If you’re interested in researching online journalism full time there are a couple of opportunities available at the moment:

The first is a fully-funded PhD in ‘Developing a new model for local news provision and addressing the democratic deficit in the digital economy‘.

It’s a 3-year award funded by the European Social Fund which “provides for payment of tuition fees, together with a maintenance stipend set at £13,688 per annum (expected to increase annually). The research student will be based  at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University, in partnership with the Media Standards Trust.  Deadline: August 26th, 2010.

More at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/resources/kessphdscholarshipcardiff.pdf (PDF)

The second is a job opportunity at the University of Leeds for Research Associate in Internet Journalism (fixed-term)

This is a part-time PhD studentship linked to a 50% FTE Teaching Assistantship. Pay is at University Grade 6 (£24,273 – £28,983 p.a. pro rata) plus annual stipend of £6,300; PhD fees will be paid by the Institute. For more information contact Professor David Hesmondhalgh, via email to d.j.hesmondhalgh (at) leeds.ac.uk. Application form and job details from http://hr.leeds.ac.uk/jobs/.