The evolving office: new project examines media discourse on the introduction of digital media into our offices

The changes in media that come with digitalisation are also changing how we work in offices. Over the next two years, media and communication researcher Caroline Roth-Ebner and her team will examine how this so-called mediatization of offices has been discussed in media discourse since the 1980s. The project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF.

“A lot of research looks at workspaces and workplaces from different angles. One thing that’s still missing is an investigation into the discussions about the mediatisation or digitalisation of work,” says Caroline Roth-Ebner. She intends to close this gap with her new research project entitled ‘Discourses on the Mediatization of the Office’. She expects to gain insights into the historical transformation of the office in line with the establishment of digital media, as well as into the prevalence of the topic in media discourse. Caroline Roth-Ebner continues: “Media discourse not only reflects and projects social developments, it also influences them. We shouldlearn more about how it is constructed and what inherent power relations and calls to action it reveals.”

In a comprehensive analysis, the team will examine articles in newspapers and magazines as well as advertisements from the 1980s to the present day that address the transformation of offices through emerging technologies. Caroline Roth-Ebner will focus on spaces and technologies as well as the social actors involved in these discourses. She will also examine who the advocates of change are and whose voices are marginalised or excluded from the discourse. In addition, she will look at scenarios that were designed for the office of the future both then and now.

The project is set to start at the beginning of 2024. It will be funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) for the next two years.