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Marcel Broersma

@mjbroersma

Prof of Media and Journalism Studies @unigroningen.bsky.social | director RMeS | coordinator UNL Digital Society | chair Digital Literacy Coalition | https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marcel-Broersma

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26.11.2024
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Latest posts by Marcel Broersma @mjbroersma

Promovendus in Journalistiek, Oorlog en Collectief Geheugen: Afghanistan, 2001-2021 - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Hoe deed de Nederlandse journalistiek verslag van het Nederlands militair optreden tijdens de oorlog in Afghanistan?

We hebben een vacature voor een promovendus die onderzoek gaat doen naar "Journalistiek, Oorlog en Collectief Geheugen: Afghanistan, 2001-2021"

werkenbij.rug.nl/vacature/pro...

22.02.2026 13:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Abstract
Machine learning (ML) algorithms are still a novel research object in the field of media studies. While existing research focuses on concrete software on the one hand and the socio-economic context of the development and use of these systems on the other, this paper studies online ML courses as a research object that has received little attention so far. By pursuing a walkthrough and critical discourse analysis of Google's Machine Learning Crash Course and IBM's introductory course to Machine Learning with Python, we not only shed light on the technical knowledge, assumptions, and dominant infrastructures of ML as a field of practice, but also on the economic interests of the companies providing the courses. We demonstrate how the online courses further support Google and IBM to consolidate and even expand their position of power by recruiting new AI talent and by securing their infrastructures and models to become the dominant ones. Further, we show how the companies not only influence greatly how ML is represented, but also how these representations in turn influence and direct current ML research and development, as well as the societal effects of their products. Here, they boast an image of fair and democratic artificial intelligence, which stands in stark contrast to the ubiquity of their corporate products and the advertised directives of efficiency and performativity the companies strive for. This underlines the need for alternative infrastructures and perspectives.

Abstract Machine learning (ML) algorithms are still a novel research object in the field of media studies. While existing research focuses on concrete software on the one hand and the socio-economic context of the development and use of these systems on the other, this paper studies online ML courses as a research object that has received little attention so far. By pursuing a walkthrough and critical discourse analysis of Google's Machine Learning Crash Course and IBM's introductory course to Machine Learning with Python, we not only shed light on the technical knowledge, assumptions, and dominant infrastructures of ML as a field of practice, but also on the economic interests of the companies providing the courses. We demonstrate how the online courses further support Google and IBM to consolidate and even expand their position of power by recruiting new AI talent and by securing their infrastructures and models to become the dominant ones. Further, we show how the companies not only influence greatly how ML is represented, but also how these representations in turn influence and direct current ML research and development, as well as the societal effects of their products. Here, they boast an image of fair and democratic artificial intelligence, which stands in stark contrast to the ubiquity of their corporate products and the advertised directives of efficiency and performativity the companies strive for. This underlines the need for alternative infrastructures and perspectives.

Recently reminded of an excellent paper by @lynxlynxly.bsky.social @mjbroersma.bsky.social:
IBM & Google use online courses to β€œreinforce their position by not only recruiting new AI talent, but also by securing their infrastructures & models to become dominant” journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

18.02.2026 16:59 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How do rural journalists negotiate between the dominant rules of the field and their position within local communities?

Paper w/ Tyler Nagel in @jmcquarterly.bsky.social on rural-specific reporting practices, a-typical business ideas & unconventional innovations journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

07.02.2026 20:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How do rural journalists negotiate between the dominant metropolitan-based rules of their field and their position within communities?

Paper out w/ Tyler Nagel. For rural-specific reporting practices, a-typical business ideas, & unconventional innovations, see journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

06.02.2026 14:26 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just two days before her excellent PhD defense, the next paper of Kim Smeenk's PhD project on personal journalism was published.

We show how displaying (happy) emotions has become a strategy to build report with audiences and to be considered more reliable

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

25.11.2025 20:00 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Devising DigiD: the performativity of sociotechnical imaginaries in national digital identity systems

First paper published from Maud Rebergen's PhD project on digital identification systems. With proud supervisors @riksmit.bsky.social and I.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

25.11.2025 08:07 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Now out (open access) from Alex Smit's PhD research:

Understanding digital citizenship in everyday life: tensions between digital inclusion policies and disadvantaged citizens’ experiences

w/ Alex Smit & @joelleswart.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

21.10.2025 14:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We introduce this theoretical framework to understand how disadvantaged citizens are compelled to continually improve their digital skills and capacities to meet the demands of the digital welfare state. We then show how low‐literate Dutch citizens experience this regime in their everyday lives.

18.07.2025 09:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just published with @joelleswart.bsky.social lead-author Alex Smit in @cogitatiosi.bsky.social:

The Regime of Self‐Optimization: Lived Experiences of Enforced Digital Inclusion by Low‐Literate Citizens www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclus...

18.07.2025 09:40 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Excited to share our new pub in New Media & Society, co-authored with my supervisors @qfzhu.bsky.social @mjbroersma.bsky.social πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

We explore how social norms are formed and guide prosocial behaviors within location-based meso-spaces.

LinkπŸ‘‰: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

11.07.2025 14:23 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Plaatselijke stortbui hier!

15.07.2025 09:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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14.07.2025 21:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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14.07.2025 21:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

🌟New pub led by @yichen1001.bsky.social on how social norms guide interaction in neighborhood groups on instant messaging platforms! If you're interested in meso spaces, online group dynamics or how IM groups function as civic infrastructure, check out our paper in NMS with @mjbroersma.bsky.socialπŸ”“πŸ‘‡

14.07.2025 16:21 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Flinke financiΓ«le steun Nij Begun voor project digicoaches Groningen en Noord-Drenthe In alle gemeenten in Groningen en Noord-Drenthe komt er ruimte om mensen met een afstand tot de arbeidsmarkt op te leiden tot digicoach. Het initiatief...

πŸ₯³ More good news! The Digital Literacy Coalition (DLC), committed to increasing digital skills in Groningen & North Drenthe, receives substantial financial support from Nij Begun! @rug.nl @mjbroersma.bsky.social
Learn more about the project πŸ‘‡ www.rug.nl/let/onze-fac...

04.07.2025 07:11 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Are you doing a PhD in Journalism Studies? Would you like to get feedback on your work from experienced scholars in the field? Then join us for the 6th Journalism Studies PhD Colloquium in Groningen on April 8th, 2026! Deadline for abstracts is 6 June 2025. For the full CfP, check: edu.nl/nfd7h

14.05.2025 13:40 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
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How can we effectively, and fairly, approach collaborative & comparative journalism research projects?

In our next @rug.nl CMJS lunch lecture, @marenet.bsky.social discusses "The value (and challenges) of collaborative and comparative journalism research: a South African perspective"

06.05.2025 06:44 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Who is sharing the news?

1st paper published from Iris Baas' PhD study, w/ proud supervisors Tommaso Caselli, @marcestevedelvalle.bsky.social, & I. We show that ideological critique does not necessarily translate into alternative media consumption on Dutch Twitter

firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

05.05.2025 19:30 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Journalism in a Fractured World What role does journalism play in building a democratic society?

On 8 April I'll give a talk w/ @sggroningen.bsky.social on journalism's role in a fractured world. I will start the evening exploring the challenges posed by digital media actors that amplify existing divisions in democratic societies in the content they produce sggroningen.nl/index.php/nl... (1/3)

19.03.2025 08:58 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

Wat betekent GenAI voor het nieuwsgebruik en de nieuwswijsheid van kinderen en jongeren? @mjbroersma.bsky.social, Bart Verheij en ik hebben plek voor een PhD die zich wil verdiepen in dit onderwerp. De vacature vind je hier: lnkd.in/e73GCi4E, deadline sollicitaties 3 april. Meer weten? DM me gerust!

17.03.2025 16:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Vacatures bij de RUG

How does the rise of AI affect how young people are using news?

We have an open fully-funded and full-time PhD position in "Journalism, generative AI and critical digital literacy". More info ⬇️

Application deadline: April 3

www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor...

07.03.2025 13:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Vacatures bij de RUG

How does the rise of AI affect how young people are using news?

We have an open fully-funded and full-time PhD position in "Journalism, generative AI and critical digital literacy". More info ⬇️

Application deadline: April 3

www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor...

07.03.2025 13:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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What would happen if we considered Silicon Valley as a locus of imperial machinations and as constituted by both imperialist and colonel encounters? j. Siguru Wahutu will discuss this in tomorrow's @unigroningen.bsky.social CMJS lunch lecture

04.03.2025 13:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Our paper on the discursive logics of online populism is now published in @Journal of Information Technology & Politics. With Kun He and @seldridge.com

You can read it here (open access) ⬇️:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

01.03.2025 11:03 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And more articles to come from Denise's excellent research project for which she did longitudinal participant observations at afterschool care locations and primary schools! This research is part of the @unigroningen.bsky.social Digital Inclusion Lab. More info here: digital-inclusion.nl

18.02.2025 13:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Playful Citizens: How Children Develop and Integrate News-Related Practices in Their Daily Lives This paper studies children’s (aged 8–12) news-related practices and subsequent acts of lived citizenship in formal and informal social contexts. While children in this age group are increasingly e...

In "Playful citizens", we study children’s news-related practices and subsequent acts of lived citizenship at school and in informal contexts. We argue that such practices are an effective tool for civic education, supporting children to develop news routines www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

18.02.2025 13:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Playfully building resilience: Dutch children’s risk-managing tactics in digital risky play In this paper, we coin the concept β€œdigital risky play” and conceptualize this type of digital play. By means of a taxonomy of tactics that children develop and employ through digital risky play, w...

In one study we we coin the concept β€œdigital risky play” and conceptualize this type of digital play. We identify four categories of risk-managing tactics children employ, namely technological, physical, social, and emotional tactics www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

18.02.2025 13:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Denise Mensonides did an excellent job defening her thesis "Navigating the digital playground: a child-centred study on the development of digital literacies". It's part of our NWO supported Informed Citizenship for All project. You can read Denise's work here: research.rug.nl/nl/publicati...

18.02.2025 13:55 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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(PDF) Will the Center Hold? Relocating Journalism in the Digital PDF | In this epilog, we present two approaches to navigating digital journalism studies and its uncertainfuture. We bring two perspectives into... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on R...

What if β€œthings fall apart” and β€œthe centre cannot hold”? In "Will the Center Hold? Relocating Journalism in the Digital", @seldridge.com and I discuss (with a nod to Yeats & Didion) how to understand if journalism will continue to hold a central space in society www.researchgate.net/publication/...

17.02.2025 16:46 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0