LINK: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21670811.2019.1623700
ASCoR Baschwitz Award
On June 20th, Judith Möller won the ASCoR Baschwitz Article of the Year Award for her article “Do not blame it on the algorithm”, written together with co-authors Damian Trilling, Natali Helberger and Bram van Es. This award is given for the best article published by an ASCoR staff member in a peer-reviewed journal in the preceding year. Well deserved, congratulations Judith!
Stefano Rodotá Award
The Stefano Rodotà Award was granted for the first time this year by the Committee of Convention 108. This award recognises innovative and original academic research projects in the field of data protection. Jef Ausloos earned this award with his project entitled “The Right to Erasure: Safeguard for Informational Self Determination in a Digital Society ?”. Congrats Jef!
New article on the emerging “news logic” of personalization
Balazs’ s new article looks into the emerging logics of news personalization at European quality news media. Based on interviews he suggests that in contrast to the personalization logic of platforms which try to maximize user engagement through short term metrics, in order to sell audiences to advertisers, news organizations optimize for loyalty, as they try to sell news to audiences.
Read the open access article here: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1624185
Report on Filter Bubbles in the Netherlands
On June 12th, Judith Möller presented a report on filter bubbles in the Netherlands, written together with Mykola Makhortykh and Nathali Helberger. The Commissariaat voor de Media (media authority in the Netherlands) had asked the UvA researchers to map out the extent to which filter bubbles have manifested in the news use of Dutch people. The full report can be downloaded here here.
Paddy presenting at ICA 2019
At the 69th annual ICA Conference in Washington DC, Paddy presented a study on platform ad archives, written in collaboration with Jef, Brahim, Natali & Claes. The presentation adressed the promises and pitfalls of such archives, and elaborated on several improvements. It was part of the ICA post-conference entitled “The rise of platforms: individual, institutional, and governance questions for communication research” . The full paper can be downloaded here.
Claes & Natali mastering the RPA game
On Wednesday May 15th, Claes and Natali officially launched the new Research Priority Area (RPA) Human(e) AI. The goal of this RPA is to study the legal, ethical and societal consequences of AI and automated decision-making. Natali gave an overview presentation to introduce the RPA to the broad public, after which Claes entered a panel discussion on the role of AI in society (see image).
The whole launch event can be watched through this link
Judith conquers Switzerland
Judith was invited by the Swiss Media commission (EMEK) to present research on algorithmic news selection and public values during a public expert consultation in Bern on May 8th. She spoke about the relationship between algorithmic design and concerns about diversity and fragmentation.
Paper alert: Platform ad archives
Paddy, Jef, Brahim, Natali & Claes have written a new article on platform ad archives. Over the past year, social media platforms (e.g., Facebook & Twitter) have introduced publicly accessible databases documenting their political advertisements. In this article, the authors elaborate on the promises and pitfalls of such archives, and discuss several improvements and identify areas for future research and debate.
This paper is now available on SSRN via this link
Natali elected as a member of KNAW
Natali Helberger has been elected a member of The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). This academy consists of excellent members selected on the basis of their great scientific and societal achievements. The KNAW bridges the gap between science and society, and promotes quality in scholarship and strives to ensure that Dutch scholars and scientists contribute to cultural, social and economic progress. This is one of the most – if not the most – prestigious positions in Dutch academia. Congratulations Natali!
