Research Project AlterPublics - Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics

Project Duration: 03/01/2021 - 02/25/2025

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.

News

Picture of Cardiff city centre with towers and a football stadium in the background

AlterPublics presents at the Future of Journalism Conference 2023

13 September 2023 |

AlterPublics engage in the 2023 version of the Future of Journalism Conference with a presentation about current interview study.

Picture of central Bergen park with mountains in the background

AlterPublics participates in NordMedia panel with Nordic colleagues

15 August 2023 |

AlterPublics presents the project's latest research at the NordMedia23 conference in Bergen

Data from AlterPublics helps explain the 'Onkel Reje case'

10 May 2023 |

Researcher Jakob Bæk Kristensen from AlterPublics has been an expert in several Danish media on the Onkel Reje case. Here's the full list of press appearances.

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

Spredning af RT & Sputnik i alternative nyhedsmiljøer: Hvordan dansk-, svensk- og tysksprogede alternative nyhedsmiljøer deler indhold fra russiske statsmedier
Ramsland, T., Henriksen, F. M., Kristensen, J. B. & Mayerhöffer, E., 2022, Roskilde Universitet. 24 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Report › Research

Press-media

Censurerede russiske medier skulle skabe splid i Vesten, viser dansk undersøgelse
Eva Mayerhöffer, Tim Gottenborg Bruun Ramsland, Frederik Møller Henriksen & Jakob Bæk Kristensen
04/10/2022
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media

Funding

The project Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics (AlterPublics) has received a grant of DKK 5 million from The Carlsberg Foundation - Young Researcher Fellowships.

Find the description of the project on the Carlsberg Foundation's website.

Insightes

ARTICLE

DKK 10 million from the Carlsberg Foundation for new research projects at RUC

Seven researchers from Roskilde University have just received grants for their research projects from the Carlsberg Foundation. The largest grant of DKK 5 million goes to media researcher Eva Mayerhöffer's research project on alternative right-wing and left-wing media.

Read more about DKK 10 million from the Carlsberg Foundation for new research projects at RUC

RUC researcher receives grant for project on counterpublics

Roskilde University’s (RUC) Department for Communication and Arts with the latest grant has three large research projects investigating the formation of publics in today’s mediated society. The three projects are ‘Data Publics’, ‘Cultural Publics’ and the latest addition ‘Alternative Media and Ideological Counterpublics’, making RUC a growing knowledge centre in research on publics and journalism.