News
Reports, Publications, Projects, Blog Posts & Podcasts from the Institute
Destructive Discourses
The final research report, jointly written as part of the NOTORIOUS research project, looks at how climate-related misinformation and disinformation spreads across different platforms. At the HBI, Philipp Keßling, Dr. Felix Victor Münch, Dr. Gregor Wiedemann, and Mattes Ruckdeschel worked on the report.
Special Issue of IJPP “Global Myth and Magic around AI”
For a special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics on “Global Myth and Magic around AI: Enchanted Determinism and Folk Theories in Public Discourses on AI”, the guest editors welcome submissions until 15 June 2025.
DSA DMA Commentary
It is the most extensive publication the HBI has ever produced: the 1600-page commentary on the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), edited by Tobias Mast, Matthias C. Kettemann, Stephan Dreyer and Wolfgang Schulz. In addition to several current and former researchers from the institute, almost 30 other experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were recruited for the commentary project.
State Treaty on the Reform of the Procedure for Setting the Broadcasting License Fee
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz and Dr. Tobias Mast have provided their expert opinion on the State Treaty on the Reform of the Procedure for Setting the Broadcasting Fee (RFinÄStV). At the end of 2004, the federal states had decided to separate the pillars of the reform of public broadcasting and to adopt the draft reform first and to continue the process of reforming the procedure for setting the licence fee separately.
ARD and Politics – The Struggle for Independence
About 75 years ago, in June 1950, the constituent assembly of the ARD took place. The aim was to strengthen the position of the broadcasters in the political arena and to have a say in international affairs, for example in the allocation of broadcasting frequencies. At that time, "the broadcasters" meant exclusively radio. In a podcast by Rainer Volk for SWR Kultur, media historian Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wagner and other experts shed light on the history of the ARD.
Sascha Hölig on His Work on ZDF’s Self-Regulation Declaration
Media researcher Dr. Sascha Hölig is an expert advisor to ZDF Television Council and has been supporting the council for two years in implementing the quality goals of ZDF's voluntary commitment. Within the team, he has been mainly concerned with ZDF Kompass measurement tools, their potentials and limitations. In an interview published in the newsletter of ZDF Television Council, he draws a conclusion.
Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” Receives Four More Years of Funding
The Senate of the Leibniz Association has decided to continue funding the Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” until September 2029. In addition to the partner institutes' own funds, the network will receive an additional 1.2 million euros for research and knowledge transfer. Within the research network, the HBI is part of the Research Lab “Practices of Appropriation”, which also focuses on historical memes and TikTok videos as well as historical Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Digital Services Act
The publication "Der Schutz der Meinungsäusserungsfreiheit im Digital Services Act" [The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Digital Services Act], to which Matthias C. Kettemann contributed significantly, is the first in a series of KommAustria publications on the DSA, which are intended to provide a basis for understanding the DSA and contribute to a more differentiated discussion.
Between Curiosity and Skepticism: Use and Perception of Generative AI for Information Search in Germany
The research project "Generative Artificial Intelligence for Information Navigation", funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), investigated to what extent, for what purposes and for what reasons the German population uses generative artificial intelligence in applications such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. The findings can be downloaded as a working paper.
Event dates
Facts, Fakes and Feeds
12. May 2025In a presentation hosted by the Kreisjugendring Stormarn e.V., Dr Jan-Hinrik Schmidt will outline how opinions are formed in digital spaces and how social cohesion is changing.
Context Collapse
Context Collapse
15. May 2025How can we ensure successful communication in society? This is the topic of the upcoming edition of the Context Collapse salon series, hosted by the Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC).
Protection of Democracy and Public Opinion
16. May 2025Prof. Dr. Judith Möller will give a presentation on the communication and media system of the digital society as part of the anniversary conference of the Mainz Media Institute. Conference participants will be discussing the new communicative power of social media and its consequences for the media order.
#LeibnizMediaLecture
Semantic Struggles and Strategic Communication in Social Media
20. May 2025This Leibniz Media Lecture is hosted by the Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC). Prof. Dr. Friedemann Vogel, University of Siegen, will talk about the practices of the new right from a discourse-linguistic perspective.
Media History Lunch Talks
21. May 2025The international research network Entangled Media Histories (EMHIS), in which the HBI is a partner, has put together a programme of online seminars on media history topics for the spring.
re:publica 2025
26. May 2025The 19th edition of re:publica, one of Germany's most important digital conferences, is taking place at STATION Berlin this year. This year's festival for the digital society is themed “Generation XYZ”. The event will be held in German. Several HBI researchers will be at the venue and present their research.
From European Concert to Brussels’ Solo?
12. June 2025Under the title "From European Concert to Brussels' Solo? What EU Media Regulation Means for the German Media System", experts and the audience will discuss the transfer of media regulation to the European level and what this means for Europe's diversity.