The Persistence of Television: how the medium adapts to survive in the digital world. The project investigates the way television program content modulates over time to retain audiences, even when the audience itself fragments across different reception technologies. It explores the substantial degree of stability in both fiction and non-fiction programming by considering a range of British, Australian and American texts which have been altered to remain relevant, been sequentially adapted to re ....The Persistence of Television: how the medium adapts to survive in the digital world. The project investigates the way television program content modulates over time to retain audiences, even when the audience itself fragments across different reception technologies. It explores the substantial degree of stability in both fiction and non-fiction programming by considering a range of British, Australian and American texts which have been altered to remain relevant, been sequentially adapted to reflect contemporary preferences, and been made as local versions of international formats. It uses empirical and qualitative methods to compare programs from the beginning of mass broadcast television in Australia, the UK and the US. Outcomes will include a scholarly monograph and several articles.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
The new screen ecology and innovation in production and distribution. The project aims to explore new models of online and screen content creation. Major United States information technology corporations are challenging Hollywood and television networks and are likely to come to dominate new screen services into the future. This project focuses on the most challenging and potentially disruptive and innovative forms of production and distribution this new screen ecology is taking. Processes of pr ....The new screen ecology and innovation in production and distribution. The project aims to explore new models of online and screen content creation. Major United States information technology corporations are challenging Hollywood and television networks and are likely to come to dominate new screen services into the future. This project focuses on the most challenging and potentially disruptive and innovative forms of production and distribution this new screen ecology is taking. Processes of professionalisation and monetisation of previously amateur content creation are underpinning an explosive growth of a lower-budget, more diverse and structurally innovative tier of advertising- and sponsor-supported online content. Centred on strategies of platforms such as YouTube, but international in scope, the project aims to contribute to innovation in Australian screen production and distribution.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
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
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.
Understanding Intermedia Information Flows in the Australian Online Public Sphere. The emergence of new media forms has led to a profound transformation of the Australian media environment; mainstream, niche, and social media intersect in many ways, online and offline. Increased access to large-scale data on public communication online enables an observation of how the nation responds to the news of the day, how themes and topics unfold, and how interested publics develop and decline over time. ....Understanding Intermedia Information Flows in the Australian Online Public Sphere. The emergence of new media forms has led to a profound transformation of the Australian media environment; mainstream, niche, and social media intersect in many ways, online and offline. Increased access to large-scale data on public communication online enables an observation of how the nation responds to the news of the day, how themes and topics unfold, and how interested publics develop and decline over time. This project uses such observations to trace how information flows across media spaces, and to develop a new model of the online public sphere. It makes significant contributions to innovation in research methods in the digital humanities, and provides an important basis for policies aimed at closing digital and social divides.Read moreRead less
Internet-distributed television: cultural, industrial and policy dynamics. This project aims to investigate the impact of global subscription video-on-demand platforms on national television markets. The rise of subscription video streaming has created significant challenges for Australian and international broadcast, media and cultural policy frameworks, which are struggling to keep up with audience viewing practices. This project will provide a comparative analysis of how governments are respo ....Internet-distributed television: cultural, industrial and policy dynamics. This project aims to investigate the impact of global subscription video-on-demand platforms on national television markets. The rise of subscription video streaming has created significant challenges for Australian and international broadcast, media and cultural policy frameworks, which are struggling to keep up with audience viewing practices. This project will provide a comparative analysis of how governments are responding and investigating the implications for debates about local content, local screen production, and media diversity. The project will provide an analysis of original production and programming strategies to identify new forms of trans-national media flow. The project will advance an understanding of media globalisation and provide media regulators options and opportunities for a convergent media policy environment.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100973
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$367,983.00
Summary
Skills development and transfer in the digital gaming sector. This project aims to examine the transferability and sustainability of videogame development skillsets to the broader digital sector. The project will lead to future job creation, and to cultural and economic innovation in Australia.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101435
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$452,000.00
Summary
Combatting Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour on Social Media. Online disinformation is a global problem that threatens national security and is harmful to society. However, current methods are not suited to detect coordinated disinformation operations that conceal their activity by co-opting and cultivating regular users, groups and social movements. This project develops cutting-edge methods and workflows to accurately distinguish genuine activity from coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and to ....Combatting Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour on Social Media. Online disinformation is a global problem that threatens national security and is harmful to society. However, current methods are not suited to detect coordinated disinformation operations that conceal their activity by co-opting and cultivating regular users, groups and social movements. This project develops cutting-edge methods and workflows to accurately distinguish genuine activity from coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and to trace and evaluate the adoption of material spread by malicious actors across multiple platforms.Read moreRead less