The Institute has been renamed to the DCU Institute of Future Media, Democracy and Society, although we will still use the abbreviation FuJo.
When the Institute launched in 2015 it primarily focused on journalism research. However, as FuJo membership has grown our focus has also become more diverse and this name change reflects the nature of research conducted by members, which primarily investigates issues of digital society and democracy.
We are also aware that there continues to be a strong interest in research on the intersection of digital technologies with democracy and society; as indicated by the new focus of Horizon Europe. This name change reflects the wide variety of research expertise and funding success that the institute has attracted in the last number of years and which we hope to attract in the future.
FuJo Research
FuJo investigates how to counter digital pathologies including disinformation and digital hate; how to enhance public participation through democratic innovations; and how to secure the sustainability of high-quality journalism.
In recent years FuJo projects have included H2020 Provenance which is developing tools to counter online disinformation, a Marie Curie action PEREDEP which explored the deliberative potential of ‘e-rulemaking’ in the European Union (EU), and JOLT which investigates how to harness digital and data technology for journalism.
In 2020, FuJo responses to the Covid-19 pandemic took similarly varied approaches with projects that investigated citizen exposure to COVID-19 disinformation, the diversity of RTÉ’s programming during the crisis, and avenues to engage citizens such as the Irish Citizen’s Online Forum.
In 2021, we will continue to produce the Digital News Report Ireland with the BAI, this year led by Professor Colleen Murrell. Dr Roddy Flynn will also continue his work on the Irish section of the EU Media Pluralism Monitor.
This is in addition to the research output from individual FuJo members such as Dr Debbie Ging's co-authored book on Gender Hate Online, Dr Dave Robbins, Dr Diarmuid Torney and Dr Pat Brereton's book on Ireland's response to the Climate Crisis and Dr Tanya Lokot's upcoming book Beyond the Protest Square: Digital Media and Augmented Dissent.
FuJo members also have an excellent track record of public and media engagement such as Dr Eileen Culloty's appearance on RTÉ's Drivetime to how the far-right in Ireland operate online or FuJo Director Dr Jane Suiter's Irish Times' article addressing media literacy and Covid-19 disinformation.
Our members combine expertise in media and communications, political science, law and government, data science, and computer science. For an overview of FuJo members and their areas of expertise, please visit our members page.
FuJo is guided by a distinguished advisory board representing media, technology, and civil society. For an overview of FuJo advisory board members, please visit our advisory board page.