Claes de Vreese (ASCoR, University of Amsterdam), together with Prof. Frank Esser, Dr. Sina Blassnig (IKMZ, University of Zurich) and Prof. Anikó Hannák (Department of Informatics, University of Zurich), have received a project grant from the Swiss National Research Program “Digital Transformation” (NRP 77). The three-year project will run from 2021 to 2023 and investigate the role of news recommender systems in high-choice information environments.
The main aim of this project is to understand how algorithmic news recommender systems affect the production, perception of, and trust in journalism and news. We further aim to develop evidence-based recommendations on how these systems can be (re)built and (re)programmed to meet various normative requirements, including those promoting enlightened citizenship and a pluralistically informed public. The project is internationally comparative across Switzerland and the Netherlands, problem-oriented, and interdisciplinary, combining theoretical and empirical approaches from the social sciences and computer science.
The project is embedded in the Digital Communication Methods Lab and involves a 3 year post doc in Amsterdam.