Dear all, For our lunch on Thursday, the idea is to come to a new mission statement that can give direction to our research and with which we can all identify, and which we can publish on our page on the website. Currently, this<https://smit.vub.ac.be/research_area/news-users-strategies-engagements> is how our page looks like. We might want to come to something more broader, more encompassing of the different trajectories everyone is working on. Also, the idea is that you connect your mission statement to your core values, which you will find once more attached below. Below are also some quick inspiration/examples, and you will also find attached the powerpoint to guide our discussion. See you all then! Ike OiLab<https://oilab.eu/>: OILab is an Amsterdam-based network of interdisciplinary scholars scrutinising political subcultures on the fringe corners of the Web. It does so by conducting empirical research based on digital methods as well as qualitative theoretical research. The results are usually papers and public appearances but also take the form of more artistic projects. For write-ups of shorter projects we also maintain a blog. BEEHAIF<https://beehaif.org/>: The Belgian Evolutionary and Hybrid AI Foundation (BEEHAIF) is a Belgian consortium of artificial intelligence researchers who focus on building truly intelligent systems. Such systems are able to observe understand reason about and act upon their native environment. Rather than focussing on a specific task or technique BEEHAIF researchers develop a wide spectrum of methods that can flexibly be combined in order to solve an open-ended set of tasks. Methodologically BEEHAIF researchers are united in their belief that evolutionary principles and a combination of symbolic and subsymbolic AI techniques are the key to achieving human-like artificial intelligence. Apart from fostering collaboration between researchers organising community-wide events and increasing the visibility of the evolutionary and hybrid AI research programme the BEEHAIF also plays a crucial role in supporting the development of a range of open-source software libraries. Most prominently BEEHAIF fellows are leading the development of the Babel toolkit for implementing multi-agent experiments on emergent communication and the Fluid Construction Grammar (FCG) Editor for representing and processing computational construction grammars. If you would like to connect with the BEEHAIF community feel free to reach out so that we can discuss potential collaborations. Echo<https://echo.research.vub.be/>: ECHO is devoted to the study of meaning across media culture and politics and their intersections. The group is home to an international group of scholars working on how meaning circulates fluctuates and resonates in society. Echo's aim is to produce a critical and nuanced understanding of how the reproduction and contestation of meaning contributes to social cultural and political change and continuity. Centre for Digital Citizenship<https://ruc.dk/en/forskningscenter/centre-digital-citizenship> (Roskilde - Chris Peters): The Centre for Digital Citizenship investigates the social and political consequences of current developments in digital media technologies – smartphones social media algorithms data and beyond – and asks how these technologies shape individuals citizens collectives and publics. While digital technologies offer progress in terms of political mobilization and public conversation they also hold the potential to enhance old inequalities and divides countering trust in society. The Centre for Digital Citizenship seeks interdisciplinary explanations to these complex digital developments and their societal effects. Hans Bredow Institute<https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/institutes/leibniz-institutes-all-lists/leibniz-institute-for-media-research-hans-bredow-institut> The Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI) in Hamburg examines media change and the related structural shifts in public communication. It combines basic research and research on knowledge transfer from cross-media interdisciplinary and independent scholarly perspectives situating the Leibniz Institute as a leading provider for problem-specific knowledge to politics commerce and civil society. In 1950 Universität Hamburg and the then NWDR (Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation) founded the Institute as a legally responsible foundation under civil law and named it after Hans Bredow who played an important role in the development of broadcasting technology. Since then the Institute has been researching media development from an interdisciplinary perspective. Digital Democracy Centre<https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/forskningsenheder/samf/digitaldemocracycentre/aboutddc> (Claes De Vreese): The DDC aims to: * be a leading research centre around ‘digital democracy’ * develop an interdisciplinary socio-technological perspective on digital democracy * conduct innovative research following a societally relevant research agenda * train and socialize a successful cohort of new scholars * have a voice in public and policy discussions IKE PICONE Associate Professor Media & Journalism Studies Head of the Study Programme Committee - Communication Sciences<https://www.vub.be/nl/studeren-aan-de-vub/alle-opleidingen/bachelor-en-masteropleidingen-aan-de-vub/communicatiewetenschappen> Head of the imec-SMIT Research Unit News: Uses, Strategies & Engagements<https://smit.vub.ac.be/research_area/news-innovation-users-strategies> [cid:927e8389-0a76-41f4-9c9b-f9b8ad536806@eurprd01.prod.exchangelabs.com] Profile & Publications<https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/ike-picone> - @ikepicone<https://twitter.com/ikepicone> - nieuwsgebruik.be<http://www.nieuwsgebruik.be> Recent publications ° Tuning Out the News<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670X.2021.1990788>. A Cross-Media Perspective on News Avoidance Practices of Young News Users ° Windows to the World: Imagining Flemish Audiences' Views on Society through the Lens of News Repertoires<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21670811.2021.1972323?journalCode=rdij20> ° Audience Views on Professional Norms of Journalism<https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/2/2/15>. A Media Repertoire Approach. (Open Access) Current projects ° European Digital Media Observatory Belux<https://belux.edmo.eu/> ° Cultural & Media Participation<http://www.cultuurenmedia.be> ° Roularta Chair on Personalisation, Trust & Sustainable Media