous knowledge of the field who wish to explore the foundational concepts and skills of strategic communication. The course focuses on the role of communication in achieving organizational goals and shaping public perception. Students will explore the strategic use of media channels, persuasive messaging, audience analysis, and the ethical considerations involved in crafting communication strategies. By blending theoretical frameworks with practical case studies, students will develop a strong understanding of how to design, implement, and assess communication plans that serve business, nonprofit, or governmental goals. The course will cover a range of communication contexts, including corporate communication, crisis communication, and public relations, emphasizing the use of communication as a strategic tool to influence audiences and achieve desired outcomes.
COM 314	Digital Journalism in a Global Context	FALL 2025
Recent developments in media technologies from Big Data to Artificial Intelligence, corporate structure such as the rise of journalists' networks and consortia, and the organization of public life have hugely impacted the practice of journalism in the "global village." This course explores the shifting landscape of journalism, with an eye toward how these developments affect journalism?s role in society. The course will also introduce the students to the techniques of journalism in digital media and offer them conceptual and practical tools with which to navigate the Infosphere. By the end of the course, students should have a clear sense of the various ways journalists have taken up digital media and a broad understanding of the ways in which recent social and economic developments have changed both the practice of journalists and the nature of a public nowadays contended between "globalization" and "glocalization."
COM 203	Communication Research	SPRING 2026
This course introduces students to quantitative and qualitative research methods as they apply to communication and media studies. Students will acquire skill in examining various communication and media issues by conducting an original research project.
COM 235T	Pizza, Spaghetti and Other Stories: Food Journalism and Culture	SPRING 2026
The importance of food is clear: we eat food to stay alive and thrive. Food, its production, commodification, preparation and consumption is and it has long been a place of cultural formation, negotiation and mediatization. In this sense food journalism plays a crucial role in today's journalism practice around the world in attracting a larger and diversified readership. The course will introduce food through its mediated representation involving journalism but also film, television and the Internet. The topics include the politics of celebrity chefs, food TV shows, restaurant reviews, lifestyle journalism, and other food media's place in the "world of goods". It will also include the social dimensions of food in media by engaging with issues of multinational power, globalization and inequality. The travel component to Italy will include visits to Milan, Parma, and Bologna. This will offer a great opportunity for students to develop insights into the field of food journalism and to experience the excellence of the Italian food with the aim of connecting food texts, culture and writing.
COM 311	Strategic Communication and Public Relations	SPRING 2026
This course is designed for students aiming to deepen and advance their understanding of strategic communication principles and public relations (PR) practices. It explores the role of communication in shaping public opinion, influencing stakeholders, and managing an organization?s reputation. Through case studies, simulations, and practical projects, students will analyze and design strategic communication campaigns tailored to specific goals and audiences, while addressing the challenges of crisis communication, corporate social responsibility, and digital media integration. The course emphasizes critical thinking, ethical considerations, and the development of effective communication strategies in the media sector.

Professional Membership

ECREA (European Communication Research Association)

IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research)

TCIJ (The Chartered Institute of Journalists) UK

MEA (The Media Education Association) UK

NAMLE (The National Association for Media Literacy Education) USA

Professional Experience

Lecturer, USI – Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland

Lecturer and Research Fellow, KTU – Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Lithuania

Visiting Lecturer, Northwestern University in Qatar, Doha

Lecturer in Media, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Academy for Digital Entertainment, The Netherlands

Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Coordinator, Bournemouth University, Faculty of Communication and Journalism, United Kingdom

Module Lead, School of Media and Communication, The University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Module Lead, Department of Journalism Studies, The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Areas of Research

His research focuses on emerging approaches to journalism and innovative forms of media storytelling that integrate empirical rigor with public value. His publications include Statistics and the Quest for Quality Journalism: A Study in Quantitative Reporting and Overcoming the Objectivity of the Senses: Enhancing Journalism Practice through Eastern Philosophies, reflecting his interest in expanding journalistic epistemologies through both quantitative and qualitative lenses.

More recently, he has also explored the growing relevance of Media Literacy in the age of artificial intelligence. Drawing on his research and professional experience as a media practitioner, he teaches a variety of courses -including digital journalism, media strategies, and media literacy- grounded in contemporary theories and empirical research.

Books

Martinisi, A., & Lugo-Ocando, J. (2020). Statistics and the Quest for Quality Journalism: A Study in Quantitative Reporting. Anthem Press.

Book Chapters

Lugo-Ocando, J., & Martinisi, A. (2022). Lies, damned lies and disinformation in the Global South: examining the enduring legacy of statistics and misinformation, fake news and propaganda. In H. Wasserman (Ed.), Rumors, False News and Disinformation in the Global South. Wiley Blackwell.

Martinisi, A. (2017). Understanding quality of statistics in news stories: A theoretical approach from the audience’s perspective. In Handbook of Research on Driving STEM Learning with Educational Technologies (pp. 485–505). IGI Global.

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Martinisi, A. (forthcoming 2026). Making the familiar strange again: media effects and media literacy pedagogy. Journal of Media Literacy, Spring Issue “McLuhan Mosaic”.

Martinisi, A. (2025). Reconstructing reality: How radical constructivism unravels echo chambers in online platforms. Constructivist Foundations, 21(1), 41-49.

Martinisi, A. (2025). Author’s Response: Applying Radical Constructivism to the Study of Online Echo Chambers. Constructivist Foundations, 21(1), 75-79.

Martinisi, A. (2025) The Relationship between Vilém Flusser and Günther Anders in Media Studies and Politics. Flusser Studies, 39, 1-9.

Martinisi, A. (2021). De-Westernising Communication Sciences: An essay in memoriam of Prof. Shelton Gunaratne (1949–2019). The Journal of Communication and Media Studies, 6(2), 13–18.

Weber, J., Warmelink, H., Martinisi, A., Buijtenweg, T., & Mayer, I. S. (2019). Learning efficacy among executives and students of an organisational growth game. In Simulation and Gaming Toward Active Learning (pp. 129–136). Springer.

Martinisi, A., & Lugo-Ocando, J. (2015). Overcoming the objectivity of the senses: Enhancing journalism practice through Eastern philosophies. International Communication Gazette, 77(5), 439–455.

Preprints

Ghezzi, P., Giglietto, F., & Martinisi, A. (2023). Political polarization in the frequency British newspapers mention scientists with different views on COVID-19. (Preprint on OSF.io)

Palatta, F., Macedo, A. C., Marcacci, F., Martinisi, A., de Freitas Pereira Angelo Durço, D., Neto, R. C. B., & Ghezzi, P. (2023). Reporting on scientific studies in newspaper articles on COVID-19 in Italy and the US: missing citations and information bubbles. (Preprint on OSF.io)

Conference Proceedings (Peer-Reviewed)

Martinisi, A. (2018). Quality of statistics in the news. European Conference in Quality in Official Statistics. Eurostat & European Commission, Krakow.

Martinisi, A. (2013). Data journalism and its role in open government. In Challenges, Solutions, Knowledge Models in E-Governance. Technical University Sofia.

Conferences (Presentations, Talks, Media Appearances)

2025. Why I keep McLuhan alive in the classroom? Blog of the International Council for Media Literacy.

2022. Constructive journalism in times of social change. International Conference on Communication and Media, National University of Ireland, Galway (TBC).

2022. Fighting against the machine: The anatomy of a solutions journalism campaign across local news outlets in the UK. Political Studies Association (PSA) Conference, University of York (TBC).

2019. Journalism and the controversy on “quality statistics”. International Conference on Media and Communication, University of Bonn.

2016. The journalistic dimension of statistics: Reporting human development and its quantification. International Conference in Applied Statistics, Slovenia.

2014. The identity of the data-journalist between professionalism and professionalization. Statistics in Journalism Practice and Education, University of Sheffield.

2013. What quality in data journalism? Assessing quality parameters in data-driven stories. 19th International Conference of the Spanish Society of Journalism, University Jaume I°, Castelló.

2013. The contribution of data journalism in representing dissent: The case of the 2011 London riots. 5th Annual Conference, Department of Media and Communication, University of Westminster, London.

2013. Balancing risk and innovation in ‘datafying’ the news. 6th International Meeting on Research in Information and Communication, MediaLab Prado, Madrid.