Dr Ricardo Ribeiro Ferreira

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow | University of Liverpool
Journalism, Media and Democracy

About

I am a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool. My research investigates the role of journalism in processes of de-democratisation, with a particular focus on hybrid political systems and journalistic cultures. I am especially interested in the dynamics of media capture and political instrumentalisation, examining how these forces shape journalistic practices, influence public deliberation and strengthen illiberal norms. More specifically, I analyse how—and under what conditions—professional journalists and legacy news organisations facilitate or resist democratic decline, as well as the formation of illiberal public spheres. Before joining Liverpool, I worked as a Guest Lecturer and Research Assistant at the University of Edinburgh. Both my research and teaching are informed by 18 years of professional experience as a journalist, including time as a reporter and editor in Brazil and as an international correspondent in Europe. I hold a PhD in Politics from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and an MA in Journalism and Communication from the University of Coimbra (Portugal). I am also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) in the UK, a truly awful saxophonist (the neighbours can confirm), and a failed background actor whose greatest achievement on screen was being cut out of the background.

Research Projects

  • Journalistic Resistance to De-democratisation: Towards a Theoretical Model (Leverhulme Trust - ECF-2025-175).

  • Media Ownership Patterns and the Rise of Illiberal Populists in Brazil and Serbia (with Alexander Mesarovich).

  • Political Instrumentalisation of News, Audience Perception, and Hostile Media Effect in Brazil and Turkey (with Aybuke Atalay).

  • Inside the ‘Meat Grinder’: Journalistic Agency, Precarity, and Political Instrumentalisation in the De-democratisation of Brazil (University of Edinburgh).

Publications

(2025). To report or not to report? A qualitative analysis of journalists’ perspectives on harm to public opinion. Public Opinion Quarterly. (co-authored with Jean‑François Daoust).
https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfaf028(2024). “It Forces You to Publish Some Shit”: Toward a Taxonomy of De-Democratizing Journalistic Practices. The International Journal of Press/Politics, Online First.
https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241266557(2024). The Precarity Trap: Modelling Non-Democratic Journalistic Practices Beyond Media Capture. Journalism Studies, 25(6), 622-642.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2024.2322635(2024). Speaking Power to the People: Serbian and Brazilian Media Systems in Populist Times. Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, 17(30), 171-198 (co-authored with Alexander Mesarovich).
https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/yars/vol17/iss30/9/(2023). The Hate Office? Bolsonaro's Discourse and Covid-19 Online Disinformation. International Journal of Communication, 17, 23
(co-authored with Juliana Alcantara).
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20980(2021). Liquid Disinformation Tactics: Overcoming Social Media Countermeasures Through Misleading Content. Journalism Practice, 16(8), 1537-1558.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2021.1914707(2020). “Little flu” infodemic: an analysis on disinformation and coronavirus in Brazil. Chasqui Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, 1(145), 137-162 (co-authored with Juliana Alcantara).
https://revistachasqui.org/index.php/chasqui/article/view/4315(2018). Network of lies: the spread of fake news in the Brazilian presidential pre-campaign. Observatorio (OBS*), 12(5), 139-162.
http://obs.obercom.pt/index.php/obs/article/view/1272(2022). Hijacked Democracy: How disinformation helped Bolsonaro become president of Brazil. Media XXI: Porto.
https://amzn.eu/d/5nDpf8R

Teaching

University of Edinburgh (2022-2025), Guest Lecturer
Media Capture and Democratic Backsliding; Media and Policy-making; Journalism and Hybrid Systems; Disinformation in electoral processes.University of Strathclyde (2023-2024), MSc Dissertation Supervisor
School of Government and Public PolicyUniversity of Edinburgh (2021-2025), Tutor (Teaching Assistant)
Media and Politics; Politics and International Relations 1B: The Global Dimension; Comparative Politics in a Globalised World; Politics in a Changing World.University of Coimbra (2019-2022), Guest Lecturer
Disinformation in electoral processes; Disinformation, Journalism and Hybrid Systems; Media Capture and Democratic Backsliding; Critical Realism Applied to Journalism Studies; Women’s Representation in the Star Wars Franchise.

Get in touch

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