About us

The rapidly increasing, global dissemination of images and videos challenges journalistic transparency and accountability. On the one hand, news media profit from the increasing access to imagery provided by smartphones, camera drones, surveillance cameras, wearables, and other technologies. The visuals provide new opportunities for innovative, well documented storytelling. On the other hand, visual content from surveillance technologies challenges privacy regulations and established codes of conduct.

The ViSmedia project investigates empirically, experimentally, and conceptually how the adoption and adaption of visual surveillance technologies in the news media might best be optimized in ways that integrate the societal responsibility of high quality journalism. The project is interdisciplinary, and the core group of researchers includes social scientists from Norway, USA, and Finland.

The ViSmedia project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council’s program SAMANSVAR (2015-2019), and builds on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), a framework developed by the EU. Principal Investigator is Professor Astrid Gynnild, University of Bergen. 

PROJECT

The ViSmedia project investigates how the adoption and adaptation of visual surveillance technologies in the news media might be optimized in ways that incorporate and integrate aspects of societal responsibility in quality journalism. The project is interdisciplinary; the core group of researchers includes social scientists and information scientists from Norway, USA, and Finland.

FRAMEWORK

The project ViSmedia builds on the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) framework. The project investigates opportunities and dilemmas of adoption, innovation, and use of new visual surveillance technologies in the news media. ViSmedia is financed by the Norwegian Research Council’s program SAMANSVAR (2015/2019). Principal Investigator is Professor Astrid Gynnild, University of Bergen.

VENUE

The ViSmedia project springs out of interdisciplinary research approaches at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway. The project is connected to NCE Media (National Centre of Excellence) and the Norwegian media cluster Media City Bergen. Several research activities, including seminars and workshops, will take place in Media City Bergen.

VISIT US

Media City Bergen,
Lars Hilles gate 30,
5008 Bergen, Norway