I studied mediastudies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel where I graduated in 1997. At the same university I then started a PhD project on two Belgian dating shows, Blind Date and Streetmate. Combining Foucaultian analytics of power and Actor-Network Theory, I studied how participants in dating shows (and in television at large) are managed by the production team. Having finished the PhD in 2004, I then joined the Mediastudies Department at Amsterdam University, where I have been teaching mainly television-related courses.
Having first been drawn to non-Marxist approaches to media (Foucault and Latour), I later turned to Marxist approaches to media (political economy, Italian autonomism). I am especially interested in the dramatic changes taking place in the mediaindustry, not only in economic terms but also in the effects this has for the culture at large.