Hochschulbibliographie

Wie lassen sich Redaktionsstrukturen in Medienorganisationen beschreiben? Welchen Einfluss haben die Medienorganisation und ihre Struktur auf die journalistische Arbeit? Antworten liefern sozialintegrative Theoriemodelle, wobei die Strukturationstheorie nach Anthony Giddens (1986) dabei eine besondere Stellung einnimmt, indem journalistische Organisationen als Systeme organisierten Handelns konzipiert werden, um die rekursiven Beziehungen zwischen handelnden Journalist:innen und Organisationen im gesellschaftlichen Kontext zu erkunden und strukturelle Wandlungsprozesse im Journalismus zu beschreiben. Ziel des Beitrags ist es, nach einer Einführung in die Grundlagen der Strukturationstheorie anhand exemplarischer Anwendungsfelder ihre Integration in die Journalismusforschung zu verdeutlichen. Abschließend werden die Potenziale der Strukturationstheorie und theoretische Herausforderungen für die journalismusbezogene Forschung aufgezeigt.

Der vorliegende Praxisbeitrag stellt die Fachberatungsstelle Allerd!ngs - Support Sexwork Thüringen mit Sitz in der Landeshauptstadt Erfurt vor (https://allerdings-thueringen.de/). Gefördert von der Thüringer Beauftragten für die Gleichstellung von Frau und Mann setzt sich die Beratungsstelle für Chancengerechtigkeit und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe von Sexarbeitenden ein und unterstützt die selbstbestimmte, einvernehmliche Sexarbeit. Bei Fällen von Menschenhandel kooperiert Allerd!ngs mit der bekom Thüringen - Fachberatungsstelle für Betroffene von Menschenhandel. In Form eines Interviews mit den beiden Fachberaterinnen wird der Arbeitsalltag in der Beratungsstelle beschrieben. Dabei stehen die Anliegen der in der Sexarbeit tätigen Menschen in Thüringen im Zentrum.

External funding is an important yet understudied area of inquiry in crisis communication research. With external funding being a keystone of assessing and broadening research impact in both academia and industry, it is important for scholarship to examine effective practices for funding proposals. This study explores the best and worst practices for funded research through an expert consultation survey of 36 global communication scholars with track records of funding success. Findings reveal motivating factors for seeking, securing and managing funding, as well as institutional factors. Findings also inform best and worst practices for securing external funding, including bridging theory and practice and establishing strong research partnerships.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a part of the mainstream public discourse beyond expert communities about its risks, benefits, and need for regulation. In particular, since 2014, the news media have intensified their coverage of this emerging technology and its potential impact on most domains of society. Although many studies have analyzed traditional media coverage of AI, analyses of social media, especially video-sharing platforms, are rare. In addition, research from a risk communication perspective remains scarce, despite the widely recognized potential threats to society from many AI applications. This study aims to detect recurring patterns of societal threat/efficacy in YouTube videos, analyze their main sources, and compare detected frames in terms of reach and response. Using a theoretical framework combining framing and risk communication, the study analyzed the societal threat/efficacy attributed to AI in easily accessible YouTube videos published in a year when public attention to AI temporarily peaked (2018). Four dominant AI frames were identified: the balanced frame, the high-efficacy frame, the high-threat frame, and the no-threat frame. The balanced and no-threat frames were the most prevalent, with predominantly positive and neutral AI narratives that neither adequately address the risks nor the necessary societal response from a normative risk communication perspective. The results revealed the specific risks and benefits of AI that are most frequently addressed. Video views and user engagement with AI videos were analyzed. Recommendations for effective AI risk communication and implications for risk governance were derived from the results.

Using an 8-wave panel survey of German citizens, the present study investigates the media’s agenda-setting power in the context of the disruptive coronavirus pandemic. By examining how societal concerns are influenced by mass media and personal experiences, this study shows differences regarding the health, political, and economic dimensions of the crisis. Only health-related societal concerns were influenced by the perceived issue salience in the media. Societal concerns regarding the economy were shaped by individuals’ evaluation of the adequacy of the perceived issue salience in the media and thus not by the media agenda per se. In contrast, societal concerns regarding restrictions on fundamental rights were strongly influenced by people’s personal experiences. Variations in the role of mass media and personal experiences over the course of the pandemic can be traced back to changes in the severity of the crisis and its different phases.