News
Reports, Publications, Projects, Blog Posts & Podcasts from the Institute
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.
Use and Perception of Generative AI for Searching Information in Germany
The research project "Generative Artificial Intelligence for Information Navigation" has examined how, why, and for what purposes the German population uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) in applications such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. The findings are presented in two videos, a report and a podcast.
Trusted Flaggers Are Not Authorized Agents!
In the current issue of the Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht, Tobias Mast challenges the increasingly prominent view in legal literature that trusted flaggers under Art. 22 of the Digital Services Act (DSA) are public authorities in the sense of German administrative law.
The Population’s View of ZDF’s Educational Function
A study on the educational mandate of the ZDF has for the first time examined the population's educational expectations and perceptions. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt, Uwe Hasebrink and Dieter Storll were involved in an advisory capacity in the design and evaluation of the study and have presented the core findings in detail in an article.
Communication on AI and Politics Awarded
Dr. Michael Reiss has been recognized for his outstanding communication on the topic of “AI and Politics” as part of the project “I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here!". Over a period of two weeks, about 350 students from 19 German-speaking schools in Germany and abroad exchanged ideas with 17 researchers on the influence of AI on political processes and democratic systems.
Mapping Polarization in News Media Content
How are polarizing topics reported in Germany and Australia – and does this reporting contribute to the polarization of political attitudes? The project examines how news content in both countries differs in its coverage of controversial issues – and whether this reporting contains potentially polarizing elements.
Handbook of Digital Journalism
The second edition of the Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies offers a collection of 54 essays addressing current issues and debates in the field of digital journalism studies, including two articles by Julius Reimer / Wiebke Loosen and Lisa Merten.
Issue 1/2025 of M&K Published
Issue 1/2025 of our journal Media & Communication Studies (M&K) has been published, including articles on journalism in Germany in 2023, on the role of Google and YouTube in the dissemination of conspiracy theories, and on journalistic role expectations and ideals of social coexistence in the German population. All content can be downloaded for free from the Nomos eLibrary.
Data Donations from Journalism
In their article “I Really Thought I Would Use More Than Just Google: Investigating Professional Journalistic Online Use with Browser History Donations”, Lisa Merten, Felix Victor Münch and Maren Schuster describe how the method of data donation can be used to investigate professional media use in journalism. The article was published in the open access journal Computational Communication Research.
Event dates
Access Permitted Only with Proof of Age?
25. March 2025Dr. Stephan Dreyer will speak about the current legal framework for age verification and age verification in digital spaces at the medien impuls symposium. He will then take part in a final discussion with other experts on the question “Which risks are minimized by age checks – and which remain or arise?”
Did Algorithms and Fake News Decide the Election?
25. March 2025In a public lecture as part of Hamburg's Week of Science Communication, Prof. Dr. Judith Möller will discuss the extent to which algorithms and fake news in social media influence political voting behavior.
Media History Lunch Talks
16. April 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.
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.