Assessing the impact of new communication technologies in developing countries and disadvantaged communities. This research will enhance understanding of the role of new technologies in communication with, and education of, disadvantaged groups as well as exploring the social changes they bring. Australia is committed to reducing poverty, to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and measuring the impact of development. Understanding how communication interventions may be better understood i ....Assessing the impact of new communication technologies in developing countries and disadvantaged communities. This research will enhance understanding of the role of new technologies in communication with, and education of, disadvantaged groups as well as exploring the social changes they bring. Australia is committed to reducing poverty, to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and measuring the impact of development. Understanding how communication interventions may be better understood is important to revealing how they support the achievement of better health, wellbeing, education and conflict reduction. This research will strengthen Australia's potential to lead in this field, to develop more effective development assistance and to apply such methods to Australian community development initiatives.Read moreRead less
Finding a Voice: Making Technological Change Socially Effective and Culturally Empowering. New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are heralded as remarkable tools for the development of marginalised communities. Research has shown that ICTs can contribute to development, but need to be introduced in ways that recognise local social networks and cultural contexts. This project takes a participatory approach to research, aiming to empower people through finding their own voice. We w ....Finding a Voice: Making Technological Change Socially Effective and Culturally Empowering. New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are heralded as remarkable tools for the development of marginalised communities. Research has shown that ICTs can contribute to development, but need to be introduced in ways that recognise local social networks and cultural contexts. This project takes a participatory approach to research, aiming to empower people through finding their own voice. We will establish a research network of local ICT initiatives across Asia and the Pacific region. Using ethnographic action research the network will be populated by local researchers in each of these initiatives, trained and supported by Australian researchers. This will increase understanding of how ICTs can be both effective and empowering.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100148
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$460,000.00
Summary
TrISMA - Tracking Infrastructure for Social Media Analysis. Tracking infrastructure for social media analysis: The tracking infrastructure for social media analysis (TrISMA) project establishes state-of-the-art technical and organisational infrastructure for the tracking of public communication by Australian users of social media, at large scale, in real time, and for the long term, addressing a significant gap in national research infrastructure. Social media are increasingly embedded in the Au ....TrISMA - Tracking Infrastructure for Social Media Analysis. Tracking infrastructure for social media analysis: The tracking infrastructure for social media analysis (TrISMA) project establishes state-of-the-art technical and organisational infrastructure for the tracking of public communication by Australian users of social media, at large scale, in real time, and for the long term, addressing a significant gap in national research infrastructure. Social media are increasingly embedded in the Australian media ecology, and systematic analyses of how public communication takes place via social media provide rich insights into a range of issues and debates of high importance to our society.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL210100051
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,518,080.00
Summary
Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate. Rapidly increasing partisanship and polarisation, especially online, poses an urgent threat to societal cohesion in Australia and other established western democracies; polarisation is also a critical cybersecurity concern when actively promoted by bad-faith actors to undermine citizens’ trust in democratic institutions. By introducing an analytical framework that distinguishes four key dimensions of polarisation, the Fellowship ....Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate. Rapidly increasing partisanship and polarisation, especially online, poses an urgent threat to societal cohesion in Australia and other established western democracies; polarisation is also a critical cybersecurity concern when actively promoted by bad-faith actors to undermine citizens’ trust in democratic institutions. By introducing an analytical framework that distinguishes four key dimensions of polarisation, the Fellowship aims to conduct the first-ever assessment of the extent and dynamics of polarisation in the contemporary online and social media environments of six nations, including Australia. The evidence is expected to enable an urgently needed, robust defence of our society and democracy against the challenges of polarisation.Read moreRead less
Social media in times of crisis: learning from recent natural disasters to improve future strategies. This project will analyse and evaluate how social media was used by emergency authorities, media organisations and citizens during recent natural disasters, including the January 2011 Queensland floods and Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The project will develop a framework for longer-term strategies for public communication during emergencies.
New Media and Public Communication: Mapping Australian User-Created Content in Online Social Networks. Understanding the ways people contribute to and use the Internet for a wide range of purposes is important to Australia's future from both a social and an economic perspective. Effective, evidence-based policy depends on developing a vastly improved understanding of the current level of Australians' online activities and interests. This project provides crucial, detailed baseline data on the so ....New Media and Public Communication: Mapping Australian User-Created Content in Online Social Networks. Understanding the ways people contribute to and use the Internet for a wide range of purposes is important to Australia's future from both a social and an economic perspective. Effective, evidence-based policy depends on developing a vastly improved understanding of the current level of Australians' online activities and interests. This project provides crucial, detailed baseline data on the social, cultural and technological dynamics of Australian online public communication, which can inform further government initiatives to strengthen the country's digital economy and to maximise civic engagement through media participation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101233
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$454,386.00
Summary
Addressing the Crisis of Local Visual News in Regional and Remote Australia. This project aims to measure the volume and quality of visual content on regional news platforms by diverse publishers in eight key geographic areas. It is the first in Australia to examine the full cycle from production through presentation to consumption for local visual news in a regional context. Expected project outcomes include enhanced relationships between journalists and communities, stronger regional news ecos ....Addressing the Crisis of Local Visual News in Regional and Remote Australia. This project aims to measure the volume and quality of visual content on regional news platforms by diverse publishers in eight key geographic areas. It is the first in Australia to examine the full cycle from production through presentation to consumption for local visual news in a regional context. Expected project outcomes include enhanced relationships between journalists and communities, stronger regional news ecosystems, and a more representative local visual news product. These outcomes boost the academic understanding of an understudied area, help regional Australia, including regional Indigenous Australia, see itself in the journalism that is produced in the regions, and provide commercial benefits to hard-hit news providers.Read moreRead less
Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framewor ....Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framework to identify and define areas of news need, an assessment of existing interventions and road-tested approaches to improve information quality. The project should provide benefits by supporting forms of local journalism that ultimately enhances the demographic health and social fabric of small towns and cities.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101558
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Taking humour seriously for online safety. Harmful humour impacts on women’s wellbeing online, but is poorly managed by social media platforms, and has not been integrated into online safety regulation and policy. This project aims to bring together sociocultural theory, social media analysis, and interviews to better understand the dynamics of harmful humour online in Australia. It will work with users, community leaders and industry stakeholders to evaluate current platform and policy response ....Taking humour seriously for online safety. Harmful humour impacts on women’s wellbeing online, but is poorly managed by social media platforms, and has not been integrated into online safety regulation and policy. This project aims to bring together sociocultural theory, social media analysis, and interviews to better understand the dynamics of harmful humour online in Australia. It will work with users, community leaders and industry stakeholders to evaluate current platform and policy responses and how they could be improved. The anticipated outcomes include theoretical advances, workable principles for better content moderation processes that reduce harm without restricting healthy expression, and evidence-based contributions to debates on online safety regulation.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation. Encompassed by the disputed term ‘fake news’, overtly or covertly biased, skewed, or falsified reports claiming to present factual information present a critical challenge to the effective dissemination of news and information across society. This project conducts a systematic, large-scale, mixed-methods analysis of empirical evidence on the dissemination of, engagement with, and impact of ‘fake news’ and other malinformation in p ....Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation. Encompassed by the disputed term ‘fake news’, overtly or covertly biased, skewed, or falsified reports claiming to present factual information present a critical challenge to the effective dissemination of news and information across society. This project conducts a systematic, large-scale, mixed-methods analysis of empirical evidence on the dissemination of, engagement with, and impact of ‘fake news’ and other malinformation in public debate, in Australia and beyond. It takes a triangulated approach, combining computational big data analytics with deep forensic analysis, to reveal the complex ‘fake news’ ecosystem, replace 'fake news' with more precise terminology, and provide recommendations for policy responses based on robust evidence.Read moreRead less