In my research, I take a rhetorical perspective on journalism and media in a datafied world. Drawing on concepts and methods from rhetoric, I critically analyze and discuss current journalistic practices and developments.

I am particularly interested in emerging genres within political journalism, e.g., political commentary (Bengtsson 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) and fact-checking (Bengtsson 2019, Bengtsson & Schousboe 2024).

I am the PI in "Tell Me the Truth: Fact-Checkers in an Age of Epistemic Instability" (2022-2025). Read more here:

https://www.carlsbergfondet.dk/da/Bevillingshaver/Formidling/Bevillingsoversigt/CF21_0456_Mette-Bengtsson

https://comm.ku.dk/research/rhetoric/tell-me-the-truth/

I have previously been part of two research projects:

Cultural publics. A Study of the Opinion- and Peoples’ Pages of Danish Newspapers from 1908-2018: Funded by DFF. PI Professor Ida Willig. The project aims to describe how publics have formed and come into existence in the opinion pages of Danish newspapers from 1908 until 2018. By describing who writes debate pieces and on what and how we analyze and discuss the constructions and development of publics. 

Datafied News Media – Datafied Publics? The Future of Journalism and their Publics in the Age of Datafication.Funded by VELUX FONDEN’s core-group program. PI Professor Jannie Møller Hartley. Looking at datafication and the transformations of journalism and the news ecosystem, the project aims to unravel the complex relationship between the transformations of journalism and the changes in the formation of publics through journalistic and audience practices.