research

Research interests

  • Political engagement through epistemic dispositions and technological affordances
  • Civic resistance, resilience, and engagement through digital media and sociocultural infrastructure
  • Media sociology and journalism in contexts of political contestation and hybrid regimes

Publications

  1. Koo, A. Z. X., & Shea, C. S. Y. (2026). Repressor on leashes: Hybridized practice of pro-regime media in Hong Kong. Digital Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2026.2700589

  2. Shea, C. S. Y., Witzling, L., Shaw, B., & Wolnik, D. (2026). Integrating farmers markets into a communication infrastructure model: The moderating role of physical community spaces for civic engagement. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2665795

  3. Witzling, L., Shaw, B., Shea, C. S. Y., & Wolnik, D. (2026). A food-related lifestyle segmentation: Understanding consumer interest in farmers markets in the U.S. British Food Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2025-1419

  4. Shea, C. S. Y., & Ismangil, M. (2025). “Hong Kong will never die as long as there are bookstores”: Independent bookstores in Hong Kong amidst diminishing political opportunities. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 12, Article 102199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102199

  5. Shea, C. S. Y., & Lee, F. L. F. (2022). Public diplomacy via Twitter: Opportunities and tensions. Chinese Journal of Communication, 15(3), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2022.2081988

  6. Shea, C. S. Y., Jiang, Y., & Leung, W. L. Y. (2022). David vs. Goliath: Transnational grassroots outreach and empirical evidence from the #HongKongProtests Twitter network. Review of Communication, 22(3), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2022.2106793

Selected conference papers

Digital media and civic participation, resistance, and resilience

  • Shea, C. S. Y. (2025, June). Managing the Ephemerality of Shared News Online: Issue Controversy, Individual Perceptions, and Technological Features. Paper presented at the 75th Annual International Communication Association Conference, Denver.
  • Shaw, B. R., Shea, C., Witzling, L., & Wolnik, D. (2025, March). Data-driven messaging grows attendance: Insights from a nationally representative survey on farmers market participation. Paper presented at the InTents Farmers Market Pros Summit, San Diego, CA.
  • Shea, C. S. Y. (2022, May). Tripartite Pathways on Legitimizing Radicalization: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Anti-ELAB Movement. Paper presented at the 72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris.
  • Shea, C. S. Y., Jiang, Y., & Leung, W. L. Y. (2021, August). Asking the Enemy of My Enemy for Help: Transnational Grassroots Outreach on Twitter in #HongKongProtests. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference, virtual.
  • Wong, H. C., & Shea, C. S. Y. (2020, May). The Social Media Battlefield: Countermovement in the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Protests. Paper presented at the 70th Annual International Communication Association Conference, virtual.

Media sociology and journalism

  • Koo, A. Z. X., & Shea, C. S. Y. (2024). Media’s construction of a pro-regime identity in Hong Kong: Influences from materialism and digital affordances. Presented at the 74th Annual International Communication Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Shea, C. S. Y. (2023, May). Translating the Protest Violence: Legitimizing Radicalization in Traditional and Alternative News Media in the Hong Kong Anti-ELAB Movement. Paper presented at the 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto. Top Student Paper Award.
  • Shea, C. S. Y., & Leung, W. L. Y. (2020, August). Epidemic arrives in political times: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong Newspaper Reporting on SARS and COVID-19. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference, virtual.