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Home  /   Staff  /   Researcher Profiles  /  Dr Janet Fulton

Dr Janet Fulton

Work Phone (02) 4921 6923
Email
Position Lecturer
School of Design Communication and IT
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Office MCG08, McMullin Building

Biography

Dr Janet Fulton is a Lecturer in the Communication Discipline. She has taught into the Bachelor of Communication degree since 2007, with lecturing and tutoring experience in first, second and third year level courses across a range of theory and production courses that feed into the journalism, PR, media production and media studies majors.

Her research interests include journalism, creativity, cultural production, social media, journalism education and the future of journalism in the digital domain.

Janet is interested in writing in an online environment and has published a number of articles online on sites including ABC Open, MamaMia and The Thesis Whisperer and is an active Twitter user. You can find her at @JanetFulton.

Qualifications

  • PhD (Communication & Media Arts), University of Newcastle, 2011
  • Bachelor of Communication (Honours), University of Newcastle, 2005
  • Bachelor of Communication, University of Newcastle, 2004

Research

Research keywords

  • Creativity
  • Cultural production
  • Future of Journalism
  • Journalism Education
  • Print Journalism
  • Social Media

Research expertise

Janet was awarded her PhD (Media and Communication) in November 2011.

Her doctoral research project ‘Making the News: Print Journalism and the Creative Process’, applied creativity models to print journalism and investigated how journalists interact with cultural and social structures when they produce, or create, their work.

Janet’s research in this area has been published at national and international level in a number of journals including Journalism Practice, eJournalist and Altitude and at a number of annual conferences both nationally and internationally including the International Communication Association’s (ICA), Journalism Education Association of Australia's (JEAA) and Australia and New Zealand Communication Association's (ANZCA) annual conferences. Janet also has an upcoming chapter in the book 'Positive communication in health and wellness' talking about journalists and the experience of flow.

Research publications (not included as a Research Output publication):

Book Chapter

Kibby, M. and Fulton, J.M. (abstract accepted), 'Mutual surveillance and a sense of belonging: Facebook at Uni' in An education in Facebook? Higher education and the world's largest social network, (Eds) M. Kent, T. Leaver and C. Lloyd. [B1].

Fulton, J.M. (2013) ‘Communication joy: print journalists and the experience of flow’ in Positive communication in health and wellness, (Eds) M. Pitts and T.J. Socha, Peter Lang, New York [B1].

Journal Articles

Fulton, J.M. and Scott, P. (forthcoming), ‘Tilling the field in journalism education: implications of a systems model approach for journalism education’, Journalism Education. [C1]

Fulton, J.M. & McIntyre, P., 2013, ‘Journalists on journalism: print journalists’ discussion of their creative process, Journalism Practice, 7(1), pp. 17-32. [C1].

Refereed Conference Papers and Other Articles

Fulton, J.M., 2013 (abstract accepted), ‘Mentoring in journalism: its importance, its challenges and its outlook’, Paper submitted for review to the annual meeting of the International Association of Media and Communication Research, Dublin, UK [E1].

Fulton, J.M., 2012, ‘The business of citizen journalism: citizen journalism and creativity’, unrefereed paper presented at the Business of Citizen Journalism panel at the JEAA Annual Conference, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, 3-5 December 2012 [E3].

Fulton, J.M. 2012, ‘Journalists and their audience: a changing relationship?’, paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference 2012, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, 4-6 July, 2012 [E1].

Fulton, J.M. and Scott, P. 2012, ‘Tilling the field in journalism education: implications of a systems model approach for journalism education’, paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference 2012, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, 4-6 July, 2012 [E3].

Collaboration

Janet is working on a collaborative project with Paul Scott from the University of Newcastle that is examining the structure of journalism education in the University of Newcastle program to ascertain its efficacy in relation to work practices in the journalism industry with the view to expand the review Australia-wide. She is also working with Dr Phillip McIntyre and Dr Elizabeth Paton on a co-edited book of collected chapters on creativity in cultural production and Associate Professor Marj Kibby on the use of Facebook in education.

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
190301 Journalism Studies 80
200100 Communication And Media Studies 20

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

  • Member - Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)
  • Member - Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ)

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

  • Member - Australia New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA)
  • Member - International Communication Association (ICA)
  • Member - Journalism Educators Association of Australia (JEAA))

Awards

Recognition.

2005 Faculty of Science and Information Technology Faculty Medal
University of Newcastle (Australia)
Awarded for overall academic achievement and first class honours research

Scholarship

2010 School of Design, Communication and Information Technology RHD Completion Scholarship
University of Newcastle (Australia)
Awarded by the School of DCIT to final year RHD students to complete thesis
2009 Faculty of Science and Information Technology RHD Conference Scholarship
University of Newcastle (Australia)
Awarded by the Faculty of Science and Information Technology to third-year RHD students to attend an international conference
2006 Australian Post Graduate Award
University of Newcastle (Australia)
APA awarded 2006-2009

Undergraduate award

2003 Melinda Moore Memorial Award
University of Newcastle (Australia)
Awarded to the student who contributed most to the Bachelor of Communication degree

Invitations

The Business of Journalism
Journalism Education Association of Australia, Australia (Invited panellist)
2012

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Janet is the School of DCIT representative on the ECA sub-committee of the Faculty of Science and IT Research and Research Training Committee where she represents the School’s early career academics at Faculty level. She is also the Research Seminar Co-ordinator for the School of DCIT. This role involves organising the monthly seminar series where academics from the School present on their research.

Janet also facilitates the University of Newcastle Communication discipline RHD support group. This role includes running a monthly meeting for higher degree students, organising seminars (including guest speakers), maintaining a Blackboard site, and ensuring there is interesting and relevant information available for the students.

She has also co-ordinated second and third year courses in the Bachelor of Communication.

Outside the university system, Janet has worked in administrative roles since 1981 and since 1990 has worked in a successful family business both in an official capacity as a Director and the Company Secretary of the company and in the day-to-day running of the business as the office manager. These roles include complying with regulatory and legal requirements as well as running the administrative side of the business, computer literacy, marketing, and managing and training staff.


Teaching

Teaching keywords

  • Creativity
  • Cultural production
  • International Media Studies
  • Journalism
  • Media Ownership
  • Professional Writing

Teaching expertise

Dr Janet Fulton has been teaching into the Bachelor of Communication since 2007. She has taught into theory and professional courses in the degree as a sessional, lecturer, tutor and course coordinator.

Over her teaching career, Janet has received consistently high SETs and SFTs with an average of 4.52 out of a possible five in the question that rates the overall quality of the teacher.

Her teaching philosophy is firmly based within a holistic approach where the student and teacher engage with and learn off each other in a two-way interaction rather than the traditional method of teaching students in a one-way transfer of information from teacher to student. She believes in a flexible approach to teaching to enable each student to engage with learning in a way that suits their learning style; she believes in encouraging an atmosphere where students feel comfortable and supported to explore new concepts; and, she believes learning should be an enjoyable experience while giving students a firm grounding in knowledge and critical thinking.

In 2011 Janet reviewed the following first year Bachelor of Communication courses for delivery by Newcastle International College (NIC), which gave her a unique insight into the teaching of first year core course offerings in the Communication degree.

CMNS1234 Introduction to Communication Theory

CMNS1000 Introduction to Digital Media

CMNS1230 Foundations of Media Production

CMNS1290 Introduction to Public Relations

Janet is currently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching at the University of Newcastle.

Courses