Evelyn Polacek Kery, PhD
Journalist, social media researcher, media lecturer
I am multi-media journalist with a PhD exploring how YouTube creators shape young people's critical thinking and why our emotions matter in online space. I currently teach digital journalism at the University of West London and Middlesex University and I trained new generation of media professionals at King's College London. When I’m not in the classroom, I am working at The Guardian, writing blogs, creating websites, or judging entries for the Press Awards. I wrote for The Conversation and many other online publications.
Academia
I successfully completed my PhD degree at the University of Sussex in May 2025, where I explored critical thinking of young people in the case of YouTube. In my research, I focused on YouTube influencers, current social media trends, audiences and fandom, the theory of critical thinking, ethical and practical problems in a research with children and young people, participatory and digital methods, ethnography and use of thematic inductive analysis.
Click here to read my full thesis. ​​​​
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I have been teaching digital journalism, data journalism, journalism skills and media ethics at the University of West London since January 2024. I also teach journalism and media at the Middlesex University where I also supervised BA and MSc dissertations.
Media
Apart from working in academia, I am also working as assistant production editor at the Guardian. As a multi-media journalist with interest in digital and social media, I have a vast portfolio of articles, websites, blogs and social media posts.
I founded and edited Euron magazine, first online magazine for Europeans in London. I specialise in writing profile features.
