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< Back Brett Binst PhD Researcher brett.binst@vub.be Brett Binst currently works on the ‘Serendipity Engine’ project as a PhD student. In this project, he studies serendipity in urban recommender systems. More specifically, he studies why system providers would design for serendipity, how they can design for it (through an affordances perspective) and the experience of serendipity in users of these urban recommender systems. Brett Binst acquired a Bachelor of science in Psychology at the VUB in 2020. Next, he completed his Master’s degree in Sociology in 2022. His masterthesis was a study into the preconditions and inequality of having an opinion about AI, inspired on Bourdieu’s theoretical framework laid out in La Distinction. Before starting on the Serendipity Engine project, he worked on the Barometer project, on behalf of the Koning Boudewijn Foundation in which he mainly performed quantitative analyses, comparing the labour market situation of migrants and natives. Visit my research profile

< Back Noëmie Forest Researcher noemie.janine.forest@vub.be Eager to investigate the role of platforms and streamers in constantly evolving media ecosystems, Noëmie joined SMIT as a researcher in the Media Economics and Policy unit in 2023. She will research personalization and recommender systems, and their value in media markets. Noëmie studied Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, between 2018 and 2022, with a specialisation in media, strategic communication, and marketing. Her specialisation gave her the chance to immerse herself in this subject through her thesis, “Does one size fit all? – How do five Belgian food brands position themselves on the international market?”. Noëmie dived into the world of different brands, and earned herself a great distinction in 2022. Before starting at SMIT, she worked at Think BBDO as strategic executive, to assist organizations in their branding and communication. Visit my research profile

< Back Call for Papers Special Issue 3 Feb 2025 Special Issue on Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms A new special issue of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies , edited by Hanne Bruun, Catherine Johnson, Tim Raats , and Vilde Schanke Sundet, seeks to explore the challenges traditional PSM organisations are facing in audience retention, content production, and platform dependency. While much research has focused on the political and economic dimensions of platformisation, there remains a significant gap in comparative studies of the organisational practices and cultural outputs of PSM organisations worldwide. This special issue aims to address this gap by adopting a comparative lens. The editors invite contributions that examine PSM through comparative methodologies, including cross-national studies, comparisons across policy, organisational practices, and cultural production, and mixed-method approaches. Submissions that go beyond Western-centric perspectives are especially encouraged. Suggested Topics Include: Comparative analysis of changing organisational cultures in PSM PSM commissioning, publishing, and distribution practices in different contexts Cross-platform and cross-national comparisons of PSM programming and content Mixed-method approaches to understanding PSM policy, production, and texts Theoretical and methodological innovations in comparative PSM research Key Dates: Abstract submission deadline: 4 April 2025 (500-750 words) Notification of acceptance: 5 May 2025 Full article submission deadline: 22 September 2025 Researchers interested in contributing should submit their abstracts to PSMspecialissue@leeds.ac.uk . This is a unique opportunity to contribute to an urgent and timely discussion on the evolving role of PSM in the platform era. Don't miss this opportunity to share your research! ⏩️ https://psm-ap.com/comparative-approaches-to-public-service-media-in-the-age-of-platforms/ Previous Next

< Back Integrating discoverability and prominence in video-on-demand consumption choices. A qualitative user study in Belgium Iordache, C., Loisen, J., & Van Audenhove, L. (2023). Integrating discoverability and prominence in video-on-demand consumption choices. A qualitative user study in Belgium. International Communication Gazette . https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485231191898 As video-on-demand services have taken a central position in audiovisual distribution in European markets, over-the-top viewing has become increasingly popular. This shift has heavily impacted consumption patterns and exposure diversity, as they are reshaped by non-linear distribution and technological affordances. This article aims to integrate debates on discoverability and prominence within wider research on video-on-demand consumption. It does so by widening the existing focus on the strategies deployed by video-on-demand services to capture users’ contexts and actions in the consumption decision-making process. The framework is based on exploratory qualitative research conducted in Belgium through a diary study and in-depth interviews and can contribute to future audience research on video-on-demand consumption choices. We find that users discover and choose audiovisual content to consume on demand through a combination of formal and informal factors. These are grouped into four thematic categories, namely technological affordances, perceived offering, external ‘nudges’, and process. Platforms Previous Read the article Next

< Back Exploring Ethical and Regulatory Challenges of AI Integration in European Union Newsrooms Lefèvre, B., Errando, A., Afilipoaie, A., Ranaivoson, H., & Wiart, L. (2025). Exploring ethical and regulatory challenges of AI integration in European Union newsrooms. Media Studies , 16 (31), 31-55. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly reshaped the news media landscape in the fast-evolving digital ecosystem. While recent legislative measures and industry self-regulation initiatives have emerged to address AI’s implications, the ethical challenges associated with its adoption in European Union (EU) newsrooms and the ways news media organisations navigate regulatory frameworks and internal initiatives remain underexplored. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the conditions under which AI tools are integrated into media organisations from both organisational and regulatory perspectives. Drawing on an analysis of 30 key documents and 41 in-depth interviews with media professionals and regulatory experts across three EU markets, the study uncovers key findings: a limited discourse on AI use in media organisations, significant disparities in AI implementation practices, and an absence of clear, actionable regulatory guidelines for addressing considerations in AI-driven news content. Platforms Previous Read the article Next

< Back Workshop: Best Practices for Responsible News Recommender Design 24 Sept 2024 Our takeaways from the workshop part of the NWO-funded project "Rethinking news algorithms" On 23rd of September, Aina, Hanne, and Ulysse traveled to the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for the workshop "Best practices for responsible news recommender design," part of the NWO-funded project "Rethinking news algorithms". This one-day event aimed to foster collaboration between academia and industry, focusing on the ethical design of news recommender systems. Aina and Hanne presented initial insights from their systematic literature review that aims to uncover the organizational challenges, opportunities and social implications of news recommendation systems studied in Western media systems. One significant observation from the day highlighted the challenges in aligning all aspects of responsible news recommenders with diverse stakeholder goals. A key takeaway from our engaging conversations with colleagues and industry professionals is that diversity is frequently considered essential for the development of responsible recommenders, given the close relationship between the democratic function of news and media pluralism. The workshop enabled a cooperative sharing of ideas, fostering the co-creation of optimal strategies for responsible news algorithms. Attendees also pinpointed prospective research paths, underscoring the necessity of ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration to explore the societal implications of these systems. Previous Next

< Back Not One News Recommender To Fit Them All: How Different Recommender Strategies Serve Various User Segments Vandenbroucke, H., Maes, U., Michiels, L., & Smets, A. (2025). Not One News Recommender To Fit Them All: How Different Recommender Strategies Serve Various User Segments. In 19th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems Proceedings . ACM. Many news recommender systems (NRS) adopt a one-recommender-for-all approach, overlooking that users engage with news in fundamentally different ways. In this work, we identify user clusters based on various engagement metrics that go beyond clicks by employing cluster analysis on two real-world datasets: EB-NeRD and Adressa. Next to that, we evaluate the performance of common rec-ommender strategies: popularity, collaborative filtering (EASE and ItemKNN), and a content-based model across these user clusters, which exhibit varying reading behaviors and information needs. Our findings show that different recommender strategies are effective to varying degrees depending on the user cluster. This study contributes to NRS research by providing a grounded clustering of users derived from real-world datasets and emphasizes the importance of user-centered evaluations for understanding how NRS strategies serve audiences with varying levels of news engagement. Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back We're in this together: a multi-stakeholder approach for news recommenders Smets, A., Hendrickx, J., & Ballon, P. (2022). We're in this together: a multi-stakeholder approach for news recommenders. Digital Journalism , 10 (10), 1813-1831. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.2024079 News recommenders are attracting widespread interest in scholarly work. The current research paradigm, however, holds a narrow (mostly user-centered) perspective on the recommendation task. This makes it difficult to understand that their design is in fact the result of a negotiation process among multiple actors involved, such as editors, business executives, technologists and users. To remedy this, a multi-stakeholder recommendation paradigm has been suggested among recommender systems scholars. This work sets out to explore to what extent this paradigm is applicable to the particular context of news recommenders. We conducted 11 interviews with professionals from three leading media companies in Flanders (Belgium) and find that the development of news recommenders is indeed characterized by a negotiation process among multiple stakeholders. However, our results show that the initial multi-stakeholder framework is not adequately accommodating some of our findings, such as the existence of preconditions, the role of product owners, and the indirect involvement of particular stakeholders. Based on our analysis, we suggest an elaborated framework for multi-stakeholder news recommenders that can contribute to scholarship by providing a multi-sided perspective towards the understanding of news recommenders. Recommender Systems, Newsmedia, Stakeholders Previous Read the article Next

< Back New report of the Fair MusE project 1 Nov 2024 New report "From Value Networks for Recorded Music to Music Ecosystem" The latest report from the Fair MusE Project - "From Value Networks for Recorded Music to Music Ecosystem" - dives deep into how Music Streaming Services (MSS) and User-Generated Content (UGC) platforms are reshaping the music industry’s value landscape. This shift in the industry is about more than just a digital transformation; it's fundamentally changing how power, access, and revenue flow through the music ecosystem. A New Layer of Gatekeeping With the rise of MSS platforms like Spotify and UGC platforms like YouTube, traditional routes for accessing and promoting music have been redefined. These platforms now serve as powerful gatekeepers, determining which artists and tracks gain visibility. This influence reshapes who has control over exposure and, ultimately, success. Rather than simply distributing music, these platforms filter content through algorithms, strategically showcasing certain songs while others remain hidden, based on complex calculations that prioritize user engagement and platform profits. Navigating and negotiating the new landscape Despite the power of these platforms, traditional stakeholders, particularly major record labels, are finding ways to adapt. Labels are leveraging their vast artist rosters and music catalogues to secure valuable partnerships with MSS and UGC platforms. By doing so, they maintain a degree of influence over what listeners see and hear, reinforcing the competitive dynamics in the industry. The relationships between labels and streaming platforms can be seen as a balancing act, as both sides negotiate control, exposure, and revenue shares. A shift from value networks to a music ecosystem Approaching the music industry as an interconnected ecosystem reveals the complex interdependence between streaming and UGC platforms, labels, artists, and audiences. This ecosystem perspective helps contextualize the ongoing evolution, but it also exposes fairness concerns. For example, algorithmic curation tends to spotlight content from major labels, reinforcing their dominance. The current payout models on platforms like Spotify and YouTube often favor big players, leaving smaller artists and independent labels in a more precarious position. ➜ Full Report If these insights spark your interest, the Fair MusE report also has a systematic review of academic literature on music streaming including case studies on both Spotify and YouTube. For the full tracklist of findings and analysis, check out the complete Fair MusE report: https://fairmuse.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/D3.1_Value-Networks.pdf Previous Next

< Back Hanne Vandenbroucke PhD Researcher hanne.vandenbroucke@vub.be Hanne Vandenbroucke joined imec-SMIT-VUB in May 2023 as a PhD- researcher on the topic of recommender algorithms and news personalization in the Flemish news media industry. She followed a unique Bachelor’s trajectory combining Languages and Linguistics with Communication Sciences at KU Leuven. I have completed the Master’s degree in Communication Sciences cum laude at KU Leuven and extended this master with an extra semester abroad at Universidad Camilo José Cela in Madrid. After graduating Hanne gained experience working as a marketing manager in the field of digital education. Visit my research profile

< Back People, personalisation, prominence: A framework for analysing the PSM shift to digital portals and interrogating universality across contexts Iordache, C. et al. (2024). People, personalisation, prominence: A framework for analysing the PSM shift to digital portals and interrogating universality across contexts. International Journal of Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779241296556 In the context of enhanced platformisation, Public Service Media (PSM) are once again forced to rethink the ways in which they achieve core public values. To this end, PSM have been prioritising the development of their own video-on-demand portals. To contribute to ongoing research, we propose a theoretical framework that can be applied by future PSM work, based on the operationalisation of platformisation in PSM policy documents and strategy. We identify the shared priorities across ten media organisations in seven media markets: Belgium—Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK. The study is based on the qualitative analysis of 61 documents, outlining the PSM remit and how they report and present themselves to governments, collaborators, and audiences, contextualised by ongoing national and regional debates. Findings confirm that the framework of people, personalisation, and prominence can serve as a useful theoretical basis for understanding and interrogating universality across contexts. Public Service Media Previous Read the article Next

< Back Our presentations at ECREA 1 Oct 2024 The SRP team presented their work at the ECREA 2024 Conference The 10th edition of the European Communication Research and Education Association Conference (ECREA) took place on 24-27 September 2024 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The VUB’s Communication Sciences department had a large delegation of over 25 researchers at the conference, including several SRP team members. On Wednesday 25 September, Tim Raats presented a paper entitled ‘ Ensuring visibility of European public service media. An analysis of policy, industry and academic views on prominence measures in Belgium ’, as part of the session ‘Public service and the public interest in European Media’, in the Communication, Law and Policy section. The presentation was based on research conducted together with SRP colleagues Adelaida Afilipoaie and Pieter Van der Elst . On Thursday 26 September, Catalina Iordache presented research conducted together with Catherine Johnson (University of Leeds) on ‘ Balancing the scales between public service algorithms and editorial curation , the cases of BBC and VRT. The presentation was part of pre-constituted panel on ‘Comparative approaches to public service media disruption: The transformation of values, norms and prevailing structures in the age of platforms’, hosted by the Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms ( PSM-AP ) project. And on the final day of the conference, Friday 27 September, Noëmie Forest presented the paper ‘What will we be streaming tonight? And why? An analysis of motivations for VOD consumption in Belgium’, co-authored with Isabelle Puskas, Wendy Van den Broeck and Tim Raats. The presentation was part of the session on Audiovisualities and Audiences, in the section Audience and Reception Studies. Tim Raats and Catalina Iordache also presented their ongoing work on assessing discoverability and prominence on VOD services as part of the roundtable ‘ Re-conceptualising the television 'text' for the platform age: textual analysis, texts and interfaces ’, organised in the Television Studies section. As part of the business meetings, Catalina Iordache and Tim Raats have also be re-elected as vice-chairs of their respective sessions Media Industries and Cultural Production and Communication, Law and Policy . Previous Next