School of Media Studies

New Jobs at Data & Society: Media Manipulation Initiative

Data & Society is  now hiring for a cluster of roles to support their Media Manipulation research initiative, which examines how different groups use the participatory culture of the internet to turn the strengths of a free society into vulnerabilities, ultimately threatening expressive freedoms and civil rights.

These six roles are scoped to support a three-year research plan built around two major projects running concurrently: First, the Global Media Manipulation Casebook, which will capture numerous case studies and tracks attacks against socio-technical systems. This project will form the basis of a new method and theory for the emerging field of disinformation studies.

Second, the Civil Society Intelligence Unit will conduct research to inform organizations and corporations of ongoing media manipulation efforts. Layered on top of these longer-term efforts will be a series of smaller-scale, discrete research projects in both ethnographic fieldwork, and applied, policy-minded research.

JOB LISTINGS:

• The Researcher/Ethnographer will conduct a year-long ethnographic research project, located in a field site, that addresses media manipulation.
• The Researcher, Global Media Manipulation Casebook will manage a project entitled the “Global Media Manipulation Casebook,” a research platform that historicizes the tools, tactics, and techniques of groups who seek to game sociotechnical systems for profit, politics, or fun.
• The Researcher, Civil Society Intelligence Unit will manage and facilitate rapid response to disinformation campaigns.
• The Engagement Lead will spearhead outreach and engagement efforts for MMI, and will be a crucial part of D&S’s efforts to provide news organizations, civil society, platforms, and policymakers with insights into new forms of media manipulation.
• The Data Engineer will act as a data steward for the team, collecting, organizing, and making useful data sets from various platforms that we use every day to conduct our research.
• Finally, the Research Initiative Manager will be a strong administrative lead for the team, managing day-to-day operations, schedules, and budgets, and generally ensuring smooth sailing for the complex set of activities we are undertaking.