Mette Bengtsson

Mette Bengtsson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Humanities, specializing in rhetoric, argumentation, and political journalism. Her research focuses on how mass-mediated public debate takes place and how journalists contribute to cultivating vibrant political discourse. She has extensively analyzed newer genres within political journalism such as political commentary and fact-checking, examining argumentation and style to discuss fundamental assumptions about knowledge, citizens, journalists, and democracy.

Her research interests span rhetoric, argumentation, journalism, media, democracy, political journalism, mass-mediated political debate, media and citizenship, political commentators, and fact-checking. Bengtsson investigates how journalists can foster engaging political debates through critical analysis of emerging journalistic genres. Her work reveals how rhetorical strategies in political commentary and fact-checking shape democratic discourse and influence public understanding of truth and knowledge.

Bengtsson is currently Principal Investigator of the Carlsberg Foundation-funded project "Tell me the Truth: Fact-Checkers in an Age of Epistemic Instability" (2022-2025), which examines fact-checking as a rhetorical practice rather than an objective truth-telling activity. Her publications reveal a consistent focus on the intersection of rhetoric, media, and democracy, with recent work exploring algorithmic systems, platform governance, and the evolving nature of journalistic practices in digital environments.

Her scientific awards include travel grants from the Augustinus Foundation, Oticon, and FMKJ in 2012. Bengtsson has received significant media attention for her expertise, with 11 media contributions spanning from 2010 to 2024, including appearances on DR's P1 radio program discussing fact-checking.

Previously, she served as Associate Professor at Roskilde University (2020-2021) and Assistant Professor there (2017-2020). She has been involved in major research projects including "Cultural publics. A Study of the Opinion- and People's Pages of Danish Newspapers from 1908-2018" and "Datafied News Media – Datafied Publics?" examining journalism's future in the age of datafication. Her extensive academic network is demonstrated through participation in numerous international conferences and workshops focused on rhetoric and argumentation.