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Research Project AlterPublics - Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics

Project Duration: 03/01/2021 - 03/31/2026
Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics studies the role of hyper-partisan alternative media in the digital public sphere. Hyper-partisan alternative media have become crucial actors in modern societies, and their ideology-driven content presents a critical challenge for journalism, public deliberation and society at large. The project researches the role of left-wing and right-wing alternative online media in the formation of ideological counterpublics vis-à-vis the mainstream public sphere and hence their potential contribution to societal radicalization and the polarization of public discourse.

The project will contribute significantly to a rapidly expanding research agenda on the role of alternative media in modern mediated democracy. As the first project to systematically compare right-wing and left-wing alternative media across different countries, it will provide unique insights about how the role of alternative media differs between countries with different traditions of either including or excluding radical voices and viewpoints from the mainstream public sphere.

AlterPublics analyzes how right- and left-wing alternative media in four European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria) form connections to actors from the partisan mainstream, on the one hand, and more radical partisan actors, on the other hand. Four work packages each analyze a particular set of connections: 1) organizational ties and audience overlap, 2) hyperlinking and referencing practices 3) overlap in topics and 4) external content contributors (guest authors, columnists). To this end, the project collects text and video material published on websites, through RSS feeds and on various social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram). This material is supplemented with other relevant documents and expert interviews.

Broadening and nuancing our understanding of hyper-partisan alternative media and their contribution to the formation of ideological counterpublics, the project results will guide media professionals, regulators and the public at large on how to tackle the challenges of societal radicalization, polarization and misinformation presented by this type of media.
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News

Telefon

Low degree of Russian-backed content in the Danish election

| News
The Russian state-owned news media Sputnik and RT play an almost invisible role on social media during the Danish election campaign, AlterPublics data shows.
The presenters from the panel answer questions from the audience at ECREA 2022 in Aarhus.

AlterPublics co-hosts ECREA panel on alternative media and counterpublics

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A panel at this year's ECREA arranged with German and Norwegian colleagues delivered insights into alternative news media from many different and important angles.
PI Eva Mayerhöffer participating in a panel on digital activism at the GRASP festival in Roskilde.

Eva Mayerhöffer discusses digital acitivsm at GRASP festival

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As a part of a panel at the festival, Eva Mayerhöffer talked about AlterPublics' insights and results in relation to digital activism.

The AlterPublics project

AlterPublics analyses how right- and left-wing alternative media in four European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria) form connections to actors from the partisan mainstream, on the one hand, and more radical partisan actors, on the other hand.

  • Contact

    Eva Mayerhöffer // project leader // associate professor // evamay@ruc.dk
     

    Researchers

    Eva Mayerhöffer, Project leader

    In AlterPublics, I particularly focus on aspects relating to public sphere theory, mainstream-fringe-divides, as well as on the journalistic aspects of alternative media’s networked relations in the digital realm.

    I hold a PhD in Political Communication from Freie Universität Berlin. I have been affiliated with Roskilde University since 2017, first as an Assistant Professor and since 2020 as an Associate Professor. My research focuses on the role of elites and anti-elites in journalism and political communication, primarily in comparative perspective.

    Jakob Bæk Kristensen, Postdoc researcher

    Participating in the AlterPublics project I focus on designing the technical infrastruktures and computational methods necessary for large-scale quantitative analysis of complex systems of networked communication across many different digital platforms.

    I hold a Ph.D in Media and Communication from University of Canterbury in New Zealand and have previously worked as a consultant at Analyse & Tal, Denmark. In my previous research I have studied patterns of political polarization in large scale behavioral data from Facebook.


    Frederik Henriksen, Ph.D. Fellow

    In AlterPublics, I investigate network structures, language patterns, and various forms of power and elite critique presented by left- and right-wing alternative news. With this I seek to understand and describe the potentially polarizing and fragmenting effects of alternative media, and their role in electoral and public-formation processes.

    I hold a BA in Philosophy and a BA/MA in Sociology from University of Copenhagen. My research interests lie within political sociology and computational methods.


    Leif Pedersen, Research assistant

    As a part of AlterPublics, I arrange, conduct, and analyze research interviews with news editors and other stakeholders in the Danish media environment about the relationship and boundaries between alternative online media and legacy media outlets.

    I hold a BA/MA in Journalism from Roskilde University, from which I will also finish a PhD dissertation in 2023 and have previously been part of several media and communication research projects as a research assistant.


  • Silke Adam, University of Bern

    Tina Askanius, Malmö University

    Tine Ustad Figenschou, OsloMet

    Annett Heft, Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society

    Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk, OsloMet

    Thorsten Quandt, University of Münster

    Annie Waldherr, University of Vienna

     

Publications

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Press-media

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Insightes

Overblik over forskning på RUC

Base at Roskilde University

The research group is based at Department of Communication and Arts

Related research units: Journalism and Democracy research group // Centre for News Research // Centre for Digital Citizenship

PhD Programme: Doctoral School of Communication and Arts

Education programmes: Journalistik (DK) // Communication Studies // Bachelor in Global Humanities

Research from Roskilde University

Research - an overview

ikon for website

More Information

Additional information about the project: Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics

The research project at the Roskilde University Reseach Portal

Profil

Contact

Project leader

Eva Mayerhöffer 
Assosiate Professor
Phone +45 4674 2045
evamay@ruc.dk