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Serge Poliakoff

@sergepoliakoff.bsky.social
530 followers 335 following 32 posts

Doctor of Social Science. Propaganda and disinfo researcher (OSINT, troll farms, information disorder) at Stockholm School of Economics. Ex-frontend dev. Private account. #standwithukraine My newest article: doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2025.25592…

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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
In a new article in Russian Politics, Ilya Yablokov and I analyse Prigozhin’s media and political career: how his media empire turned outsourced propaganda into political capital, and why the mutiny was less Black Swan than a long trajectory. brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
In a new article in Russian Politics, Ilya Yablokov and I analyse Prigozhin’s media and political career: how his media empire turned outsourced propaganda into political capital, and why the mutiny was less Black Swan than a long trajectory. brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Me and @jkling288.bsky.social are happy to share our new article in New Media & Society: “Mapping the disinformation industry in Russia.” We show how CV-based OSINT can help study inaccessible disinformation organisations, from Prigozhin’s ecosystem to ANO Dialog journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Me and @jkling288.bsky.social are happy to share our new article in New Media & Society: “Mapping the disinformation industry in Russia.” We show how CV-based OSINT can help study inaccessible disinformation organisations, from Prigozhin’s ecosystem to ANO Dialog journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
052
Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
In our new article in Media, War & Conflict, @jkling288.bsky.social and I show that foreign engagement with Russian domestic news on Facebook after the full-scale invasion extended far beyond “compatriots” and also followed historical, ideological, and geopolitical patterns: doi.org/10.1177/1750...
doi.org
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
021
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
In our new article in Media, War & Conflict, @jkling288.bsky.social and I show that foreign engagement with Russian domestic news on Facebook after the full-scale invasion extended far beyond “compatriots” and also followed historical, ideological, and geopolitical patterns: doi.org/10.1177/1750...
doi.org
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
021
Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Co-authored with @florian-toepfl.bsky.social, our new Europe-Asia Studies article is out in open access. Using 350 self-published CVs (2013-2021) from Prigozhin’s IRA “troll farm”, we map staffing, task divisions, a five-level hierarchy, 2014 recruitment surge. doi.org/10.1080/0966...
doi.org
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Co-authored with @florian-toepfl.bsky.social, our new Europe-Asia Studies article is out in open access. Using 350 self-published CVs (2013-2021) from Prigozhin’s IRA “troll farm”, we map staffing, task divisions, a five-level hierarchy, 2014 recruitment surge. doi.org/10.1080/0966...
doi.org
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
EU DisinfoLab @disinfo.eu · 19/11/2025
🚨Last chance to register! Want to know who's steering Russia's online information control machine? 👉Meet ANO Dialog, the Kremlin's digital command centre. Join our deep dive with @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social (U. of Amsterdam). 📅20 Nov | ⏰14:30 CET 🔗Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
EU DisinfoLab @disinfo.eu · 13/11/2025
Who's driving Russia's online info control? 👉ANO Dialog, the Kremlin's digital command centre. 🎙Join @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social (U. of Amsterdam) for a deep dive into how it represents a new model of state-controlled disinformation 📅20 Nov, 14:30 CET 🔗Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
cemas_io @cemas.io · 30/10/2025
Neuer Blogpost: Russische Desinformationsakteure ahmen zunehmend die Sprache und Formate von Faktenchecker:innen und Medienkompetenz-Programmen nach. Besonders aktiv in diesem Bereich ist ANO Dialog, eine staatsnahe Organisation, die auf Sanktionslisten in der EU, Großbritannien und den USA steht:
cemas.io
Wenn die russische Propaganda versucht, sich als Faktenchecks zu tarnen
Russische Desinformationsakteure ahmen die Sprache und Formate von Faktenchecker:innen und Medienkompetenz-Programmen nach. Das Ziel ist, sich Glaubwürdigkeit zu verschaffen, unabhängige Faktenchecker...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
My new article, “ANO Dialog: Innovation in Controlling Russia’s Digital Information”, is out in Post-Soviet Affairs in Open Access. With @florian-toepfl.bsky.social & @jkling288.bsky.social, we extend our OSINT CV analysis method of Prigozhin’s troll factory to a new case doi.org/10.1080/1060... 1/3
doi.org
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Uni Passau Research Magazine @unipassauresearch.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Please share: 🧪#PolComm To learn more about the group's research on Russia's informational influence abroad, visit their website: www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en/ #RUSINFORM
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
A new paper of ours on one of the successor organizations of Russsia's infamous Internet Research Agency (IRA) has been published: Congratulations to my (former) doctoral students and co-authors @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social and @jkling288.bsky.social! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Internet Policy Review @policyr.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
[New paper] Facebook, the EU and Russia’s war: Challenges of moderating authoritarian news, By @jkling288.bsky.social, University of Passau, and @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social, University of Amsterdam. policyreview.info/articles/ana... #Russia #Ukraine #EU #Facebook #Misinformation
Source: Kling & Poliakoff, 2025 https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/russias-war-moderating-authoritarian-news
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
My new article, “ANO Dialog: Innovation in Controlling Russia’s Digital Information”, is out in Post-Soviet Affairs in Open Access. With @florian-toepfl.bsky.social & @jkling288.bsky.social, we extend our OSINT CV analysis method of Prigozhin’s troll factory to a new case doi.org/10.1080/1060... 1/3
doi.org
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
I am officially a Doctor of Social Science! 3.5 years and 5 articles, from Prigozhin's troll factory to ANO Dialog. All written under the careful supervision of @florian-toepfl.bsky.social . Special thanks also go to @jkling288.bsky.social and @kevinlimonier.bsky.social Stay tuned for new articles!
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
My first academic paper is out (open access). It's a study of the organisation of Prigozhin's Patriot Media Group, based on a dataset of 818 CVs of its employees downloaded shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. doi.org/10.1080/1075... The main findings are in the thread below.
doi.org
Trolls Behind the Mask of Journalists: How Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Patriot Media Group Was Organized
The Patriot Media Group, sponsored by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Kremlin’s “troll farm,” represents a distinct type of media organization that does not fit any of the contemporary Russia...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Tereza Hendl @terezahendl.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Full room for a panel on decolonizing digitally and the new ways - including Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) - towards the uncovering of academic and industrial production of disinformation about the RUTA region(s) with returning @sanshiro.bsky.social, Anselm Schmidt & @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social 💥
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Although he looks a bit unrecognizable after five years in prison, Tsikhanouski is free: nashaniva.com/370751
nashaniva.com
Сяргей Ціханоўскі выйшаў на волю
Заснавальнік канала «Краіна для жыцця» і адна з галоўных постацяў падзей 2020 года быў затрыманы яшчэ да выбараў. За кратамі Сяргей Ціханоўскі правёў больш за пяць гадоў
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
I'm happy to announce that today I have joined the @uva.nl as a postdoctoral researcher. My work at the Department of Media Studies as part of the SoMe4Dem (Social Media for Democracy) project will continue my investigation into the russian disinformation production industry using OSINT.
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
People ask about my research on Prigozhin's Patriot Media Group: what happened to the PMG after the mutiny? Here's a detailed answer: new data on the CVs of former PMG employees (Oct 2024), the PMG's role in the mutiny, and how ANO Dialog won the competition against Prigozhin doi.org/10.31205/RA....
doi.org
Nach dem Aufstand: der Untergang von Jewgenij Prigoschins digitalem Imperium | Länder-Analysen
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Kilian Buehling @buehling.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
What happens when a state-aligned propaganda media network takes part in a mutiny - that fails? A very interesting description of how the infamous Russian IRA was liquidated!
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 11/04/2025
Fascinating new research reveals what became of Prigozhin's Patriot Media Group following its leadership’s failed mutiny against Putin.
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
People ask about my research on Prigozhin's Patriot Media Group: what happened to the PMG after the mutiny? Here's a detailed answer: new data on the CVs of former PMG employees (Oct 2024), the PMG's role in the mutiny, and how ANO Dialog won the competition against Prigozhin doi.org/10.31205/RA....
doi.org
Nach dem Aufstand: der Untergang von Jewgenij Prigoschins digitalem Imperium | Länder-Analysen
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Stolz auf meine erste deutschsprachige Publikation (aus dem Englischen übersetzt) für Russland-Analysen: Prigozhins Medienimperium nach der Meuterei - Insiderinformationen aus CVs ehemaliger Mitarbeiter, die Rolle der Medien und Prigozhins Verlust der Konkurrenz an ANO Dialog doi.org/10.31205/RA....
doi.org
Nach dem Aufstand: der Untergang von Jewgenij Prigoschins digitalem Imperium | Länder-Analysen
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Kseniya Oksamytna @kseniyaoksamytna.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Join us in Helsinki or online on 24 February to discuss three years of Ukraine's resistance Thanks to Aleksanteri Institute, @amtolok.bsky.social, @sierrasalazar.bsky.social, Maija Harju, @unabergmane.bsky.social for organising!
elomake.helsinki.fi
E-Lomake - Roundtable discussions: Three Years of Ukrainian Resistance to the Full-Scale Invasion
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Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS) @zois.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Calling researchers from #Ukraine: Would you like to become part of the Ukraine Research Network@ZOiS (#UNET)? Fellowship applications for 2025/2026 are open! Find the details here: www.zois-berlin.de/ueber-uns/st...
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Sabina Mihelj @sabinamihelj.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
📣 We have a fully funded #PhD place available at the Communication & Media Department @lborocrcc.bsky.social at Loughborough University, in collaboration with BBC Media Action and supported by the Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP.
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Colin Gerard @colingerard.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Inauthentic news-pravda websites from Russian Portal Kombat network are now creating accounts on Bluesky. I created a moderation list, it would be nice to help me to share it. Please do not hesitate to send me new accounts. Ping @moderation.bsky.app bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Bellingcat is currently working with universities to develop open source investigation courses in various fields and creating student-led investigative hubs at those universities, which seems well timed.
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Uni Passau Research Magazine @unipassauresearch.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Professor @florian-toepfl.bsky.social heads the #ERC Consolidator Research Group #RUSINFORM, which has been researching the influence of Russian propaganda on public opinion abroad for five years. Here, he talks about the findings and the massive repression faced by researchers in his field. 🧵🧪(1/8)
digital.uni-passau.de
"The Kremlin is threatening our democracy through a variety of channels"
Professor Florian Töpfl heads the ERC Consolidator Research Group RUSINFORM, which has been researching Russian influence on public opinion abroad for five years.
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Maxime Audinet @maudinet.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Great research and digital fieldwork by @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social, who analyzes the organisation and practices of Prigozhin's Patriot media holding, based on a large corpus of former employees' CVs collected on Russian job platforms. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Trolls Behind the Mask of Journalists: How Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Patriot Media Group Was Organized
The Patriot Media Group, sponsored by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Kremlin’s “troll farm,” represents a distinct type of media organization that does not fit any of the contemporary Russia...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Today, the deadline for this job announcements has expired. Please feel free to apply up until the end of this week, as we will start reviewing the candidates these days!
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
INPACT - Investigations with Impact @aeowinpact.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Serge Poliakoff examined the 818 curricula vitae (CVs) of the Patriot Media (Prigozhin media arm) former employees. With its links to the Internet Research Agency it blurred the lines between a “troll farm” and a media outlet www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Trolls Behind the Mask of Journalists: How Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Patriot Media Group Was Organized
The Patriot Media Group, sponsored by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Kremlin’s “troll farm,” represents a distinct type of media organization that does not fit any of the contemporary Russia...
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
My first academic paper is out (open access). It's a study of the organisation of Prigozhin's Patriot Media Group, based on a dataset of 818 CVs of its employees downloaded shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. doi.org/10.1080/1075... The main findings are in the thread below.
doi.org
Trolls Behind the Mask of Journalists: How Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Patriot Media Group Was Organized
The Patriot Media Group, sponsored by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Kremlin’s “troll farm,” represents a distinct type of media organization that does not fit any of the contemporary Russia...
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
Timothy Graham @timothyjgraham.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Allowing tech companies to collect your data is like the Hotel California. You can check out anytime you want but you can never leave…
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Register on the link to join me in Brussels at this conference, where I will be speaking on a method for analysing russian disinformation/propaganda organisations without physical access to the field.
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Reposted by Serge Poliakoff
DGPuK Methoden @dgpuk-meth.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Interested in updates from researchers who are committed to advancing the methods of communication research and related disciplines? The Count has something for you... go.bsky.app/ByqiKgq Feel free to share and comment, if you want to be added.
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Center for European Policy Analysis @cepa.org · 13/12/2024
This account @apolyakova1.bsky.social is trying to impersonate our CEO. However, they forgot to block us... Please report and block this account.
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Spotted today in Vienna
Grinch in Vienna
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 08/12/2024
And there it is: Assad in Moscow. Maybe he can move in next to Yanukovych www.cnn.com/world/live-n...
cnn.com
Assad flees to Moscow as Syria rebels capture Damascus | CNN
The long rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is over, after rebels swept into the capital Damascus on Sunday. Follow the latest live news updates here.
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florian-toepfl.bsky.social @florian-toepfl.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Excited to advertise a new (post-)doctoral position in my team at Uni Passau in a new @bidt.bsky.social-funded project on "Authoritarian AI: How LLMs Align with Russia's Propaganda". Looking forward to all types of applications! shorturl.at/vc43x
shorturl.at
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Hi 🦋! Short intro: I am a researcher and PhD student at the RUSINFORM research group at the University of Passau (🇩🇪). I study russia's #propaganda and #disinformation, in particular how russia's "troll farms" (such as Prigozhin's Internet Research Agency) are organised. #commSky #poliSky #polcom
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Serge Poliakoff @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
South Korea has just declared martial law edition.cnn.com/2024/12/03/a...
edition.cnn.com
South Korea president declares emergency martial law | CNN
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and anti-state activiti...
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Lorenzo Piccoli @lorenzopiccoli.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
The SAFE project accepts applications for 60 fellowships for at-risk non-EU researchers (PhD/postdoc) to join research institutions in the EU. 🌍 Matchmaking support until 15 December 📅 Deadline: 20 Jan 2025 🔗 Learn more: saferesearchers.eu #ResearchOpportunities #AtRiskResearchers #SAFEFellowship
saferesearchers.eu
SAFE - Supporting 
At-risk researchers 
with Fellowships in Europe
As a pilot fellowship scheme, the SAFE project offers 60 fully-funded fellowships (up to 24 months) for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers of any non-EU nationality to work at a research institutio...
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Annie Waldherr @anniewald.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Our Department of Communication @univie.ac.at is seeking a new colleague to join us in beautiful Vienna! 🎓Tenure-track Professorship of Media & Communication History 🔗Job announcement: jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Tenure-T... 📆Application deadline: January 10, 2025 Please share! #commsky #mediahistory
jobs.univie.ac.at
Tenure-Track Professor in the field of Media and Communication History
Tenure-Track Professor in the field of Media and Communication History
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