Digital Markets from an Economic-Sociological Perspective. The Social Structuring of the Market for Algorithmic Journalism.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Andrea Maurer
• Subject Area: Sociological Theory
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462904472

In the course of digitization, economic coordination is changing and more and more tasks that were previously done by humans are now being performed by algorithms. The economically and socially important journalism market is particularly affected by this and is currently in a state of upheaval with so-called algorithmic journalism. Technical progress and daily updated data (Big Data) increasingly enable journalistic articles to be automatically written ready for printing by algorithms. So, sociological studies on the social foundations and structure that come into being through the use of algorithms in economy and the marketization of algorithm journalism is a central issue today. Here, the thesis is pursued that the actors' ideas of rightness promote the use and marketization of algorithmic journalism and shapes the social constitution and structure of markets. It is assumed that actors in certain journalistic fields appreciate algorithms according their ascribed objectivity and information content, but in others they prefer the judgements of human journalists. In this project, we will investigate the thesis that the use or non-use of algorithmic journalism in the German market is influenced by individual’s judgments and thereby shape the market coordination. To empirically determine these theoretical concept, expert interviews with providers (specialized IT companies) and consumers (news agencies and daily newspapers) will be conducted as well as a survey with a choice experiment among recipients. The project means to be a contribution to recent theoretical developments in economic sociology that enhances further theoretical progress.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants