Home - Niki Cheong

Researcher

Writer

Speaker

Journalist

Commentator

Lecturer

Niki Cheong

I am Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society at King's College London. My research interest sits at the intersection of media, politics and digital culture/internet studies. I completed my PhD at the University of Nottingham in 2020, where I investigated cybertroopers and the online manipulation of political information in Malaysia. My doctoral thesis was awarded Best Dissertation in 2021 by the Association of Internet Researchers.

Previously, I spent about a decade in journalism, including six years at Malaysia's largest English daily, The Star. As editor of its digital platform R.AGE, I spearheaded digital innovations in journalism and led the team to winning international awards.

My column The Bangsar Boy, featuring socio-cultural commentary about Malaysia, ran for almost 11 years, and in 2017, was published as a book by MPH Publishing titled Growing Up In KL: 10 Years of The Bangsar Boy.

King's College London Profile

News and Updates

Journal Article

My first lead author journal article Queering the ‘resourcing’ of LGBTQ+ young people in the Asia Pacific (co-authored with Amelia Johns and Paul Byron, 2023) was published in Information, Communication and Society, as part of the Decolonising the Internet special issue.

UNESCO/UNDP Report

The report from a UNESCO/UNDP-funded research project I was part of mapping and reviewing online resources for young LGBTI+ youth and young key populations in the Asia-Pacific region has recently been published.

Journal Article

My journal article has been published in Continuum (Co-authored with Amelia Johns, 2021). The affective pressures of WhatsApp: from safe spaces to conspiratorial publics. Click here to read the article.

Book Chapter

My book chapter - Malaysia: Disinformation as a response to the ‘opposition playground’ - has been published in From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation: Social Media in Southeast Asia, edited by Aim Sinpeng and Ross Tapsell and published by ISEAS Publishing, Singapore.

Book Chapter

My book chapter - Internet-led political journalism: Challenging hybrid regime resilience in Malaysia - was published in The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism (eds: James Morrison, Jen Birks and Mike Berry, 2021).

Award

For my PhD thesis - Cybertroopers and the online manipulation of political communication: The Barisan Nasional years - I am the recipient of the 2021 Best Dissertation Award by the Association of Internet Researchers.

Journal Article

My co-authored journal article - and 11-country comparative media study of the newspaper coverage of the 2016 Paralympic Games - has been published in Disability and Society. Click here to read the article.

Research

Publications

2023

Peer-reviewed

Journal Article

Cheong, N., Johns, A., & Byron, P. (2023). Queering the ‘resourcing’ of LGBTQ+ young people in the Asia Pacific. Information, Communication & Society, 26(12), 2439–2456. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2249970

Book Chapter

Johns, A. & Cheong, N. (2023) The Affective Pressures of WhatsApp: From Safe Spaces to Conspiratorial Publics, in Cinque, T., Maddox, A. & Gehl, R. W. (eds) The Dark Social Online Practices of Resistance, Motility and Power. Routledge.

2022

Report

Johns, A., Byron, P., Cheong, N., Wijaya, H.Y., & Afifi, N. (2022) “Report for, and needs of Marginalized Young Peoples on Digital Literacy, Safety and Participation”. UNDP and UNESCO. Available online: https://www.undp.org/publications/resources-and-needs-vulnerable-and-marginalized-young-people-digital-literacy-safety-and-participation

2021

Peer-reviewed

Journal Article

Johns, A. & Cheong, N. (2021). "The affective pressures of WhatsApp: from safe spaces to conspiratorial publics". Continuum, 35(5), 732-746. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.1983256

Book Chapter

Cheong, N. (2021). “Internet-led Political Journalism: Challenging hybrid regime resilience in Malaysia”. In Morrison, J., Birks, J., and Berry, M. (Eds), Routledge Companion to Political Journalism, Routledge.

Peer-reviewed

Journal Article

Cheong, JPG., Khoo, S., Inoue, C., Surujlal, J., Cheong, N., Esfahani, M., Lin, P., Brooke, M., Li, Y., Chun, H., Alshahrany, A., Al-Shamli, A., and Razman, R. (2020). "An 11-country analysis of newspaper coverage of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games”. Disability and Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1756746

2020

Book Chapter

Cheong, N. (2020). "Malaysia: Disinformation as a response to the ‘opposition playground’". in Sinpeng, A. and Tapsell, R. (Eds), From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation: Social Media in Southeast Asia, ISEAS Publishing: Singapore

2019

Peer-reviewed

Journal Article

Johns, A., & Cheong, N. (2019). "Feeling the Chill: Bersih 2.0, State Censorship, and 'Networked Affect' on Malaysian Social Media 2012–2018". Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118821801

2017

Trade

Book

Cheong, N. (2017). Growing Up In KL: 10 Years of The Bangsar Boy. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: MPH Group Publishing.

2016

Trade

Book

Cheong, N. (2016). “Propagate the idea of mutual respect”. In Soo, EJ. (Ed), Moderation (pp 22-27). Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Star Media Group.

Research Projects

2022-23

How do young voters navigate political information during the 15th Malaysian General Election?

Funded by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities Small Research Grant (Early-career Researcher strand) and the DDH Departmental Research Grant at King's College London.

2021

Mapping online safety and literacy resources for LGBTI youth and YKP in the Asia-Pacific region

Working alongside Dr. Amelia Johns and Dr. Paul Byron (University of Technology, Sydney), and Mr. Hendri Yulius, funded by UNESCO/UNDP.

Analysis of print media (and their use of Facebook) coverage of the 2020 Paralympic Games

Co-leading with Dr. Selina Khoo and Dr. Jadeera Cheong (Universiti Malaya), involving researchers in 19 countries.

2019-2020

Experiences of Jeremy Corbyn Supporters in the 2019 General Election Campaign

Named researcher on a project based at the University of Huddersfield (PI: Professor Cornel Sandvoss)

2019

Decoding the Weaponisation of Popular Culture on WhatsApp in Singapore and Malaysia

Working alongside Dr. Crystal Abidin (Curtin University), Dr. Amelia Johns (University of Technology Sydney), Dr. Natalie Pang (National University of Singapore) and Associate Professor Joanne BY Lim (University of Nottingham Malaysia. Successfully awarded the the Facebook Integrity Foundational Research Award (US$50,000).

2016

An 11-country analysis of newspaper coverage of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games

Led by Associate Professor Selina Khoo and Dr. Jadeera Cheong (University of Malaya), involving researchers in 11 countries.

‘Digital citizenship’ policies and the digital networking practices of diaspora youth in Australia and Malaysia

Research Assistant for Dr. Amelia Johns (University of Technology Sydney). I was also involved in her follow-up fieldwork for the project titled: The Digital Citizenship Practices of Malaysian-Chinese Youth in the lead up to the 2018 General Election.

Talks

Invited Talks and Guest Lectures

2023

University of Liverpool

LGBTQ+ young people’s digital citizenship in the Asia Pacific

DigiPol Research Seminar

US-Asia Institute (USAI)

Digital Boom: Discussing the Political Climate of Southeast Asia in the Age of Social Media

Guest speaker - US-Asia Institute (USAI) Southeast Asia in Focus Webinar Series

To watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdZVxlHEOE4

Zeno Malaysia

How theory predicted Donald Trump: And why this should bother you

Guest talk

2022

International Committee of the Red Cross

Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate Speech: What Are The Consequences

Moderator - Human Matters with ICRC Facebook Live series

To watch: https://fb.watch/goKyWygi9_/

King's College London

Going Global Roundtable

Panelist - Digital Humanities Speaker Series inaugural event

Association of Progressive Communication and EngageMedia

Politisation of Hate Speech

Panelist - Regional Convening: Challenging Hate Narratives in Asia

MeCCSA Postgraduate Network

Understanding the Job Market Inside and Outside Academia in the Post-Pandemic Era

Panelist

Fikom UNISBA, Indonesia

The Problem with Communications in the Digital Age

Panelist

IACT College Malaysia

All your memes are belong to us: Memetics, Politics and Popular Culture

Guest Lecturer - International Faculty Lecture Series

University of Huddersfield

It's feeling chilly in Malaysia: Internet-led political journalism, 'fake news' and conpiratorial publics

Centre for Participatory Culture Seminar Series

2021

King's College London

Before ‘fake news’: Cybertroopers, the opposition playground and internet-led political journalism in Malaysia

Going Global Seminar Series

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Online disinformation in Southeast Asia

Guest Lecture

2019

University of Nottingham Malaysia

Demystifying Cybertroopers

Guest Lecture

2018

IACT College Malaysia

Media Convergence in Journalism

Guest Lecture

2017

University of Tampere, Finland

Weeding the grass: Social media astroturfing in Malaysia

Tampere Research Centre for Journalism, Media and Communication (COMET) Lecture Series

2015

Rightscon Manila

Lightning Talk - Cybertrooping

Rightscon Summit Manila, The Philippines

British High Commission in Malaysia

The Great Debate: Everything in Moderation

Panelist at the event co-organised by the Global Movement of Moderates

2013 & 2014

Monash University Malaysia

Issues in International Communication

Guest Lecture

2012

Walter Conkrite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Social Media and Journalism

Guest talk for participants of the Conkrite Global study abroad session (in London) organised by Arizona State University’s Walter Conkrite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Conference Presentation

November 2022

TU Dublin, Ireland

'Queering' Digital Citizenship? Reflections on Research with ‘LGBTQ+’ Youth in the Asia Pacific

Association of Internet Researchers annual conference 2022 - #AoIR22

Co-presented with Dr. Amelia Johns and Dr. Paul Byron (University of Technology Sydney)

University of Liverpool

One-to-many: SMS messaging as ‘means of control’ in the digital age of Covid-19

Political Studies Association's Media and Politics Group Annual General Conference 2022

October 2019

Queensland University of Technology

Decoding the Weaponisation of Popular Culture on WhatsApp in Singapore and Malaysia

Association of Internet Researchers conference 2019 - #AoIR2019

June 2019

Facebook HQ

Decoding the Weaponisation of Popular Culture on WhatsApp in Singapore and Malaysia

Facebook Integrity Research Academic Workshop

November 2018

University of Nottingham

Clouded by euphoria: Freedom to express following the 14th Malaysian General Election

Political Studies Association’s Media and Politics Group Annual General Conference 2018

October 2018

Lugano, Switzerland

Of troops and turf: What can Malaysian cybertroopers tell us about political astroturfing disrupting democracy

ECREA 2018 – 7th European Communication Conference

September 2018

Oxford University

Of Troops and (Astro)Turf: The Malaysian Case

The Internet, Policy & Politics Conference 2018

October 2017

University of Turku

From a ‘tsunami’ of hope to the flattening of hopelessness: Mapping networked affect in Malaysia’s Bersih 2.0 movement

Affective Politics of Social Media Symposium

Co-presented with Dr Amelia Johns (Australia)

May 2017

University of Amsterdam

Faking It: Astroturfing, Twitter and Political Communication

Public Lives/Private Platform: The Politics of Twitter conference

December 2016

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Beware the AstroTurf: Why we can’t trust social media in times of crisis

Political Studies Association’s Media and Politics Group Annual General Conference

My paper received an Honourable Mention (for the doctoral students prize competition)

December 2015

Monash University Malaysia

Power of Social Ties: Twitter, Trust and Troopers

Internet in Southeast Asia Symposium

Current Modules

Digital Politics 1st Year - BA Digital Media and Culture (Module Convenor)

Digital Foundations I 1st Year - BA Digital Media and Culture (Module Convenor)

Social Media 2nd Year - Digital Media and Culture (Module Convenor)

Dissertation supervision 3rd Year - Digital Media and Culture + students across all MAs in the Department of Digital Humanities

Previous modules

Digital Popular Culture 2nd Year - Digital Media and Culture (Module Co-Convenor)

Digital Publishing 3rd Year - Digital Media and Culture + Optional module across all MAs in the Department of Digital Humanities

Global Digital Audiences Optional module across all MAs in the Department of Digital Humanities

Mobility, Culture and Digital Media Optional module across all MAs in the Department of Digital Humanities

2020 to 2021

Media, Culture and Creative Industries 1st Year - BA (Hons) Media and Communications

Thinking Media Configurations 2nd Year - BA (Hons) Media and Communications

Dissertation/Final Major Project 3rd Year - BA (Hons) Media and Communications (Supervision)

Postdigital Worlds 3rd Year - BA (Hons) Media and Communications

Research Design 3rd Year - BA (Hons) Media and Communications

2016 to 2020 (Graduate Teaching Assistant)

Questioning Culture 1st Year - BA International Media and Communication Studies/BA Film and Television

Communication and Technology 1st Year - BA International Media and Communication Studies
Lecture on Social Media: Resistance and Activism

Researching Culture, Film and Media 2nd Year - BA International Media and Communication Studies
I developed and run two workshops on research methods preparing undergraduates for their final year dissertation: 1) Newspaper research and 2) Temporal issues in internet research

Political Communication, Propaganda and Public Relations 2nd year - BA International Media and Communication Studies

Digital Communication and Media 2nd Year - BA International Media and Communication Studies

Issues and Challenges in Contemporary Media MA-level moduleLecture on Discursive Power and Contestation

2015 to 2022 (Adjunct/Visiting Scholar)

Politics, Culture and Media in Southeast Asia Module Convenor (International Summer School module)

Communication, Politics and Media Foundation in Arts and Education module

2015 (Sessional Lecturer)

Media, Power and Politics in Southeast Asia 2nd Year – Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies (including module development)

2013 to 2015 (Lecturer)

Introduction to Creative Media 1st Year – Bachelor of Communications (including module development)

Newswriting for Electronic Media 1st Year – Dip. Communications and Media Studies

Writing and Reporting for Print Media 1st Year - Diploma in Communication and Media

Citizen Journalism & Participatory Culture 2nd Year – Bachelor of Communications

Creative Industries 3rd year - Bachelor of Communication (including module development)

2008 to 2011 (Part-time Lecturer)

Career Management – Marketing and Media 2nd Year – Diploma in Performing Arts

2002 (Lecturer)

Media, Society and Culture 1st Year – BA Mass Communication

Introduction to Marketing 1st Year – Diploma in Multimedia, Advertising and Broadcasting

PhD Supervision

I am currently supervising two PhD students at King's College London (one as 1st supervisor, and another as 2nd). I am considering potential PhD supervisees in the fields of digital political communication and mis/disinformation studies, particularly those focussing on Southeast Asian countries, or Asia more broadly.