Media vacancies
Postdoctoral Researcher: Sharing the News
University of Amsterdam
Users of technology play a central role in how ADS affect the supply and tailoring of public information. How people interact with a for example personalized news recommendation systems or virtual assistants function directly or indirectly affect the functioning of the technology and how public values are realized through it. How do users perceive the role of technology in making news, their own role in the process (as users of algorithmically mediated services, as agents influencing algorithmic processes and active distributors of and contributors to content). The functioning and legitimacy of the media ultimately depend on the willingness of the public to trust automated processes, and the conditions that must be fulfilled to render ADS trustworthy. We need to better understand how consumers navigate the increased choice-set in selecting or avoiding (public value) news, turn to alternative sources, or develop new strategies to inform themselves (Newman et al. 2019). The central question is how ADS is changing perceptions of what news, journalism, and public values are, and how these perceptions translate into individual behavior in news consumption and sharing.
Profile of the candidate
The candidate for this position has a PhD degree in communication science, journalism, media studies, or related computational social science field. The candidate has a strong affinity with the above topics, digital / computational science methods and in working together with a team of people from different disciplines including an interest to learn and work with researchers from communication science, information law, and computational social sciences.
Furthermore you have:
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Proven academic interest in questions regarding algorithmic applications and digital society;
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Interest in working in a very interdisciplinary, cross-university environment;
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Interest in contributing to and helping to create the broader algosoc research community;
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An excellent written and spoken command of English (written and spoken command of other languages, including Dutch, French, and/or German is a plus);
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Affinity with organising workshops, lecture series, and similar events.
If the vacancy appeals to you, but you are doubting whether you might be THE person we are looking for, please do apply. We encourage all qualified applicants, including minorities, women, people with disabilities, and members of other groups underrepresented in academia to apply. We wish to create a consortium that consists of persons who each contribute in their unique way to the team. Complementarity and not homogeneity is what we are looking for.
Developing a societal vision on automated decision making concerns us all. We believe that a diversity of perspectives in our consortium will be important in developing an inclusive societal vision and strive therefore also in our hiring policy for encouraging applicants from diverse backgrounds. We are committed to creating an environment of mutual respect, inclusiveness, equal opportunities with room for situated experiences, diverse perspectives, and ideas to flourish. This commitment applies to our research, organisation, room for flexibility, training, and community activities as well as our hiring strategy.