Edition 2/2024

Dear Readers, We are delighted to see the growing international interest in our journal and its bilingual concept. When we…

In 2024, more than half of the world’s population will be called upon to take part in elections. France called…

By Thomas Birkner | The interrelations and interactions between politics and the media have been broadly discussed in communication studies, and mediatization has become a popular and fruitful concept for empirical research. However, the concept of mediatization has not yet been applied broadly within journalism studies. This conceptual and theory-based article argues that the challenges that affect journalism today are interconnected with processes of mediatization, and the paper aims to integrate mediatization research into journalism studies. Therefore, this paper elucidates its argument in four consecutive steps. First, journalism is located in its interactive media ecosystem; second, the analytical concept of mediatization is explored, including the differentiation of its two main theoretical traditions – in German differentiated as Medialisierung and Mediatisierung. In a third step, the distinct traditions of mediatization are expanded and integrated into a matrix of mediatization. In a fourth step, the fields of the matrix are filled with already existing empirical journalism research, systemizing the interrelations and interactions between mediatized social systems such as politics, science, and sports and journalism and opening up perspectives for future research.

By Christina Fleischanderl | The data published in Germany’s annual police criminal statistics for 2022 leaves no room for doubt: In 80.3% of all cases of domestic violence, the victim was a woman. Intimate partner violence increased – it is clear who is the perpetrator and who the victim. But how should this violence against women be reported? This paper uses an analysis of national German and Austrian newspapers to determine the status quo of reporting on violence against women. Expert interviews provide insight into deficits and opportunities for improvement. Starting from the concept of constructive journalism and a frame analysis of selected articles, the paper goes on to develop recommendations for holistic reporting on violence against women, both in breaking news and in background reporting.

By Walter Hömberg | In early April 1899, a new magazine appears in Vienna. Its bright red cover shows an enormous torch in front of a silhouette of the city. In the introductory article, the editor underscores its combative approach: »The political ma­nifesto of this newspaper thus appears sparse; it has chosen as its theme not a sounding ›what we feature‹ but an honest ›what we kill off.‹« The editor of Die Fackel, Karl Kraus, is well known to press history experts to this day. Some revere him as the greatest satirist of the 20th century, a brilliant diagnostician of the time, a sensitive poet and clear-sighted playwright. For others, he is a merciless polemicist, a ruthless scorner, hopelessly egocentric, a know-it-all, a querulant and nest fouler. The Vienna literary man Hans Weigel gave this assessment: »His criticism was sacrosanct – criticism of him was lèse majesté.«

By Horst Pöttker | Karl Kraus was born on April 28, 1874 in Jičín, then in Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now in Czechia, and died on June 12, 1936 in Vienna. He came from an upper middle class family, who moved to the capital, Vienna, in 1877. Having begun studies in Law and Philosophy, and following initial forays as a journalist for various magazines and daily newspapers, he published the cultural policy magazine Die Fackel from 1899 until his death – for most of this time as its sole author. The book edition of his pacifist drama Die letzten Tage der Menschheit [The last days of humanity], whose enormous length meant that it was only ever performed in abridged versions, sometimes edited by the author himself, came out in 1922. As a journalist, satirist, poet and playwright, Karl Kraus was sharply critical of what he called the »yellow press« and its language. He also gave opinions on other problems, such as the questionable benefits of intellectual involvement, the accusation of antisemitism, and the rejection of the war.

By Klaus Meier | The term and the meaning of »plagiarism« have recently been transferred from academia into journalism without further thought. This is highly problematic and dangerous given that, although different standards and benchmarks apply for the two professions, merely a public accusation of plagiarism has the potential to destroy reputations and careers. This essay hopes to contribute to a nuanced debate and thus help to prevent scandalization of the issue of plagiarism in journalism. What benchmarks can be used as a guide – both during research and writing and when accusations arise after publication? What is common and reasonable journalistic practice, and what is a »no go?«

By Luis Paulitsch | »Alternative media« have gained in importance for the far right in the digital space, while recent years have also seen a rise in similar platforms at the right-wing, conservative end of the spectrum. Although media projects like this represent alternative positions, their relationship with the criticized »mainstream« is much more ambivalent. This essay highlights various unique features that can be used to distinguish right-wing conservative media from other »alternative media.« The publications Tichys Einblick, eXXpress and NIUS are used as examples.

By William Lafi Youmans | During wars, states’ militaries are strategic communicators seeking to manage public perception, yet in times of war they also have greater command over press access, making them something like referees. In war time, the preexisting legal protections given to the work of news media are often relaxed in the name of emergency exceptionalism and as jurisdictional gray areas arise in theaters of conflict. Israel has moved further in limiting media access in times of escalated conflict, most recently the war on Gaza that started following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israeli military bases and communities around the enclosed strip. This essay overviews Israel’s press policies, military censorship regime and the response of western news organizations, as well as the repression of Palestinian reporters and Al Jazeera. It further asks whether Israeli’s press controls have any impact on news reporting.

Mandy Tröger in conversation with Kai Hafez | The German Communication Association (DGPuK) recently published a »position paper for non-discriminatory discourse.« It was prompted by reactions to a statement issued by academics at Berlin universities defending the right of students to protest against the war in Gaza. The DGPuK condemns any hostility towards academics, defamation and threats – both from outside and within the academic community. This position paper shows again the great need for academic expertise and discourse regarding the war in Gaza, reporting on this war and the conflict in the Middle East. Kai Hafez, Professor of Comparative Analysis of Media Systems and Communication Cultures at the University of Erfurt, Germany, is a recognized expert on questions of media representations of the Middle East in German media. In the last few months, he has been expressing his criticism on current war reporting, for example, on German national radio Deutschlandfunk, in the press and in media podcasts.

By Fritz Hausjell and Wolfgang R. Langenbucher | A project by the University of Vienna’s Department of Communication, the idea of selecting and presenting the best German books by journalists was co-founded by Hannes Haas (1957-2014) and is compiled by Wolfgang R. Langenbucher and Fritz Hausjell. The first edition was published in 2002 in the quarterly journal Message, founded by Michael Haller. When that journal ceased publication, the book recommendations were documented in the magazine Der österreichische Journalist [The Austrian journalist] from 2015. This was interrupted in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. In 2022, a new place of publicationwas found: Journalism Research.

Reviewed and translated by Mandy Tröger | Rarely are there dissertations that make a central contribution to a better understanding of historic reality. Sylvia Dietl’s book is such a dissertation; it rewrites an entire chapter of German media history. This is no small achievement. An indication of the book’s strength are its 658 pages and over 1700 footnotes. But the book’s power lies in its content: Dietl analyzes the transformation and restructuring of East Germany’s broadcasting system more than 30 years ago. The political scientist does this on the basis of a broad range of sources, with analytical ingenuity and a love for detail. In ten chapters, she shows how the unification of the Western Federal Republic of Germany (FGR) and the Eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR) came along with »a complete transfer of institutions from West to East Germany«.

Reviewed and translated by Stine Eckert | He wasn’t a champion of women, says Daniel Siemens in an Online-Talk orga­nized by the Critical Communication Studies Network on March 15, 2022, about Hermann Budzislawski, whose biography he wrote. It is the first one about the man »behind the world stage« – a pun referring to Budzislawski’s years as editor-in-chief of the famous and influential German Weltbühne magazine, meaning literally World Stage, during the Weimar Republic. Again and again, Siemens addresses Budzislawski’s difficult interactions with women authors. For instance, when he shrugged off the article offered by 29-year old Hannah Arendt about the Jewish World Congress, perhaps because she signaled she also could take her work to the competition, the Tage-Buch magazine. Or when he denied that Dorothy Thompson, one of the most important American journalists at the time, had achieved her fame through her own work and charisma. But first things first.

Reviewed by Claudia Wilhelm | Edited by Stine Eckert and Ingrid Bachmann, this volume brings together ten essays by big names in feminist communication and media research. All ten authors have won the Teresa Award for the Advancement of Feminist Scholarship, awarded by the Feminist Scholarship Division (FSD) of the International Communication Association (ICA). The Teresa Award honors work that makes an important contribution to the development, reach and influence of feminist research in communication and media studies. It is intended to increase the visibility of gender-related research among an expert audience. The essays trace the lines of development of feminist research within media and communication research.