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Dr Susan McKay

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Researcher biography

Dr Susan McKay's research interests include media theory, discourse analysis, media representations, magazine research.

Her current research includes media representations of health issues, and risk discourse

She is the author of articles on:

  • Media discourse
  • Media and health
  • Communication networks
  • New technology and online communication
  • Australian stereotypes of ethnic groups

Co-author of:

  • Structures and Strategies: An Introduction to Academic Writing (with Lloyd Davis).

Section editor:

  • Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics 2nd ed (Elsevier, forthcoming)

Publications

Book (1)
Book Chapters (9)
Journal Articles (28)
Conference Papers (3)
Conference Item (1)
Research Reports (2)

Book

Davis, Lloyd and McKay, Susan Structures and strategies: An introduction to academic writing. South Melbourne, Australia: Macmillan Education Australia, 1996.

Book Chapters

McKay, Susan (2011). Language and the media. In Rajend Mesthrie (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 396-412) Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Bonner, Frances and McKay, Susan (2010). Slawa i zdrowie w australijskich czasopismach kobiecych. In Edyty Zierkiewicz (Ed.), Świat (z) kolorowych czasopism: Prasa dla kobiet i dziewczyn w perspektywie interdyscyplinarnej. (pp. 247-255) Wrocław, Poland: Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT: Wrocławskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe (Publishing House TRUMP - Educational Publishing House).
McKay, S. B. (2006). Media and language: Overview. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language & linguistics 2nd ed. (pp. 597-602) Amstedam, The Netherlands: Elseiver.
McKay, S. B. (2006). Health and the media. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics 2nd ed. (pp. 253-255) UK: Elsevier Ltd.
McKay, Susan B. (2006). The discursive construction of health risk in magazines: Messages, registers and readers. In Gotti, Maurizio and Salager-Meyer, Francoise (Ed.), Advances in Medical Discourse Analysis: Oral and Written Contexts 1 ed. (pp. 311-330) Bern: Peter Lang.
Gallois, Cindy, McKay, Susan. and Pittam, Jeffery (2005). Intergroup Communication and Identity: Intercultural, Organizational, and Health Communication. In Kristine L. Fitch and Robert E. Sanders (Ed.), Handbook of Language and Social Interaction (pp. 231-250) Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc..
Mckay, S. B. (2005). Communication and 'risky' behaviour in adolescence. In A. Williams and C. Thurlow (Ed.), Talking Adolescence: Perspectives on Communication in the Teenage Years 1st ed. (pp. 265-281) New York: Peter Lang.
McKay, S. B., Thurlow, C. and Toomey Zimmerman, H. (2005). Wired whizzes or techno-slaves? Young people and their emergent communication technologies. In A. Williams and C. Thurlow (Ed.), Talking Adolescence: Perspectives on Communication in the Teenage Years 1st ed. (pp. 185-203) New York: Peter Lang.
Bonner, F. J. and McKay, S. B. (2000). Politicising breast cancer. In Hannelore Best and Eileen Sellers (Ed.), International Images of Health: Perspectives, Power & Practice 1st ed. (pp. 61-68) Ballarat: University of Ballarat.

Journal Articles

McKay, Susan and Fitzgerald, Richard (2012) Just like home: remediation of the social in contemporary news broadcasting. Discourse, Context and Media., 1 1: 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.dcm.2011.12.001
McKay, Susan (2008) Advice columns as cultural intermediaries. Australian Journal of Communication, 35 2: 93-103.
Bonner, F. J. and McKay, S. B. (2007) Personalizing current affairs without becoming tabloid: The case of Australian Story. Journalism, 8 6: 640-656. doi:10.1177/1464884907083116
Bonner, F J and McKay, S B (2006) The illness narrative: Australian media reporting of Kylie Minogue's breast cancer. METRO, 148 154-159.
Nguyen, An, Ferrier, Elizabeth, Western, Mark and McKay, Susan (2005) Online News in Australia: Patterns of Use and Gratification. Australian Studies in Journalism, 15: 5-34.
McKay, S. B. (2005) Review: Cultural Sutures: Medicine and Media, Friedman, Lester D (ed). Media International Australia, 117 153-154.
McKay, Susan and Bonner, Frances (2004) Educating readers: Breast cancer in Australian women's magazines. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17 4: 517-535. doi:10.1080/09518390410001709571
Riedlinger, M. E., Gallois, C., McKay, S. and Pittam, J. (2004) Impact of social group processes and functional diversity on communication in networked organizations. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 32 1: 55-79. doi:10.1080/0090988042000178130
McKay, Susan (2003) The paradox in ageing well: stories of older women in the Australian women's weeky. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 17 2: 177-185. doi:10.1080/10304310302750
Bonner, F. J. and McKay, S. B. (2003) Magazine Features and Infotainment Values. Media International Australia, 107 May: 117-133.
McKay, S (2003) Adolescent risk behaviors and communication research - Current directions. Journal of Language And Social Psychology, 22 1: 74-82. doi:10.1177/0261927X02250058
Thurlow, C and McKay, S (2003) Profiling "new" communication technologies in adolescence. Journal of Language And Social Psychology, 22 1: 94-103. doi:10.1177/0261927X02250060
McKay, S. and Bonner, F. (2002) Evaluating Illness in Women's Magazines. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 21 1: 53-67. doi:10.1177/0261927X02021001004
Bonner, Frances and McKay, Susan (2002) Reporting Childhood Illness in Australian Mass Market Women's Magazines. Australian Journal of Communication, 29 1: 53-66.
McKay, S and Pittam, J (2002) Special issue: Language and healthcare - Preface. Journal of Language And Social Psychology, 21 1: 5-6. doi:10.1177/0261927X02021001001
McKay, S. B. (2001) Beyond Biomedicine: Renegotiating the Sick Role for Postmodern Conditions. M/C, 4 3: .
McKay, S. B. and Rintel, E. S. (2001) Interacting with Reality TV. M/C Reviews, Reality TV .
Bonner, F. J., McKay, S. and McKee, A. (2001) On the beach. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 15 3: 269-274.
McKay, S. B. and Rintel, S. (2001) Online Television Forums: Access, Interactivity, and Transactional Space. EJC (Electronic Journal of Communication), 11 2: 1-19.
Bonner, F. J. and McKay, S. B. (2000) Challenges determination and triumphs: Inspirational discourse in women's magazine health stories. Continuum, 14 2: 133-144.
McKay, S. B. and Bonner, F. J. (2000) Introduction. Continuum, 14 2: 117-119.
McKay, Susan and Bonner, Frances (1999) Telling stories: Breast cancer pathographies in Australian women's magazines. Women's Studies International Forum, 22 5: 563-571. doi:10.1016/S0277-5395(99)00055-2
McKay, Susan (1998) Taking the politics out of sport?: Australian press coverage of South Africa-Australia sport 1992-1994. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33 3: 255-267. doi:10.1177/101269098033003003
Bonner, Frances, McKay, Susan and Goldie, Kathryn (1998) Caring for the family: Fifty years of health in the Australian Women's Weekly. Journal of Australian Studies, 22 59: 154-164. doi:10.1080/14443059809387433
McKay, Susan and Pittam, Jeffrey (1993) Ethnic identity and the human interest story: Vietnamese in Brisbane. Australian Journalism Review, 15 2: 51-62.
McKay, Susan and Pittam , Jeffery (1993) Determinants of anglo-Australian stereotypes of the Vietnamese in Australia. Australian Journal of Psychology, 45 1: 17-23. doi:10.1080/00049539308259114
McKay, Susan (1993) Representations of the Vietnamese in the letter columns of the Daily Press. Australian Journal of Communication, 20 1: 99-115.
Pittam, J. and McKay, S. (1991) The Vietnamese: Representations in Brisbane's press. Australian Journal of Communication, 18 1: 90-106.

Conference Papers

McKay, Susan (2010). Communicating health risk to teens in non-news formats. In: Giacomo Bottà and Marja Härmänmaa, Language and the Scientific Imagination: Proceedings of the 11th international conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI). ISSEI 2008: Language and the Scientific Imagination. The 11th international conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas, Helsinki, Finland, (1-13). 28 July-2 August 2008.
Riedlinger, M. E., McKay, S. and Gallois, C. (2004). Identity and communication: Who collaborates in collaborative research?. In: B. Bonmati, 8th International Conference, Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST-8), Scientific Knowledge and Cultural Diversity. Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST-8), Barcelona, Spain, (423-424). 3 - 6 June 2004.
Riedlinger, M., McKay, S. B., Gallois, C. and Pittam, J. F. (2001). Communication & Behaviour Change in the Murray Darling Basin. In: Situating the Environment at the University of Queensland. Situating the Environment at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, (82-90). 15-16 February, 2001.

Conference Item

Riedlinger, M. E., McKay, S. B., Gallois, C. and Pittam, J. F. (2001). Scientists and the community: The role of group identity in environmental behaviour change. In: W. Noble, Australian Journal of Psychology Combined Abstracts of 2001 Australian Psychology Conferences. The Seventh Annual meeting of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, Melbourne, Victoria, (126-126). 12-15 July 2001.

Research Reports

McKay, S. B. (2002) Adolescent Health and Risk Online: The International Association of Language and Social Psychology
Thurlow, C. and McKay, S. B. (2002) Adolescents and New Technologies of Communication Online: The International Association of Language & Social Psychology