![Carsten Brosda, Daniel Müller (eds.). (2025). Horst Pöttker: Beruf zur Öffentlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften zu Theorie, Ethik, Geschichte und Perspektive des Journalismus. [Horst Pöttker: A Vocation for the Public. Selected Writings on the Theory, Ethics, History, and Future of Journalism.]](https://journalistik.online/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-journalistik-hintergrund-groß.png)
Reviewed by Beatrice Dernbach
Carsten Brosda and Daniel Müller have given their mentor Horst Pöttker an extraordinary gift: The volume, published in 2025 and presented to the honoree – born in December 1944 – while he was still in his 81st year, is not a commemorative volume in the usual sense. It does not bring together reminiscences from two dozen colleagues, but rather 18 essays written by the scholar himself. A format that does remarkable justice to his professional seriousness and his ethos; it offers a deeper insight into the decades of his scholarly thought.
Selecting the texts was certainly not an easy choice for the two editors. They divided the 18 publications into four chapters: 1. Theory of journalism (6 contributions), 2. Professional ethics of journalism (2), 3. History of the journalism profession (4), and 4. Future of the journalism profession (6). A brief critical note up front, just to get it out of the way: The fact that the bibliographic references are collected at the end (see p. 409) rather than directly with the articles makes navigation difficult. Brosda and Müller also refrain from placing the texts within their historical or scientific-theoretical context. Their introduction therefore serves as a central guide – and fulfills this task admirably.
For Horst Pöttker, the focus has always been on understanding journalism as a profession and journalism studies as a discipline that always »specifically relates to a social communication practice and its professional mediators« (p. 10). This stems from his scholarly interest and academic training: Born in Bad Segeberg, he studied social sciences, humanities, philosophy, and mathematics in Hamburg, Zurich, Kiel, and Basel, where he earned his Dr. phil.-hist. degree in 1978. From 1982 to 1985, he was a research assistant in the Department of Sociology at the University of Siegen. He then moved into journalism, becoming editor-in-chief of the journal medium at the Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik (until 1996). Even during this period, he still had one foot in academia: From 1992 to 1995, he was a visiting professor in communication studies (focus: ethics of journalistic practice) at the University of Leipzig. In 1995, he completed his habilitation in sociology (focus: sociology of communication and public media) at the University of Siegen. The following year, he succeeded Kurt Koszyk as professor for »Theory and Practice of Journalism« at the University of Dortmund. Until his retirement in 2013, he taught and conducted research there, as well as at the universities of Rostov-on-Don, Iowa, Stavropol, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. In his hometown of Hamburg, he served as a senior professor at the university (2013–2018).
There, at the opening event of the »Augstein Lectures« on November 7, 2016, he began by remarking: »I used to be a journalist; I am no longer one. But I am a fellow traveler of journalism.« As an academic, he must maintain a critical distance from journalism; thereby helping journalism to fulfill its duties and improve – not in the sense of a »critical distance that seeks to shake the very foundations of this profession.« And he adds: »I love this profession. And someone who trains journalists must not only know something about this profession, but must have practiced it themselves.« Any scholar with practical training and any editor with academic training whose hearts bleed in light of current technological, economic, and journalistic developments understands Pöttker immediately.
This attitude and the stages of his academic career outlined above are clearly evident in the background of the 18 essays. Above all, sociological perspectives are formative; thus, Pöttker refers to Émile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, and Max Weber, from whom »communication studies and journalism could still learn a great deal after a century« (see pp. 143–165). Among others, the philosopher Immanuel Kant serves as a model for his journalistic professional ethics. Although the journalism scholar has not, like others in the field, highlighted and explicitly developed systems-theoretical or constructivist approaches, he always anchors journalism in both social and action theory as well as in practice. Journalists must decide where and how they create public discourse. He criticizes, however, the increasing »decisions based on political expediency,« such as legitimizing language conventions and the suppression of certain issues, even though »controversial discussions« would be more effective.
Time and again, Pöttker addresses the »insoluble contradictions of journalism« in the creation of »public sphere as a Sisyphean task« (see pp. 94–113), caught between the demands of timeliness and reliability, and between public interest and social function. At the same time, he shows that it is within these tensions that the »potential for solutions« in journalism lies (see pp. 57–75). He links historical classifications of the profession’s relationship to the public sphere (see pp. 114–142) – such as its emergence around 1700 in England (see pp. 208–232) – with current challenges posed by the digital cultural shift (see pp. 355–377).
Horst Pöttker doubted that journalism studies or journalism theory were well placed under the umbrella of communication and media studies. He advocated for its independence and, in his essay »Öffentlichkeit durch Wissenschaft. Zum Programm der Journalistik« [»Public sphere through science. Toward a program for journalism studies«] (see pp. 28–56), published in Publizistik in 1998: the »identity problems of communication studies (newspaper studies),« the necessity of professional orientation in academia, and the need for professionalism in the creation of the public sphere. He assigns journalism the task of establishing quality standards (see pp. 76–93), foremost among them »universality, truth, timeliness, and comprehensibility« (see p. 44) as well as accuracy, relevance, independence, and entertainment value (see pp. 83–89). Pöttker sees the link between theory and professional practice, among other things, in »university media: If journalism studies is to become for the journalism profession something akin to what medicine is for the medical profession, then it needs an institution corresponding to a university hospital that serves the integration of research, teaching, and professional practice (including the possibility of experimental innovations).« (p. 48)
This volume by Carsten Brosda and Daniel Müller is more than a tribute: it is a dense, intelligently composed journey through four decades of journalistic theory. Those who not only practice journalism but also wish to understand it will find a precise and inspiring assessment by an extraordinary scholar who, since his retirement, has not been resting on his laurels but is enthusiastically collaborating with architecture colleagues at TU Dortmund University to explore the field of architecture journalism.
About the reviewer
Dr. Beatrice Dernbach is a professor of Practical Journalism in the Technology Journalism/Technology PR program at Nuremberg Tech. Her areas of expertise include specialized journalism, sustainability and ecology in journalism, narrative and trust in journalism, and science communication.
A German version of this review was first published on February 25, 2026, on rezensionen:kommunikation:medien, available at https://www.rkm-journal.de/archives/25928
About this book
Carsten Brosda, Daniel Müller (eds.). (2025). Horst Pöttker: Beruf zur Öffentlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften zu Theorie, Ethik, Geschichte und Perspektive des Journalismus. [Horst Pöttker: A Vocation for the Public. Selected Writings on the Theory, Ethics, History, and Future of Journalism.] Herbert von Halem Verlag, 416 pages, 38 euros