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EUROPEAN MEDIA PLATFORMS: ASSESSING POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES FOR EUROPEAN CULTURE

Project description

Are media platforms making or breaking European identity?

While media platforms can play a role in enhancing a European identity, the European dimension has rarely dominated in media history. Most web platforms are owned by American companies, and movie market shares are divided among national productions and importations from the United States and other influential countries. The EU-funded EUMEPLAT project will conduct a multidisciplinary analysis to shed light on whether new platforms (YouTube, Netflix and NewsFeed) are making European culture more European. To answer this question, the project will study indicators related to production, consumption and representation. It will also look for patterns on a national, regional and European level.

Objective

The EUMEPLAT project aims at analyzing the role of media platforms in fostering or dismantling European identity. The assumption we will draw on is that European dimension has rarely been dominant in media history. In most cases – i.e. movie – market shares are mainly divided among national productions and importations from the most influential country. In broadcasting both regional and national patterns emerge, with properly European exchanges being the exception more than the rule. Web platforms are usually owned by US companies, with a new threat appearing in our media landscape.
We will focus on the “platformization” process, as the rise of new closed Web architectures, so as to inquire its positive and negative externalities, functional and dis-functional consequences. Positive externalities are beneficial to society at large, in a way that explains the overall ambition of the project. Detecting the insurgence of negative effects is a fundamental duty for scholars and policy-makers, as externalities of both kinds tend to reinforce themselves, giving rise to positive loop feedbacks and critical vicious circles. Negative externalities include misinformation, toxic debate, exclusion of independent voices; positive externalities encompass European co-productions, or practices able to bring people out of the information bubble. For this purpose, we will run a multidisciplinary analysis of platformization in three fields: news, video sharing, media representations, with the final goal to offer a theoretical synthesis. The research question is whether or not new platforms – YouTube, Netflix, NewsFeed - are making European culture more European, based on indicators related to production, consumption and representation. Patterns will be detected by comparing national, regional and European and level. Advanced methods will be applied for data analysis, so as to provide guidelines for decision-makers (i.e. fake news prevention; best practices in co-productions).

Call for proposal

H2020-SC6-TRANSFORMATIONS-2018-2019-2020

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Sub call

H2020-SC6-TRANSFORMATIONS-2020

Coordinator

LIBERA UNIVERSITA DI LINGUE E COMUNICAZIONE IULM
Net EU contribution
€ 492 125,00
Address
VIA CARLO BO 1
20143 Milano
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 492 125,00

Participants (11)