Kara Ortiga

Kara Ortiga is a PhD Candidate at Macquarie University. Her research focuses on why and how internet users engage with hyper-partisan content on YouTube. She completed her Master of Research at Macquarie University with a thesis entitled #DefendPressFreedom: Journalists’ use of Instagram in news reporting under Duterte’s populist administration in the Philippines (2022). She lectured gender and media and audiovisual production classes at the Ateneo De Manila University, and tutors news media classes at Macquarie University. She holds a Master of Digital Communication and Culture degree from the University of Sydney (2020) where she graduated with High Distinction.

She is interested in internet cultures, and examining the role of journalism in the age of digital media. Previously, she worked as a contributing editor and writer with The Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, VICE, and CNN Philippines. She specialised in long-form feature writing, interviews, and profiles. She has given talks on non-fiction writing to students at the Ateneo De Manila University (2020), De La Salle University (2017), and the University of Asia and the Pacific (2013-2015).