Project description DEENESFRITPL Creating a more equitable information landscape Our world is more connected than ever. However, access to digital news doesn’t guarantee equitable information consumption. Funded by the European Research Council, the INEQNEWS project addresses the growing disparities in how people consume news, acquire political knowledge and confront misinformation. It will identify digital inequalities in news consumption, political knowledge and vulnerability to misinformation in both global north and global south countries. In addition to examining long-standing informational inequalities related to social class, gender and age, the project will analyse the role of digital intermediaries and mobile devices in shaping news consumption. It will also explore how disadvantaged populations navigate the complex digital media landscape in order to test digital public health interventions. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective This project’s vision is to understand and develop strategies to mitigate inequalities in digital news consumption, the acquisition of political knowledge and vulnerability to misinformation. While inequalities in digital news access have been lowered with very high levels of internet access in many countries, there are indications that inequalities in digital news use and the benefits of being exposed to it, like the acquisition of political knowledge, are increasing. Academic literature has been instrumental in describing how digital intermediaries (e.g. social media or search engines) and different modes (mobile devices) have changed the way people consume news, however little attention has been given to how these changes manifest against the backdrop of pre-existing social inequalities in news use and the acquisition of political information. Thus, the project will a) reliably identify digital inequalities in news use, the acquisition of political knowledge, and vulnerability in online misinformation in countries of the Global North and the Global South. In its examination it will focus on b) long-standing informational inequalities related to social class, gender, and age and c) the role of new information technologies like digital intermediaries and mobile devices. Apart from identifying people with low levels of news use, this project will d) explore the ways that parts of the population navigate and face disadvantages in a complex digital media environment. Last, this project, will for the first time, e) test digital public health style interventions that could reduce inequalities in digital news use, political knowledge, and exposure to as well as belief in online misinformation. To achieve these objectives, this project will employ a novel set of methods. Overall, this project will be the first to examine and to find ways to alleviate inequalities in digital news use, using a holistic mixed-methods approach in a Global North/South comparative framework. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternetinternet accessmedical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthsocial sciencessociologysocial issuessocial inequalities Keywords news social media search engines digital inequalities digital intermediaries mixed-methods Programme(s) HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2022-STG - ERC STARTING GRANTS Call for proposal ERC-2022-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants Host institution VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL Net EU contribution € 1 154 834,76 Address PLEINLAAN 2 1050 Bruxelles / Brussel Belgium See on map Region Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/ Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale/Arr. Brussel-Hoofdstad Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 154 834,76 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL Belgium Net EU contribution € 1 154 834,76 Address PLEINLAAN 2 1050 Bruxelles / Brussel See on map Region Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/ Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale/Arr. Brussel-Hoofdstad Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 154 834,76 THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 41 943,24 Address BROWNLOW HILL 765 FOUNDATION BUILDING L69 7ZX Liverpool See on map Region North West (England) Merseyside Liverpool Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 41 943,24
