We are excited to launch Midweek Conversations, a new monthly gathering at MSMC dedicated to discussing cutting-edge research in media and communication studies. This initiative provides a space for scholars connected to our School—faculty members, visiting researchers, and friends of MSMC—to share their work, exchange ideas, and engage in insightful discussions in an open and collegial environment.
Held on Wednesdays, these meetings offer a forum for presenting and debating current research in an informal yet stimulating setting.
For this first session, Prof. Sergio Splendore and Giulia Sbaraini Fontes (researcher), both from the University of Milan and part of MSMC, presented the first research project. The second presentation was given by our guest speaker, Francesco Vittonetto, PhD Candidate at Griffith University.
Please find below the abstracts of the two research projects presented in our inaugural session, both offering compelling perspectives on key issues in contemporary media landscapes.
How AI is reshaping journalistic gut-feeling
Giulia Sbaraini Fontes & Sergio Splendore
The case of Italy Starting from a grounded theory approach conjugated with a Bourdieusian approach, this study presents research based on semi-structured interviews with employees who cover management roles (10) and reporters (20) who work within Italian news outlets. The research offers insights to understand the adoption of AI-driven instruments within news production practices and journalists’ perceptions. The insights this research presents are inevitably contradictory, rich, and complex.
However, two of them appear relevant: 1) the rapidity by which Italian journalism is adapting to and adopting AI-driven tools, and 2) the consequences this adoption holds on the journalistic gut feeling. The article explains those two trends in terms of 1) the pervasiveness of the discourses on artificial intelligence; 2) the effectiveness of those tools from a practical point of view; and 3) the conviction one has of the potential concerning business development. The results are discussed in light of the reinforcement of the “measurable journalism” trends and more in general platformization of society
The transnationalisation of PRR (populist radical right) publics on YouTube
Francesco Vittonetto
International cooperation between radical right populists has escalated over the last decade. Parties and leaders worldwide are increasingly establishing formal and informal connections with likeminded actors. Although we know something about the role of parties and movements in transnationalisation processes, we know little about how this reflects on the audiences of their online communications. This paper analyses the role of the active publics of populist radical right parties (PRRPs) in constructing a transnational communicative space for the far-right. It addresses this research question: what factors explain the variation in transnational engagement by digital active publics with PRR communications on YouTube? Building upon a framework of supply and demand for political communication, this research shows how the activity of transnational commenters of YouTube channels of PRRPs varies according to contextual, technological and party communication factors. Using social network analysis of comment data and video content analysis of nine PRRPs from six continental subregions – One Nation (Australia), Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (El Salvador), Rassemblement National (France), Fidesz (Hungary), Fratelli d’Italia and Lega (Italy), Chega (Portugal), VOX (Spain), and the Republican Party (United States) – the research explores user transnational interactions with PRR content between 2016 and 2024.
