In 2024, more than half of the world’s population will be called upon to take part in elections. France called its parliamentary elections early following a clear shift to the right in the elections to the European parliament in June 2024. The fall will see elections in the German states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, and to the Austrian National Assembly, while people all over the world are already following the US presidential election closely.
Our 3/2024 issue will focus on the topic of elections, both at a regional and national level and from a global perspective. We are particularly interested in the conditions and consequences of elections for (democratic) societies and journalism. After all, without independent reporting based on information, elections are merely a farce. And, conversely, election results themselves have consequences for freedom of expression and the press, and for the work of journalists.
We would like to invite you to submit contributions to the next issue of Journalism Research, focusing on elections. We would like to see academic debate around the complex relationship between media, journalism and politics during electoral campaigns. Examples might include analyses of the reporting on manifestos, candidates, topics, agenda setting and voter expectations, questions on how election-related communication is changing in a digitalized public sphere, or the influence of deliberate disinformation and fakes in election campaigns.
We look forward to receiving new perspectives and insights in the form of academic papers, essays and debate pieces, regional and national perspectives, international comparisons, or studies on the opportunities and limits of election reporting. For questions regarding structure and citations, see our style sheet and the information for authors. Please submit your original contributions in English or German by October 1, 2024 to: redaktion@journalistik.online