Dr Janet Lo, Assistant Professor of the Department of Journalism, won the Top Faculty Paper in the Journalism Studies Division at the International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference with her research entitled “Who has a say in political election? Framing in the era of big data".

The ICA annual conference is one of the largest and most prestigious conferences in the area of communication. Dr Lo is deeply honoured to receive the award and remarked that to be recognised by peers for work on something important is very special. She thanked her teammates for their work and effort. She added that she will continue to devote herself to her studies and hopes to contribute more to academic research.

The winning paper examines the news framing of the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election. Combining computational approach and the traditional methodology, the paper analyses over 370,000 articles, including news published in over 30 Chinese press media, four prominent Chinese online media, and posts published on three candidates’ Facebook pages within the election period.

The study contributes to the literature by examining the rarely discussed transmedia news framing, especially the relationship between legacy print media, online alternative news media, and viewers’ comments on candidates’ social network sites.

The findings provide evidence to support the argument that reporters, regardless of whether they are from traditional news media or online alternative news outlets, monitor political candidates’ Facebook pages regularly and use viewers’ comments in their news reports. Social media can thus empower politicians and individuals and shapes the frames of media.

The paper was co-authored with Dr Meily Cheung and Dr Benson Lam of the Hang Seng Management College.