English and Creative Arts

Dr Tom Felle

BSc, MA, PhD

Contact Details

Head of Discipline
Discipline of Journalism and Communication, Arts Millennium Building
University of Galway
University Road
Galway H91 TK33, Ireland
T: +353 (0) 91 49 2049
E: tom.felle@universityofgalway.ie
www.twitter.com/tomfelle www.LinkedIn.com/in/tomfelle

Biography

Tom Felle is Head of Journalism and Communication at the University of Galway. A former career journalist and foreign correspondent, he started his career with the Connacht Tribune and worked with the Irish Independent in Ireland for six years. He was Deputy Editor of the Irish Echo in Sydney from 2001 to 2004, and from 2006-2008 he served as Bureau Chief of the Leb News Agency in Beirut, Lebanon. He has worked in higher education since 2009.
His research interests include digital news, verification, data-driven journalism, so-called "fake news" and dis-information, and trust, transparency and accountability in democracy. He sat on an expert committee that advised the Irish government on FOI in 2013, and has given testimony in the House of Commons in the UK on the importance of FOI for a strong democracy. He worked alongside the United Nations migration agency, IOM, as lead academic partner for the Global Migration Media Academy, from 2020 to 2022. He has published various book chapters, academic articles, has edited three books and is a published author.

Research Interests

* Trust, transparency and journalism's role in the democratic process
* Data-driven journalism
* Social media, social newsgathering and audience development
* Verification, misinformation and disinformation

Books

	Year	Publication
	(2022)	How to Spell Good and Write Proper. Felle, Tom (2022) How to Spell Good and Write Proper. Cork, Ireland: Lettertec. [Details]

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	'COVID news tsunami spells calamity for Irish news media' Felle, Tom (2020) 'COVID news tsunami spells calamity for Irish news media' In: The Virus and the Media: How British Journalists Covered the Pandemic. London: BiteSizeBooks. [Details]
	(2019)	'Brexit and Northern Ireland: Bordering on Confusion' Felle, T (2019) 'Brexit and Northern Ireland: Bordering on Confusion' In: A history lesson for Brexiteers. London: Bite-sized Books. [Details]
	(2017)	'Going digital or going free? Ireland's newspapers struggle for digital success as the print cliff looms' Hayes, K and Felle, T (2017) 'Going digital or going free? Ireland's newspapers struggle for digital success as the print cliff looms' In: Last Words: How can journalism survive the decline of print?. :245-253 Bury St Edmunds: Abramis. [Details]
	(2015)	'Accountability meets engagement: data journalismâ€™s watchdog role' Felle, T (2015) 'Accountability meets engagement: data journalismâ€™s watchdog role' In: Data Journalism: Inside the Global Future. Bury St Edmunds: Abramis. [Details]
	(2015)	'Why freedom of information is important for democracy' Felle, T (2015) 'Why freedom of information is important for democracy' In: FOI 10 years on: freedom fighting or lazy journalism?. Bury St Edmunds: Abramis. [Details]
	(2015)	'Critical perspectives on freedom of information' Felle, T (2015) 'Critical perspectives on freedom of information' In: Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
	(2015)	'Introduction' Adshead, Maura and Felle, Tom (2015) 'Introduction' In: Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act. :1-2 Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
	(2014)	'Old reporting, new methods: how data journalism is keeping an eye on government' Felle, T (2014) 'Old reporting, new methods: how data journalism is keeping an eye on government' In: Abramis. [Details]
	(2013)	'Why the internet won't save Ireland's provincial newspapers (but going non-profit just might)' Felle, T (2013) 'Why the internet won't save Ireland's provincial newspapers (but going non-profit just might)' In: Abramis. [Details]
	(2012)	'Ireland's press regulation: an Irish solution to a British problem?' Felle, T (2012) 'Ireland's press regulation: an Irish solution to a British problem?' In: Abramis. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2016)	'Freedom of Information in the UK: Opportunity and Threat' Felle, T (2016) 'Freedom of Information in the UK: Opportunity and Threat'. Political Insight, 7 :28-31 [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Digital watchdogs? Data reporting and the news media's traditional 'fourth estate' function' Felle, T (2016) 'Digital watchdogs? Data reporting and the news media's traditional 'fourth estate' function'. Journalism, 17 :85-96 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'A Lebanese State of Affairs' Felle, T (2014) 'A Lebanese State of Affairs'. Near East Quarterly, 1 :1-14 [Details]

Edited Books

	Year	Publication
	(2016)	Data Journalism: Inside the Global Future. Felle, T and Mair, J and Radcliffe, D (Ed.). (2016) Data Journalism: Inside the Global Future Data Journalism: Inside the Global Future. Bury St Edmunds: Abramis. [Details]
	(2015)	FOI 10 years on: freedom fighting or lazy journalism?. Felle, Tom and Mair, John (Ed.). (2015) FOI 10 years on: freedom fighting or lazy journalism? FOI 10 years on: freedom fighting or lazy journalism?. Bury St Edmunds: Abramis. [Details]
	(2015)	Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act. Maura Adshead, Tom Felle (Ed.). (2015) Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]

Teaching Interests

Tom's teaching interests include news and current affairs; social media; data and visualisation and media innovation.

Modules Taught

Term/Year	Module Title	Module Code	Subject / Desc
Semester one	Reporting Economics and Politics	DJ6135	Politics and current affairs
Semester two	Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics	AJ2111	Introduction to numeracy, statistics and quantitative methodologies for undergraduate Arts students.
Semester 2	Global Migration and Media: Refugees, Climate, Misinformation and Crisis	AJ2116	Media and Communication
Semester one	Journalism Bootcamp	DJ6112	News practice
Semester two	Multimedia Newsdays	DJ6112	Journalism practice module where students run a hyper-local news website, Galway Pulse