New players and automated decision making in the media

Partners: University of Amsterdam & Utrecht University
Type: PhD
Duration: 2023—2026

This project examines the new players and evolving power structures that have emerged in the contemporary European news ecosystem, specifically focusing on the Netherlands. Over the past two decades, news organizations have increasingly datafied their operations and implemented automated decision-making (ADM). In this process, these organizations have become deeply entangled with digital platforms–from Facebook and Google Search to Amazon Web Services and the Apple App Store,–as well as with a wide variety of data intermediaries and technology providers. Consequently, new relations of dependence have developed, affecting the distribution of power in the news ecosystem. While a lot of research has been done on the metrification and automation of news production, still missing is a comprehensive analysis of these shifts in power and dependence.