[Air-L] Fully funded PhD position 'Tracing sociotechnical imaginaries of digital journalism, 1995-2025'

[Smit, Rik]

Dear colleagues,

This might be of interest to some of your excellent students in search of a
fully funded PhD position.

Job: Fully funded 4-year PhD position - Centre for Media and Journalism
Studies - University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Fully funded PhD position (1.0 FTE) with the Centre for Media and
Journalism Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, in the
project “Tracing sociotechnical imaginaries of digital journalism,
1995-2025”.

Project description & supervision team

Digital technologies have long shaped the debates on journalism’s future.
These debates often emphasize technology as a solution for journalism’s
struggles. In doing so, they have also limited the directions in which
journalism could actually develop, and elided critical reflections on the
complex relationship between journalism and technology. This project
addresses these issues by studying sociotechnical imaginaries constructed
in the debates about journalism and technology between 1995 and 2025 within
the geographical context of Northern Europe. From the introduction of the
web, through to our current debates around AI, it studies how journalists,
technologists, and other actors have engaged in the introduction,
negotiation, and normalization of new technologies. As different actors
with diverging interests shape the debate over journalism and technology,
the project scrutinizes their competing norms and values concerning
journalism and technology. By critically examining how technology has been
presented as a necessary and self-evident driver of journalistic change,
this research offers a critical history of journalism’s recent past.

This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to work in an internationally
recognized research centre and gain valuable research experience at a
top-ranked European university. As a PhD candidate, you will develop your
own research project in consultation with the supervisory team. You will
conduct independent and original academic research and report results via
peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and ultimately a PhD
dissertation. The PhD thesis is to be completed within four years. You are
also requested to teach.

You will work with the following supervisory team:

Dr. Frank Harbers

Dr. Rik Smit

Dr. Scott A. Eldridge II

The deadline for applications is 12 October 2025. For more information
about the project, the qualifications and application procedure, and to
apply:

https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000BG1P

For more information about the position and project, contact Frank Harbers <
f.harbers at rug.nl>

-- 
Dr. P.H. (Rik) Smit
Senior Lecturer
Program coordinator MAs Media Studies
Centre for Media and Journalism Studies
University of Groningen
Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26
9712EK Groningen
Room 13.15.0482
(+31) (0)50 363 5832
http://www.rug.nl/staff/p.h.smit/