Dear Readers,
the history of journalism and historical journalism research are close to the heart of Journalistik/Journalism Studies – Zeitschrift für Journalismusforschung. One of the principles and founding motivations of the journal has been to counter the »lack of historic, hermeneutic texts« in communication studies: »Especially in the environment in which we find ourselves today, contributions like these are very important alongside empirical, analytical, variable-based research reports (Gerhard Maletzke), given the significant need for self-understanding in professional journalism, which has been so unsettled by the digital transformation of media and culture,« stated the editorial of the first issue (Debatin et al., 2018). That is why I am pleased that we are able to offer you two articles on the history of German-language journalism in this issue.
Martina Thiele speaks with Siegfried Weischenberg about his new book Schuld und Geheimnis. Bekenntnisse von Legenden in der deutsch-jüdischen Publizistik [Guilt and secrecy: Confessions of legends in German-Jewish journalism], in which he profiles well-known and lesser-known journalists. She also talks with him about memory, forgetting, guilt, antisemitism, and gender relations in journalism. Alf Mayer and Horst Pöttker shed light on the life and achievements of publisher and resistance fighter Karl Anders, who saved the national daily Frankfurter Rundschau from financial ruin in its early days but is today largely overlooked in the newspaper’s history. Who is honored and remembered in which ways, and who is (almost) forgotten? What has changed since 1945 in the way we deal with Nazism, war, expulsion, and the Holocaust? What contributions can journalism and journalism research make to individual and collective memory?
Two additional texts address the current rise of right-wing extremism: At the 1st Leipzig Media Forum, which took place on April 29, 2026, and was moderated by founder Gabriele Hooffacker, the scholars Michael Haller, Judith Kretzschmar, Michael Krell, and Stine Eckert discussed strategies against online hate that can enable journalists to carry out their daily work with greater safety. In this line, Luis Paulitsch also analyzes the tactics of right-wing populist, »alternative« media outlets that aim to sow doubt about the causes and consequences of climate change and pursue their own »climate policy.«
In addition, Klaus Ott, a longtime editor at the national daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, introduces the network »Journalismus macht Schule« [Journalism meets school] in our new section titled »Projects«: How can we inspire students to take an interest in journalism and develop media literacy skills? And how can journalism be more broadly embedded in society, starting with children and young people? Janis Brinkmann also focuses specifically on young adults as a target audience in his study and asks how subjective journalism resonates with them. Additionally, Katja Schupp and Mirco Liefke discuss the extent to which subjective journalistic formats can be successful thanks to the right »vibe,« which they suggest should be considered as a potential new criterion to assess journalistic quality.
This issue also includes four reviews that reflect on the history and the future of journalism: Phoebe Mares reviews the innovative book Between repair and care: Start-ups as a chance for diversity in journalism [Zwischen Repair und Care. Neugründungen als Chance für Diversität im Journalismus] by Maike Suhr, and Stine Eckert recommends the Handbook of media and gender [Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht], edited by Johanna Dorer, Brigitte Hipfl, Brigitte Geiger, and Viktorija Ratković, which examines the history and current developments of German-language gender media studies. Horst Pöttker reviews the book »… dem liberalen Schwindel ein Ende zu machen«. Karl Kraus and Wilhelm Liebknecht 1899/1900 [»…killing liberal lies.« Karl Kraus and Wilhelm Liebknecht 1899/1900] by Georg Fülberth. And Tanjev Schultz discusses Nachrichtenqualität als journalistischer Prozess [News quality as a journalistic process] by Andreas Riedl. In addition, we offer again 10 more detailed book reviews by Martina Thiele und Boris Romahn in our section »Book Journalism«. Hence, we invite you to read a book or two this summer and reflect on the history, current events, and possible future developments in journalism.
We look forward to your letters and submissions and would like to once again draw your attention to our call for papers for our upcoming special issue on »Journalism, media, gender, and age(ing)« at the end of the year.
We wish you a wonderful summer of reading!
Stine Eckert
References
Debatin, Bernhard, Herczeg, Petra, Hooffacker, Gabriele, Pöttker, Horst, & Schultz, Tanjev (2018). Editorial. Journalistik/Journalism Research – Zeitschrift für Journalismusforschung, 1. https://journalistik.online/en/general-en/editorial-2/