DC9 – Regulating Public Interest Media in a platform world

The Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) is the largest educational institution in the Salzburg region, with more than 18,000 students and around 2,800 staff in research, teaching, and administration. Since its re-establishment in 1962, the University has evolved into a modern, vibrant institution whose six faculties — Theology, Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Digital and Analytical Sciences, Natural and Life Sciences as well as Law, Business and Economics — meet the highest standards of teaching and research.

Situated in Salzburg, a city renowned for its cultural heritage, artistic vitality, and exceptional natural setting, PLUS offers an inspiring environment where academic excellence and quality of life are harmoniously integrated. The city’s international atmosphere fosters creativity, openness, and interdisciplinary exchange.

The PhD position is located in the division communication policy and media economics within the department of communication studies, where research examines how media organisations create value, are financed and regulated, and how these processes shape democratic communication, technological change, and media quality.

The PhD project is titled: Regulating Public Interest Media in a platform world.

This PhD position contributes to the wide body of literature on the regulation of Public Service Media (PSM). Almost all member states rely on the services of Public Service Media to inform, educate and entertain their population. This formula, from the early days of BBC, requires translation into today’s highly segmented platform world. Theoretically, this project establishes a contemporary understanding of the concept of public interest, delivered by a media organisation established by law.

Public Interest Media (PIM) — generally speaking, private non-profit and public service organisations — are central to democratic communication. They provide citizens with trustworthy information, cultural diversity, and opportunities for participation, while facing increasing pressures from technological transformation, market competition, and changing societal expectations. Benefiting from comparatively high levels of public trust, these media possess a unique capacity to influence public attitudes and behaviours. Future Public Interest Media organisations find themselves in a highly competitive market environment, thus requiring the organisation to find a way to co-exist with private media and (global) platforms. This requires a sound regulatory setting in which the value-based Public Interest Media concept can be sustained and developed further.

Based on this understanding, a number of challenges need to be identified. These include competition issues with global conglomerates and corporations also competing at the national level, resulting in a loss of sovereignty of national Public Interest Media organisations. Second, output adaptations are required in order to respond to changing usage patterns by the audience. In particular, personalised services, in addition to mass media appeal content, need to be developed and distributed. Third, digital interfaces on receiving devices require new strategies of findability and discoverability. Particular measures are necessary to maintain the due prominence status for Public Interest Media services.

While the primary responsibility for implementing these measures lies with Public Interest Media management, the focus of this project is on the role of regulation in addressing these challenges and ensuring a level playing field for all stakeholders. In particular, regulation may serve to protect the public interest, facilitate a swift and reliable transition towards personalised services provided by Public Interest Media, and prevent practices by platform-based competitors that are detrimental to the public interest. Moreover, regulation is intended to facilitate the transition from mass media Public Interest Media applications to personalised services without compromising viewer retention.

Personalisation of service constitutes, in this respect, a novel policy challenge on how to audit and regulate personalised content exposure. By comparing how Public Interest Media are located in the digital marketplace and how national legal structures correspond with the digital global requirements, (legal) remit adjustments are suggested to make Public Interest Media future-proof in times of more and global competition. Generally speaking, regulation needs to provide a suitable framework to allow public and private companies to exploit digital opportunities to their specific ends: profit generation on the one hand and servicing the public interest, on the other.

The project’s empirical and methodological approach involves desk research on Public Service Media literature, with a comparative perspective on identifying best practice examples in EU member states and other countries, such as Canada, Australia, and Japan. The project will build on a sound theoretical model of Public Interest Media. It will apply qualitative methods and interviews with regulators and management staff of public service institutions.

The anticipated outcomes encompass the establishment of a regulatory framework for personalised services, in conjunction with the fulfilment of conventional responsibilities. The development of guidelines is imperative to facilitate the capacity of Public Interest Media operators to compete with platform-based operators on personalised media interfaces, in response to the gradual shift in viewing behaviour from linear to on-demand.

The candidate will be enrolled in the PhD programme at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS). The project is conducted under the supervision of Josef Trappel, Professor for media policy and media economics and head of the Department of Communication Studies at PLUS, and Natascha Just, Professor at the University of Zurich. It will involve close collaboration with other Doctoral Candidates in the RePIM doctoral Network Project, and an academic secondment at the University of Zurich in Switzerland of approximately 2 months. The candidate will also carry out 3-month internship at Ofcom, the media regulator in the UK.

The PhD position is part of RePIM – Revisioning Public Interest Media, a four-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Doctoral Network dedicated to reimagining the role and future of Public Interest Media in a data-driven, platform-dominated environment. RePIM brings together leading European universities, industry partners, and 12 Doctoral Candidates in an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral training and research programme. The network investigates how Public Interest Media can remain relevant, sustainable, and impactful by transforming how content is produced, packaged, distributed, and supported organisationally and technologically. Through its focus on strategic innovation, organisational change, and media management, RePIM equips its doctoral researchers with advanced analytical and managerial skills to help reshape public interest media across diverse European contexts.

MSCA eligibility requirements

• At the time of recruitment, candidates must not already hold a doctoral degree.
• Applicants of any nationality are welcome to apply. However, researchers must not have lived or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host country (in this case: Austria) for more than 12 months within the 36 months immediately preceding their recruitment date. Candidates must be willing to move to Austria for the duration of the PhD research.

Project-specific profile requirements

• Applicants are expected to hold a Master’s degree in Communication Science or a closely related discipline within the social sciences. A strong academic background in media governance, media industries and/or political economy of communication is desirable, particularly where it demonstrates familiarity with the economic, organisational, and policy dimensions of media systems.
• Professional experience in the media sector is considered an asset. This may include administrative or journalistic work within news media organisations, or involvement in executive or advisory positions related to the regulation of the media industry, including oversight of Public Service Media.
• Candidates should demonstrate methodological proficiency relevant to the project’s aims, including familiarity with qualitative research methods such as content analysis, thematic analysis, expert interviews, and, where applicable, the use of Artificial Intelligence–supported analytical tools.
• Academic proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is required for research, collaboration, and publication within an international environment. While knowledge of German is not mandatory, it is considered an advantage for engaging with local media contexts and institutional partners.
• Overall, the successful candidate will demonstrate a solid theoretical foundation, applied research skills, and a keen interest in the role of regulation in fostering media prosperity within democracies.

In this role, you will work with researchers at two prominent European institutions in media and communication research. You will collaborate closely with other researchers in a European consortium of leading studies institutes in the field, as well as conduct an international secondment with a relevant organisation in your field of research.

The planned starting date is 1 May 2026.

We offer an attractive compensation and benefits package, including the following:

• A full-time employment contract as project staff for 36 months.
• A gross salary of €3,826 (with a 3% increase every 12 months), paid 14 times per year, a mobility allowance of €710, and a family allowance of €660 (only if applicable).
• A 40-hour work week.
• Five weeks of holiday per year.
• The opportunity to join one of the thematic doctoral schools, which meets regularly to exchange experiences and learn contemporary academic skills from guest speakers. PhD students work in groups, participate in academic events (such as lunch talks) and collaborate with colleagues in their division.
• International mobility for academic secondment (at the University of Zurich) and industry internship at Ofcom (London).

Applications for this position closed on 31 January 2026, 23:59 CET.

Application process:

• Step 1: initial selection based on application file
• Step 2: first round of interviews with long-listed candidates (est. February–March 2026)
• Step 3: second round of interviews with short-listed candidates (March 2026)
• Starting date: est. 1 May 2026.