Hannu Nieminen is currently director of the Helsinki Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (HSSH) and professor emeritus of media and communications policy, University of Helsinki. From 2016 to 2020, he was the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and, as a campus dean, represented the five social sciences and humanities faculties in the Management Group of the University of Helsinki. Before moving to Helsinki in 2005, he served as professor of media studies at the University of Turku from 1997 onwards.

Hannu holds a master of social science degree in political science, sociology, and journalism and mass communication from the University of Tampere and a PhD in communication studies from the University of Westminster, London. He has been a visiting scholar, among others, at Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster; the Center for Civil Society Studies, Copenhagen Business School; the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science; the Faculty of Journalism, Moscow University, where he holds the position of honorary professor.   

Hannu is a member of the Euromedia Research Group and served as a member of the Board of NORDICOM from 2010 to 2018. He is a member of the editorial boards of a number of journals, including Javnost-the Public, World of Media, Global Communication, Communication and the Public. His recent publications include the book chapters “Inequality, Social Trust and the Media: Towards Citizens’ Communication and Information Rights” (Nordicom, 2019); “Why Study Media Policy and Regulation?” (Intellect, 2019); “Media and Democracy from a European Perspective” (Oxford, 2016); and journal articles “Digital Divide and Beyond: What Do We Know of Information and Communications Technology's Long-Term Social Effects? Some Uncomfortable Questions” (European Journal of Communication, 2016); “A Radical Democratic Reform of Media Regulation in Response to Three Levels of Crisis” (Javnost-the Public, 2016); “Public service media in the late 2010s: Values, governance and policy” (with Maria Michalis; International journal of digital television, 2016), as well as several co-authored and co-edited publications.

Hannu is currently working on the political and cultural history of the regulatory practices of media and communication and their relation to the formation of states in Europe. 

During his time at LSE, Professor Nieminen will work with Professor Terhi Rantanen.