News
Reports, Publications, Projects, Blog Posts & Podcasts from the Institute
The Impact of Social Media on Election Campaigns
With a view to the German federal election on 23 February 2025, communication scientists discussed the influence of social media on the election campaign and the outcome of the election. In a virtual press meeting held in German by the Science Media Center on 8 January, Prof. Dr. Judith Möller from the HBI was joined by Prof. Dr. Andreas Jungherr (University of Bamberg) and Dr. Philipp Müller (University of Mannheim). Bastian Zimmermann from the Science Media Center moderated the discussion.
How Can the Resilience of the German Media System Be Strengthened?
Tobias Mast has published a paper in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's ‘FES Impuls’ series. The paper examines the legal and structural foundations of public broadcasting and makes it clear that reforms are necessary to ensure its independence in the long term.
Year of the News Well Received
The “Year of the News” has received a remarkable response in Germany: almost one million accounts reached on Instagram and TikTok, over 4,000 teenagers and young adults at nationwide news camps, and a successful advertising campaign under the motto “News that is true instead of stirring up sentiment”. Together, media houses and civil society have successfully worked to promote news literacy among young target groups.
Experiences with Hands-On Actions in the Year of the News 2024
The "Year of the News 2024" project, part of the #UseTheNews initiative, aims to reach young people with a range of journalistic content and activities and get them involved in journalism. Leonie Wunderlich and Dr. Sascha Hölig researched how young people engage with the campaign and these activities.
M&K 4/2024 Published
The articles in M&K 4/2024 focus, among other things, on the topics of media use research, satire and the role of news agencies. All content is available in open access via the eLibrary of the Nomos publishing house.
When the War Gets Too Close
How do young people process social media posts about the Middle East war? In an interview with the online magazine LEIBNIZ, Kira Thiel talks about her research on the experiences of children and young people in the digital world, as well as the opportunities and risks associated with them.
AI in Social Media
In the online dossier ‘When Appearances Are Deceiving – Deepfakes and Political Reality’ from the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), Jan-Hinrik Schmidt explains how social media platforms have been using machine learning technologies for some time now to curate and moderate content.
Funding for the HBI Continues
The joint funding of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI) by the federal government and the Länder is to be continued. This was recommended to the federal government and the Länder by the Senate of the Leibniz Association on 26 November 2020.
Broadcasting Pieces by Siegfried Lenz
Hans-Ulrich Wagner spent five years researching in archives and now presents in three volumes everything the famous author Siegfried Lenz wrote for radio, mostly for NDR, between the 1950s and 1970s.