Faculty for Social Sciences and Philosophy

Prof. Dr. Marcel Machill is a tenured professor of journalism and international media systems at the University of Leipzig in Germany. When he was appointed in 2002, he became the youngest Full Professor for Journalism in Germany. From 1997 to 1999 Dr. Machill was a McCloy Scholar at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA. Dr. Machill holds academic degrees from three countries: Before going to Harvard and earning a Master of Public Administration (MPA) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (1997-99), he studied journalism and psychology in both Paris, France, and Dortmund, Germany. He holds an MA (1993) from the French journalism institute Centre des Formation des Journalistes (CFJ), and a diploma (1994 – “with honors”) from the University of Dortmund.  In 1997 he graduated (“summa cum laude”) with a PhD from the chair of media policy and media economy. His thesis was honored by the University of Dortmund with the 1997 prize of “outstanding thesis of the year”.

In his research, Dr. Machill strives after combining research results from journalism/media science and computer science. His current focus is on digital gatekeepers, Internet governance, media policy & law, international journalism and online journalism. His international work includes research and teaching at the Universities of Zurich and St. Gallen (Switzerland) and several universities in Germany. He has been with Singapore’s School of Communication and Information (Nanyang Technological University) as a Visiting Professor from 2/2007 until 10/2007.

Professor Machill also worked as a journalist in both print and electronic media: In 1991/1992 he completed a training program with the national public radio broadcaster Deutsche Welle in Cologne and Berlin; he then worked at Radio France Internationale in Paris, and in 1993 presented the first “Europa-Journal”; subsequently, he was a freelance editor with Euronews-TV in Lyon, where he anchored political Live-Reporting (mostly European Parliament).  He has engaged in freelance work with various public broadcasting companies like WDR, ORB, and newspapers like Die Zeit, the Frankfurt Rundschau, as well as with the German National Public Television in Washington. In addition to his work as a journalist, Marcel Machill has been published in many renowned scientific and technical journals (for ex., the Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, The European Journal of Communication, The Journal of Media Economics), and has published more than 20 books. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of JOURNALISM PRACTICE, the scholarly international journal published by Routledge. He speaks fluent French, English and Spanish. His mother tongue is German.