Algorithm-based news recommendations on social media and search engines shape the news people see. …
To get a sense of how algorithmic recommendations perform as news intermediaries, we asked actual internet users to complete real-world searches of topics in the news and list the recommendations they got. In other words, we conducted a crowdsourced audit of search results, the full findings of which were recently published in Mass Communication & Society. …
Our results challenge the conventional wisdom that online platforms’ search algorithms push users into filter bubbles through personalization, and that conservative voices, as Republicans often claim, are being intentionally stifled by Big Tech. Instead, the results support concerns about a winner-takes-most paradigm, with a small number of predominantly national content producers — Fox News prominently among them — receiving much of the attention. CONTINUED
Efrat Nechushtai, Rodrigo Zamith & Seth C. Lewis, Columbia Journalism Review
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