Irena Reifova

Irena Reifova serves as Associate Professor at the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Social Science, Charles University in Prague, where she has maintained continuous faculty affiliation since 1999. Previous positions include Research Director at the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism (2011-2015) and affiliation with the Film and TV School, Academy of Performing Arts, Prague (2005-2009). She currently holds the position of Vice-President of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).

Her research expertise centers on Cultural Studies, Media Studies, and Memory Studies, with specialized focus on post-socialist mediated memory, television studies, and qualitative methodology. She investigates how media shapes collective memory and social inequalities in Eastern European contexts, particularly through reality television narratives and nostalgic representations, employing socio-constructivist frameworks to analyze mediated identity formation.

Analysis of her 2012-2021 publications reveals consistent thematic concentration on class representation, shame mechanisms, and social distance negotiation in post-socialist media environments. Her work frequently examines generational identity construction and ontological security in digital transitions, with strong regional emphasis on Central and Eastern European media landscapes.

Reifova maintains significant professional engagement as founding member and former Vice-Chair of ECREA's Central and East-European Network, editorial board member for CM: Communication Management Quarterly (Serbia) and Iluminace (Czech Republic), and organizer of the 6th ECREA conference in Prague (2016). She has led two nationally-funded research projects and contributed to COST Action IS0609 on audience transformations.

Her academic service extends to media policy development and international scholarly networks including ECREA, IAMCR, ICA, and CEECOM, where she collaborates with media activists and regional researchers to advance understanding of media transformations in post-socialist societies.