The rise of mistrust: Digital platforms and trust in news media. This project aims to investigate how trust and mistrust in news changes audiences’ behaviours as they increasingly access news through digital platforms. Observing the global crisis of trust, the project will undertake a longitudinal analysis of trust and mistrust in news, a four-country experiment that links trust and audience responses, and an in-depth qualitative study that provides specific contexts of these choices. The resear ....The rise of mistrust: Digital platforms and trust in news media. This project aims to investigate how trust and mistrust in news changes audiences’ behaviours as they increasingly access news through digital platforms. Observing the global crisis of trust, the project will undertake a longitudinal analysis of trust and mistrust in news, a four-country experiment that links trust and audience responses, and an in-depth qualitative study that provides specific contexts of these choices. The research will directly benefit policy makers, as it addresses questions of how to better secure trustworthy news content in an age of increasing dominance of digital platforms that algorithmically sort the range of news available to the Australian public.
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Politics, media and democracy in Australia: public and producer perceptions of the political public sphere. At a time of widespread criticism of the role of the media in informing and enabling Australian democratic processes, this study explores the perceptions of ordinary Australians about the performance of the variety of media forms in which politics is reported, analysed and discussed.
Breaking silences: media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission. This project aims to analyse the role of media, journalism and social media activism in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) (RCIRCSA). By focusing on the nexus between media and commissions of inquiry in the digital era, the project will investigate the impacts of a rapidly changing media environment on this national 'listening' exercise. The project will use a case study approach to crit ....Breaking silences: media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission. This project aims to analyse the role of media, journalism and social media activism in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) (RCIRCSA). By focusing on the nexus between media and commissions of inquiry in the digital era, the project will investigate the impacts of a rapidly changing media environment on this national 'listening' exercise. The project will use a case study approach to critically analyse the role of a transitioning local, national and social media in triggering, reporting on and keeping alive the findings of the royal commission, ensuring victims of institutional child sexual abuse are heard, and justice is upheld.Read moreRead less
Journalism Beyond the Crisis: emerging forms, practices and uses. This project seeks to conduct a transnational comparative study designed to discover how journalism is changing as a cultural form, and the implications of this for political and cultural life. Journalistic culture in Australia is in transition, with significant implications for politics, culture and economic life. Change is affecting the forms of journalism available to Australian audiences; the ways in which, and by whom, journa ....Journalism Beyond the Crisis: emerging forms, practices and uses. This project seeks to conduct a transnational comparative study designed to discover how journalism is changing as a cultural form, and the implications of this for political and cultural life. Journalistic culture in Australia is in transition, with significant implications for politics, culture and economic life. Change is affecting the forms of journalism available to Australian audiences; the ways in which, and by whom, journalism is produced; and the uses to which practitioners and citizens in general put journalistic content.Read moreRead less
Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives. This project aims to identify the links between the preparedness of individuals to pay for news, the value of news brands and organisational cultures of news publishers, and the social value of news in promoting a democratic public sphere. Its significance arises with the ongoing crisis of news media business models, which is raising new questions about the future of journalism, and the changing role of governments worl ....Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives. This project aims to identify the links between the preparedness of individuals to pay for news, the value of news brands and organisational cultures of news publishers, and the social value of news in promoting a democratic public sphere. Its significance arises with the ongoing crisis of news media business models, which is raising new questions about the future of journalism, and the changing role of governments worldwide in financing news production. Its expected outcomes include advancing debates about how to support public interest journalism, and the value of news as both a commodity and a public good. It will be of benefit to industry, policymakers and the community in addressing the prospects for Australian journalism. Read moreRead less
Spinning out of control: the management of news by two Australian governments, 2004-2010. This project will examine the use of news management or 'spin' by Australian governments. Is it a legitimate tool of government in the face of a hyper-adversarial news media or a technique which undermines democracy? It will examine 'spin' in connection with policies on climate change, economic policy, indigenous policy and asylum seekers policy.
New Beats: mass redundancies and career change in Australian journalism. This aim of this project is a multifaceted, innovative and timely analysis of the role of mass redundancies, forced career changes and the digital reinvention of Australian journalism at a time of industry restructure and technological change. The nation's journalistic workforce shrank by 15 per cent in 2012 when 1000 journalists were made redundant. This project is intended to explore the transformation of the careers of t ....New Beats: mass redundancies and career change in Australian journalism. This aim of this project is a multifaceted, innovative and timely analysis of the role of mass redundancies, forced career changes and the digital reinvention of Australian journalism at a time of industry restructure and technological change. The nation's journalistic workforce shrank by 15 per cent in 2012 when 1000 journalists were made redundant. This project is intended to explore the transformation of the careers of these journalists and how to best address questions about professional journalism's experience of structural transformation and its capacity to adapt positively to change. The project is expected to provide the first in-depth account of the complex interplay between economic, technological, workplace and career pressures reshaping professional journalism.Read moreRead less