Rens Vliegenthart conducts research into media coverage of political actors and social movements, studying the processes underlying this coverage and its influence on the political process and public opinion. In his capacity as professor of Communication Science, Vliegenthart will broaden his research area to include media coverage of the business sector, social organisations and the government. He will assess the methods used by these organisations to generate positive media attention and the subsequent responses by stakeholders.  He will also focus on the further development of computerised text analysis techniques.

Vliegenthart has worked as assistant professor at the UvA’s Communication Science Department and the UvA’s Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) since 2007, and was appointed associate professor in political communication in 2011. He previously held a position as a guest lecturer at the University of Southern Denmark. In 2009, Vliegenthart was awarded a Veni grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). He recently published a book entitled U kletst uit uw nek. Over de relatie tussen politiek, media en de kiezer (You’re talking nonsense: on the relationship between politics, media and the voter. 2012, Bert Bakker). Vliegenthart has also published in academic journals such as the European Journal of Communication, Comparative Political Studies and Communication Research. Vliegenthart serves on the board of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, and is also chairman of the political communication department of the Netherlands-Flanders Communication Association.