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Global Disinformation Index hiring
by Lucas Wright 05 May '20

05 May '20

Hi everyone, The Global Disinformation Index (disinformationindex.org) is hiring for two full time, remote roles that might be of interest to some people here. The first is a research position working mostly on index development. Deadline is May 15. https://disinformationindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Reseacher-Data-S… The second is for a communications lead. Deadline is May 22. https://disinformationindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CommunicationOut… I'm happy to answers questions about the roles or the organization. Best wishes, Lucas Wright

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Call for Papers: NewsQ/SSRC News Quality in the Platform Era
by connie im dialog 05 May '20

05 May '20

Dear all, Sharing the following call for papers on the question of "News Quality in the Platform Era"; please feel free to forward: https://www.ssrc.org/programs/component/media-democracy/news-quality-in-the… Best, Connie ---- *How do we define and measure news in the platform era?* Defining “the news” has never been a straightforward proposition, but in the era of platform media, a number of factors complicate this task further. Beyond legacy media, today's news is transmitted by mobile phones, tablets, smart home devices such as Amazon’s Alexa, and algorithmically driven news feeds by many of the major platforms. In addition to the influence of the feeds, the content of news is increasingly produced by individuals without professional training, from dedicated bloggers monetizing content for niche audiences, to impromptu citizen journalists livestreaming to social media feeds. Mixed in is an ever-expanding cohort of websites that present themselves as traditional news organizations, but skirt journalistic norms, producing content ranging from opinion posing as fact to outright disinformation. For better or worse, what has counted as news in the Western tradition—and what made its way to news consumers—has historically been determined by a professional elite: news editors. Today, however, the gatekeeping role of editors is increasingly appropriated by technology: the search and recommendation algorithms that suggest content to ever greater proportions of news consumers. The result is that we rely heavily on technology, but lack a precise understanding of how that technology operates. How have ubiquitous content production, rampant opinion and disinformation presented as fact, and plummeting trust in expertise complicated the task—imperative in a democracy—of defining the news and measuring its quality? What counts as “news quality,” and can we imagine improvements or remedies to algorithmic or semi-automated recommendation and ranking systems? The Social Science Research Council <https://www.ssrc.org/> (SSRC), in collaboration with the NewsQ Initiative <https://newsq.net>, invites proposals for research about the nature and quality of news. In particular, we invite theoretical, conceptual, empirical, or applied research that suggests new approaches to—and actionable critiques of—algorithmic news dissemination. The workshop is tentatively scheduled to be held in New York City on November 12-13, 2020 (COVID-19 contingency details in the call), and will be chaired by Philip M. Napoli <https://sanford.duke.edu/people/faculty/napoli-philip-michael> (Duke University) and Regina Lawrence <https://journalism.uoregon.edu/people/directory/rgl> (University of Oregon). Funding will be provided for participant travel and accommodations. Further details can be found on the SSRC website: https://www.ssrc.org/programs/component/media-democracy/news-quality-in-the… To apply, please send the following materials to mdapplications(a)ssrc.org by Monday, June 15, 2020 with “Application for News Quality Research Development Workshop” in the subject line: - Current C.V. of the author who will participate in the workshop (maximum two pages). - An abstract of up to 500 words. The abstract should clearly outline the main theoretical and/or empirical contribution of the proposed paper. - A short statement (up to 300 words) detailing your interest in the workshop and how it will advance your research agenda. If you have publications or projects that are related to the research detailed in your abstract, please feel free to list up to three citations in this document. -- connie moon sehat connieimdialog(a)gmail.com https://linkedin.com/in/connieatwork PGP Key ID: 0x95DFB60E

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AI Ethics: Publication Norms for Responsible AI (Part 1)
by Abhishek Gupta 05 May '20

05 May '20

Hi everyone, Of likely interest to folks here, the *Montreal AI Ethics Institute* is co-hosting this session on publications norms in responsible AI with *Partnership on AI*, details are as follows: *We'll be discussing on the following as it relates to publishing AI research:* 1) What can we learn from other fields dealing with high-stakes technology, and from history? 2) What are the potential pitfalls of changing the existing status quo of publishing norms? 3) How can we encourage researchers to think about the risks of their works, as well as the benefits? 4) What tools or services need to exist to help people navigate publications decisions? 5) How can we design effective review processes? 6) How do we coordinate effectively as a community? *Date*: May 13, 2020 Noon-1 pm *Venue*: Zoom *Link for tickets*: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ai-ethics-publication-norms-for-responsible-ai-… Looking forward to seeing you there, thanks! Abhishek

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Postdoc in Educational Technology and Instructional Design at Cornell University
by Yoon Hyung Choi 05 May '20

05 May '20

Summary below, please see full job posting at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/16313. Department of Communication College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Postdoctoral Associate Position SUMMARY: The Cornell Social Media Lab in the Department of Communication at Cornell University is seeking a full-time Postdoctoral Associate to participate in inter-university research at the intersection of instructional design, human-computer interaction, and educational technology. The postdoc will work on the development of technologies and content for educational interventions as a part of the Social Media TestDrive project https://socialmediatestdrive.org/, an interactive digital citizenship education tool developed in collaboration with Common Sense Education https://www.commonsense.org/education/. As we seek to expand the Social Media TestDrive program to new populations, such as youth from low-income households and older adults, we are especially interested in someone who has interest and experience designing inclusive technologies and educational interventions for diverse populations of learners. This position is a 1-year, full-time academic position beginning August 1, 2020 and renewable for a 2nd year contingent on available work, funding and performance. Application: All components of the application must be submitted through this application portal: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/16313. For questions, contact Dr. Natalie Bazarova at nnb8(a)cornell.edu. We will begin reviewing applications on May 25, 2020 and will continue reviewing until the position is filled. Application Materials Required: cover letter, curriculum vitae, research statement, contact information for three references, and statement of diversity, equity and inclusion.

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New Book "Theorising Media and Conflict"
by Philipp Budka 05 May '20

05 May '20

Dear All, We are excited to announce that the edited volume Theorising Media and Conflict has just been published as hard copy and e-book: Budka, P., & Bräuchler, B. (Eds.). (2020). Theorising media and conflict. Anthropology of Media. New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books. https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/BudkaTheorising The volume is the 10th book in Berghahn's “Anthropology of Media” series and the second in the “Theorising Media and …” area. It brings together anthropologists as well as media and communication scholars to collectively address the elusive and complex relationship between media and conflict. Through epistemological and methodological reflections and the analyses of various case studies from around the globe, this volume provides evidence for the co-constitutiveness of media and conflict and contributes to their consolidation as a distinct area of scholarship. Several contributions to this volume also discuss aspects and dimensions of digital culture and communication, which might be particularly interesting for internet researchers. You find a free copy of the book's introduction and the table of contents at: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/BudkaTheorising All the best, Philipp and Birgit -- Philipp Budka https://www.philbu.net https://twitter.com/philbu

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new blog: COVID-19 from the margins
by Stefania Milan 05 May '20

05 May '20

Dear AoiR friends and colleagues We hope this finds you and your loved one safe and well in this strange times. **apologies for cross-posting, but we need your help to spread the word** Data are at the core of the narration of the pandemic. Numbers affect our ability to care, share empathy, and donate to relief efforts and emergency services. Numbers are the condition of existence of the problem, and of a country or given social reality on the global map of concerns. Yet most countries from the so-called Global South are virtually absent from this number-based narration of the pandemic, and so are many invisible populations like migrants. Why, and with what consequences? To answer this and many other pressing questions, we have launched a new collaborative space: COVID-19 from the margins. The multilingual blog COVID-19 from the margins [0] invites contributions reflecting on the first pandemic of the datafied society as it intersects situations of marginality, inequality, alterity, poverty but also resistance and subversion. We are particularly happy to announce that thanks to the support of the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (University of Amsterdam), we are currently able to ***offer a small compensation to authors of accepted blog posts*** who are in precarious job conditions, are students or unemployed, and/or from the Global South. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. To contribute visit [1] for English and [2] for Spanish. Any other language accepted! So far the blog features articles on the widening data divide in the global South, the perils of biometric social welfare during lockdowns, invisibilized populations (e.g. migrants) in the European continent, the privacy hurdles of newly adopted contact tracing app in India. More are on the way. This blog is part of the Big Data from the South Research Initiative [3]. It is funded byAmsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University and the European Research Council (through the DATACTIVE project). Best & stay safe... and help us spread the word! the editorial crew--Emiliano Treré (Cardiff University), Silvia Masiero (Loughborough University) & Stefania Milan (University of Amsterdam) [0] https://data-activism.net/blog-covid-19-from-the-margins/ [1]https://data-activism.net/2020/05/how-to-contribute-to-covid-19-from-the-… [2] https://data-activism.net/2020/05/como-colaborar-en-covid-19-from-the-margi… [3] https://data-activism.net/publications/big-data-from-the-south/

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WEBCAST TODAY: WSIS TalkX 7 - The importance of low tech internet lifelines in times of crisis
by Joly MacFie 05 May '20

05 May '20

After last week missing #5 (Drones) and #6 (ageing) we are back on board with WSIS today for TalkX #7, with a topic close to ISOC's heart. Incidentally, the WSIS folks pronounce TalkX as Talksx not Talk-X. They have switched from Microsoft Teams and AI captions, to Zoom and human captions. ISOC Live posted: "On Tuesday 5 May 2020, at 12:00 UTC, the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2020 (WSIS+15) presents 'The importance of low tech internet lifelines in times of crisis'. This panel is the 7th of the ongoing virtual interactive TalkX series. Speak" [image: Livestream] <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/talkx7>On *Tuesday 5 May 2020*, at *12:00 UTC*, the *World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2020* (WSIS+15) presents '*The importance of low tech internet lifelines in times of crisis*'. This panel is the 7th of the ongoing virtual interactive* TalkX <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2020/Home/WSISTalkX>* series. Speakers: *Sebastien Codeville*, CEO of KaiOS; *Sonia Jorge*, Executive Director of Alliance for Affordable Internet; * Asim Zia Alam*, CEO, WebDoc; and *Dr. Jessica Rothenberg Aalami*, CEO, Cell-Ed. Participation is via Zoom, with closed human captions available. *LIVESTREAM: http://livestream.com/internetsociety/talkx7 <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/talkx7> (open captions)* *PARTICIPATE: https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2020/Home/WSISTalkX <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2020/Home/WSISTalkX> (closed captions)* *TWITTER: #WSIS <https://bit.ly/2XIzSz3> @WSISprocess* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12039/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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2 academic vacancies: Digital Humanities & Mobile Studies
by Andrew White 04 May '20

04 May '20

*Reminder: closing date May 10th* The University of Nottingham's China campus has the following 2 vacancies in the School of International Communications *Assistant/Associate Professor in Digital Humanities [181025]* *https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BZS998/assistant-associate-professor-in-digital-humanities* <https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BZS998/assistant-associate-professor-in-digital-…> *Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Mobile Studies [181028]* *https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BZS993/assistant-professor-lecturer-in-mobile-studies* <https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BZS993/assistant-professor-lecturer-in-mobile-st…> Closing date: 10 May 2020 *Join a unique British University in China**.* The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) was the first Sino-foreign University to open its doors in China. This award-winning campus offering a UK style education has grown to establish a student body of over 8,000 in just 15 years. A pioneer in Sino-foreign tertiary education, UNNC is rapidly expanding as part of the University of Nottingham’s Global University. The institution seeks ambitious, talented academics with a flair for research and a passion for teaching to join its team of experts, offering unique teaching and research opportunities in a highly dynamic economy. The School of International Communications is the largest school in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and is affiliated to the Department of Culture, Media and Visual Studies at the Nottingham UK campus. Our BA (Hons) in International Communications is a provincial level accredited degree which includes a dedicated programme of study for a European or East Asian language. Its sister programme, BA (Hons) in International Communications with Chinese, has proved successful in attracting high quality international students to the school. We currently run an MA programme in International Communications and also have one of the most successful PhD programmes in the university. The post-holders will be expected to teach across the full range of our programmes, undertake supervision of BA and MA dissertation students and PGR students, and conduct research and external engagement in the school’s main research areas. More details of the school and its teaching and research activities can be found here: https://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/internationalcommunications/about-the-scho… These posts are expected to begin from 1 September 2020 and will initially be offered on a fixed-term contract with the University of Nottingham Ningbo China for a period of up to five years. This contract may be extended on an indefinite basis by mutual agreement, subject to revised terms and conditions. All applicants are required to formally apply online for these positions. An attractive package, including accommodation allowance, flights and insurance, will be provided to all successfully appointed candidates. All posts will be based in Ningbo and contracts will be with the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr. Filippo GILARDI, head of School of International Communications email: Filippo.Gilardi(a)nottingham.edu.cn. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.

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[CANCELLED] LSE Digital Ethnography Collective AoIR Satellite Event
by Glatt,ZA (pgr) 04 May '20

04 May '20

Hello all, It is with sadness that the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective announces the cancellation of our symposium 'Looking forward, looking back: Digital ethnography in 2020', due to take place on 26th October 2020. As the AoIR annual conference is now a virtual event, and this symposium was designed specifically as an AoIR satellite event, it does not make sense to hold this symposium in person. We have also decided not to turn this into a virtual event, as the main AoIR conference will now be spread over a period of two weeks and we felt it would be too much to add this as well. We wanted to announce this ASAP ahead of the submission deadline of 29th May so that people do not waste their time writing abstracts. We are very sorry that this event will not be going ahead, as we were really looking forward to it. But in this time of uncertainty it makes little sense to be organising IRL events. We hope that in the future when the dust has settled we will be able to hold this symposium. Wishing you all the best, Zoë ________________________ Zoë Glatt www.zoeglatt.com <http://www.zoeglatt.com/> ESRC PhD Researcher in Media & Communications London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Managing Editor: Communication, Culture & Critique Co-Founder: LSE Digital Ethnography Collective @DigEthnogLSE <https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE> Graduate Student Rep: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Associate Lecturer in Media & Communications (2019/20): Goldsmiths University YouTube channel <https://www.youtube.com/user/Zedstergal> | Twitter <https://twitter.com/ZoeGlatt> | LSE bio <http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/phd-researchers/zoe-gl…> On 02/03/2020, 12:50, "Air-L on behalf of Glatt,ZA (pgr)" <air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org on behalf of Z.A.Glatt(a)lse.ac.uk> wrote: Hello AoIRists, I hope you all met yesterday’s deadline without too much blood, sweat and tears. Now that it has passed, I am delighted to share with you the below call for papers for the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective’s one-day AoIR satellite event in London! As the Graduate Student Representative for AoIR, I’m really happy to be able to bring together these two groups, and I strongly encourage early careers researchers to submit as well as more senior researchers. We hope that we will get to meet lots of you who have only been able to participate so far via the livestream, as you'll be travelling to this part of the world for AoIR. When: Monday 26th October (3 days before AoIR) Where: London School of Economics (LSE) Submission deadline: Friday 29th May *** Digital ethnography is by no means a new methodology. In the 1990s researchers begun grappling with issues regarding the cultural impacts of the Internet and how to go about conducting ethnographic research in/on ‘virtual’ spaces. Since then, we have seen significant technological and cultural shifts, most notably the fact that in 2020 smartphones are commonplace and social media platforms have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life in many parts of the world. Whilst holding on to the valuable insights of earlier research, digital ethnographers are required to remain methodologically agile in order to keep up with rapidly changing socio-technological contexts. This one-day symposium hosted by the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective invites participants to discuss the state of digital ethnographic research in 2020, by both reaching back into its rich history and thinking about future directions. We are inviting submissions spanning from ‘finished product’ empirical work to presentations addressing common concerns in the practise of carrying out digital ethnographic research (methods, ethics, self-reflexivity etc.) in the hopes that the day will generate both interesting and useful conversations amongst attendees. The LSE Digital Ethnography Collective is an interdisciplinary group exploring the intersections of digital culture and ethnographic methods, with the aim to establish a global community of scholars of digital ethnography and to work through challenges in this growing subdiscipline. Researchers passionate about digital ethnography are dispersed around the globe, and whilst we foster international collaboration via our livestreams and mailing list, it’s always a pleasure to get together IRL! With this in mind, we are hosting this symposium at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Monday 26th October 2020. There is a sizeable overlap of membership between the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective and the Association of Internet Researchers and so we have arranged this as a ‘satellite event’ to the AoIR Annual Conference in the hopes that AoIR attendees interested in attending will be able to stop over in London before heading on the main conference in Dublin. The symposium welcomes digital ethnographers at all levels from PhD upwards to submit proposals for 20-minute presentations relating to any of the following areas (this is a non-exhaustive list): * bridging the old and the new: innovative but historically-grounded approaches to digital ethnographic methodologies * digital culture and everyday life * empirical work relating to the Internet/platforms/social media/gaming cultures * digital transformations in work and labour – the gig economy, creative industries, datafication, algorithms etc. * critical intersectional feminist ethnography in digital contexts * approaches from the Global South that challenge Western-centric digital ethnographic research * self-reflexive accounts of challenges and opportunities in digital ethnographic research * inside/outside: entering and exiting the digital ‘field’, navigating or moving beyond the online/offline binary, accessing private online spaces, local/global and the role of geography in digital ethnography, etc. * conducting ethical digital ethnographic research Please send proposals of 300 words (word document or PDF) to Media.DigEthnog(a)lse.ac.uk<mailto:Media.DigEthnog@lse.ac.uk> by 29th May 2020. This deadline is designed to be after the notification of acceptances for presenters to AoIR, so that applicants will be certain that they are going to Dublin beforehand. Selected participants will be notified by 1st June 2020 so that they will have plenty of time to make travel and accommodation arrangements. Please note that, while the symposium is free to attend, we cannot provide funding for travel or accommodation. All the best, Zoë and Branwen LSE Digital Ethnography Collective useful links: CfP also here: https://zoeglatt.com/?page_id=598 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE Mailing List: https://tinyurl.com/y5a6odte Livestreams: http://tinyurl.com/w252kvq Digital Ethnography Reading List: http://tinyurl.com/ubczhsq ________________________ Zoë Glatt www.zoeglatt.com<http://www.zoeglatt.com/> ESRC PhD Researcher in Media & Communications London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Managing Editor: Communication, Culture & Critique Co-Founder: LSE Digital Ethnography Collective @DigEthnogLSE<https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE> Graduate Student Rep: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Associate Lecturer in Media & Communications (2019/20): Goldsmiths University YouTube channel<https://www.youtube.com/user/Zedstergal> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/ZoeGlatt> | LSE bio<http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/phd-researchers/zoe-gl…> _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

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Hacking DIversity by Christina Dunbar-Hester
by Ilana Gershon 04 May '20

04 May '20

Dear Colleagues, Héctor Beltrán interviews Christina Dunbar-Hester on her new book, /Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion// //in Open Technology Cultures/. You can find this on the CaMP anthropology blog: https://campanthropology.org Best, Ilana

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