Alt-right discourse and ideology in Australia and its threat to democracy. This project aims to uncover the anti-democratic threat posed by the circulation of alt-right discourse and ideology in Australia. Responding to growing concern about online hate speech and violent acts committed by extremists inspired by alt-right ideas, the project seeks to map the online spread of alt-right discourse in Australia and analyse the transnational influences, ideology, strategies and public influence of the ....Alt-right discourse and ideology in Australia and its threat to democracy. This project aims to uncover the anti-democratic threat posed by the circulation of alt-right discourse and ideology in Australia. Responding to growing concern about online hate speech and violent acts committed by extremists inspired by alt-right ideas, the project seeks to map the online spread of alt-right discourse in Australia and analyse the transnational influences, ideology, strategies and public influence of the groups that promote such discourse. The project will establish a new footing for understanding recent developments in online extremism, engage policy makers and professionals working in the field, and, through its public-facing outcomes, add a new dimension to public debate on the impact of the internet on civil society.Read moreRead less
When Your Face is Your ID: Public Responses to Automated Facial Recognition. This project would explore public attitudes toward the use of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces, schools, and workplaces with a national survey, focus group interviews, and four case studies. The project aims to generate new knowledge about public attitudes through a multi-method interdisciplinary approach that anticipates the future of the technology by studying its use in China. Expected ou ....When Your Face is Your ID: Public Responses to Automated Facial Recognition. This project would explore public attitudes toward the use of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces, schools, and workplaces with a national survey, focus group interviews, and four case studies. The project aims to generate new knowledge about public attitudes through a multi-method interdisciplinary approach that anticipates the future of the technology by studying its use in China. Expected outcomes include public reports on the survey and case studies, seven academic journal articles, and a book. The research would provide significant benefits by contributing new knowledge about how to implement the technology in accordance with Australian commitments to civil rights, ethics and democratic values.
Read moreRead less
Mapping Australians' Media Use and Civic Attitudes. This project would address the need to better understand how patterns of media consumption in Australia are correlated with knowledge about current events, civic attitudes, and political polarisation. It would provide the first empirical study of the relationship in a fast changing media environment between the ways Australians access information about the news, their knowledge of current events, and their expressed civic values. Significant be ....Mapping Australians' Media Use and Civic Attitudes. This project would address the need to better understand how patterns of media consumption in Australia are correlated with knowledge about current events, civic attitudes, and political polarisation. It would provide the first empirical study of the relationship in a fast changing media environment between the ways Australians access information about the news, their knowledge of current events, and their expressed civic values. Significant benefits include a greater understanding of how Australians use the media to stay informed and how these practices shape values of crucial concern to democratic participation and deliberation. The findings would be shared through white papers, academic and public-facing publications, and workshops.Read moreRead less
Performing authorship in the digital literary sphere. This project undertakes the first detailed analysis of literary authorship in the digital era to understand how networked communication technologies have made authorship both more accessible and more elite than ever before. Research findings will be disseminated internationally throughout the project via an interactive weblog open to the public.
Toddlers and tablets: exploring the risks and benefits 0-5s face online. Children aged between zero and five are experiencing an extraordinary shift in media consumption. They intuitively swipe screens and press buttons on tablet computers and smartphones, using apps and accessing the internet. With an estimated five-fold increase in their tablet usage (2012 to 2013), there is an urgent need for research and policy development to maximise benefit and minimise risk. This project is intended to in ....Toddlers and tablets: exploring the risks and benefits 0-5s face online. Children aged between zero and five are experiencing an extraordinary shift in media consumption. They intuitively swipe screens and press buttons on tablet computers and smartphones, using apps and accessing the internet. With an estimated five-fold increase in their tablet usage (2012 to 2013), there is an urgent need for research and policy development to maximise benefit and minimise risk. This project is intended to investigate family practices and attitudes around very young children's internet use in Australia and the United Kingdom, and is expected to contribute to public debate and evidence-based policy in Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. It aims to develop recommendations for policy makers and offers guidelines for parents of three age groups: zero to one, two to three and four to five.Read moreRead less
Creative innovation in a new digital economy. This project aims to investigate how the digital genre of the mobile webtoon is transforming media ecosystems in Australia, South Korea and America. While smartphone apps and platforms have enjoyed increasing global penetration since the late 2000s, there has been limited scholarly attention paid to interactions between webtoon artists, platforms, policymakers and global readers. The project will generate new knowledge about cross-media storytelling, ....Creative innovation in a new digital economy. This project aims to investigate how the digital genre of the mobile webtoon is transforming media ecosystems in Australia, South Korea and America. While smartphone apps and platforms have enjoyed increasing global penetration since the late 2000s, there has been limited scholarly attention paid to interactions between webtoon artists, platforms, policymakers and global readers. The project will generate new knowledge about cross-media storytelling, aesthetics and technologies by applying big data methods to analyse the production and reception of innovative mobile content. Through its case studies, the project will provide practical knowledge to Australian enterprises seeking to join the digital economy and capitalise on future opportunities in the global media environment.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
Diversifying audio description in the Australian digital landscape. Audio description (AD) is a track of narration describing important visual elements of visual media to make it accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired. It is also increasingly being used by the mainstream audience. This project aims to examine the consumption and production of Audio Description throughout Australian cultural life. It expects to generate new knowledge about the ways digital media including emerging ....Diversifying audio description in the Australian digital landscape. Audio description (AD) is a track of narration describing important visual elements of visual media to make it accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired. It is also increasingly being used by the mainstream audience. This project aims to examine the consumption and production of Audio Description throughout Australian cultural life. It expects to generate new knowledge about the ways digital media including emerging generative artificial intelligence might be leveraged to increase access to audio description. Expected outcomes include a curriculum, guidelines and materials designed to empower industries, communities and governments to work together to meet Australia's obligation to provide access to cultural activities using AD.Read moreRead less
Media pluralism and online news. This project aims to chart dramatic developments in the way news is produced and consumed online and to account for this in public policy designed to promote media pluralism. It expects to advance knowledge by testing European approaches regarded in the literature as ‘world’s best’ against a series of innovative news practices, including through a big data approach to collecting media content. Expected outcomes include a shift in public policy reliance on ownersh ....Media pluralism and online news. This project aims to chart dramatic developments in the way news is produced and consumed online and to account for this in public policy designed to promote media pluralism. It expects to advance knowledge by testing European approaches regarded in the literature as ‘world’s best’ against a series of innovative news practices, including through a big data approach to collecting media content. Expected outcomes include a shift in public policy reliance on ownership and control to a more nuanced understanding of diversity based on the role of news and comment. Significant social and economic benefits could result from more targeted regulatory interventions and from greater access to news content and wider engagement with public affairs.Read moreRead less
Fostering global digital citizenship: diaspora youth in a connected world. This project aims to identify the global digital citizenship dimensions of diaspora youth’s everyday digital media use. The project intends to use a new approach in order to investigate how these practices can be fostered through digital citizenship policy and programs to improve the inclusion and participation of culturally diverse youth and maximise their effectiveness. Expected outcomes include advances in understandin ....Fostering global digital citizenship: diaspora youth in a connected world. This project aims to identify the global digital citizenship dimensions of diaspora youth’s everyday digital media use. The project intends to use a new approach in order to investigate how these practices can be fostered through digital citizenship policy and programs to improve the inclusion and participation of culturally diverse youth and maximise their effectiveness. Expected outcomes include advances in understandings about the opportunity and capacity of diaspora youth experience. Findings will be used to strengthen digital citizenship initiatives in Australian secondary schools, connect them more closely to global citizenship education programs, and enhance the engagement of a diverse student body.Read moreRead less