Michael Pakvis

Michael Pakvis holds a BA in Arts & Culture with a focus on Political Science, an MA in Globalisation and Development Studies from Maastricht University and an MSc in Journalism and Media in Europe from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Before joining academia, he worked in the non-profit sector at an organisation fighting against extreme poverty, supporting the Dutch national team based in The Hague.

His doctoral thesis explores the construction of viewpoint diversity in Public Service Media (PSM). Using qualitative research methods, he focuses on analysing how viewpoint diversity is discussed within PSM newsrooms and how values such as impartiality, neutrality, and balance shape news reporting. By situating the study in an international context, he aims to understand and compare how editorial staff at different public broadcasters in Europe work with journalistic values established as relevant in media policy documents and editorial guidelines. Besides his research position, he works as a teaching assistant at the department of Communication Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.