Project description
Exploring the influence of platforms on journalism
In recent decades, companies such as Google have impacted journalism to a great extent, both through funding and infrastructure creation. One issue is whether it is possible to maintain a non-partisan position on platforms that have so much power. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the CAPTURED project seeks to address the problem of platform effects on journalism from the perspective of media capture: material, cognitive and infrastructural. It aims at developing media capture theory, learning more about journalists’ perception of media capture and analysing its implications for the position of journalism in democracy.
Objective
Over the past two decades, global technology companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI have gained unprecedented influence over journalism. Their power is exercised directly—through funding schemes or the exclusion of publishers from platforms—and indirectly, by shaping the algorithmic and infrastructural environment in which journalism operates. Platforms thus play a dual role: they are both central to journalism’s business model and objects of journalistic scrutiny. This duality creates a core challenge: Can journalism objectively report on platforms that exert economic, cognitive and infrastructural control over the news industry? This question is urgent as platforms form ties with anti-democratic leaders, while controlling the infrastructure for democratic discourse.
CAPTURED investigates platform influence on journalism in terms of media capture, conceptualized as material, cognitive, and infrastructural capture. It pursues three objectives: (1) to refine the theory of media capture by platforms; (2) to examine how journalists perceive and negotiate media capture; and (3) to assess the implications for journalism’s watchdog role in democratic societies. To achieve this, CAPTURED applies a multi-method design across four studies, combining reconstruction interviews, a factorial survey experiment, a difference-in-differences design, and a qualitative case study. The project will produce four open-access peer-reviewed publications and a white paper. It will provide evidence for policies such as the European Media Freedom Act, the Digital Services Act, and the AI Act, safeguarding press freedom. Through the fellowship, I will acquire advanced methods skills, project management skills and knowledge transfer skills, supported by the University of Oxford's expertise and networks. CAPTURED will strengthen democratic resilience in Europe and position me as a leading scholar at the intersection of journalism, political communication, and platform governance.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.