Cornelius Puschmann

Professor at the University of Bremen

Cornelius Puschmann is Professor at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen with a focus on “Digital Communication” and Associate Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). From October 2016 to September 2019, he was a senior researcher at the institute and coordinated the postdoctoral research network Algorithmed Public Spheres (APS). Until October 2016 he worked as project manager at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) in Berlin. There, he was involved in the “Networks of Outrage” project, which the Volkswagen Foundation supported as part of the “Science and Data Journalism” program. His areas of interest include hate speech, the role of algorithms in the selection of media content, and methodological aspects of computational social science.

Cornelius Puschmann completed his PhD at the University in Düsseldorf in 2009 with a corpus-based study on US-American corporate blogs and was subsequently a member of the junior research group “Science and Internet” (2010-2012). From 2012, he was a research assistant at the Institute for Information and Library Science (IBI) at the Humboldt University in Berlin, where he was responsible for the DFG project “Vernetzung, Sichtbarkeit, Information? Nutzungsmotive informeller digitaler Kommunikationsgenres unter Wissenschaftlern [Networking, Visibility, Information? Motives for Using Informal Digital Communication Genres among Scientists].” From January to July 2013, Cornelius Puschmann was a visiting scholar at the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University and, from September 2013 to August 2014, a visiting assistant professor at the Department of Media Studies at Amsterdam University. At the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, he represented the Chair of Digital Communication in 2015/2016. From fall 2015 to fall 2016, he was Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Cornelius Puschmann is co-editor of the 2014 volume “Twitter and Society” (Peter Lang) and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.

His personal website is available at cbpuschmann.net.

Veröffentlicht am: 05.07.2024

Works by Cornelius Puschmann

eine Frau hinter einem Tisch mit ablehnender Haltung gegenüber Zeitungen auf dem Tisch.
Projekt New Project!

News Avoidance Strategies and Their Implications for Public Engagement

What impact does news avoidance have on membership in different publics and political participation? To what extent do these dynamics contribute to the fragmentation of publics? This study examines how various news avoidance practices affect individuals’ connection to the public sphere.

Projekt BMFTR Project

Podcasts: Key Players, Content, and Misinformation

As audio media, such as podcasts, become more important, the risks of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news increase. The collaborative project “Systematic Observation of New Audio Risks” (SONAR) examines the content structure of online audio media and develops methods for identifying relevant narratives and manipulation strategies.

Publikation Open Access Publication

Determinants of Verification Behavior in Generative Search

Generative AI is being increasingly integrated into search engines, but it has been criticized for producing content that sounds plausible yet is sometimes inaccurate. Little is currently known about the factors that prompt users to verify these responses. The study by Eva-Luise Knor, Michael V. Reiss, Judith Möller, and Lisa Merten addresses this knowledge gap.

Publikation Recently Published

Platforms, Online Surveillance, and the European Union: The Digital Services Act (DSA)

In their open-access article, Prof. Dr. Judith Möller, Ronan Ó Fathaigh, Bengi Zeybek, and Rocco Bellanova explore how the DSA facilitates public and private surveillance practices regarding content disseminated on online platforms.

Cover of issue 2/2026 M&K
Publikation Open Access Publication

M&K 2/2026 Has Been Published

The February 2026 issue of M&K features articles that explore the understanding of roles and the transformative potential of peripheral actors in the DACH region. Other articles examine developments in sports coverage in German daily newspapers from 2011 to 2021 and the usage patterns of ChatGPT, as well as anthropomorphic role attributions. You can download all of these articles free of charge.

Front Page of the Working Paper
Publikation Working Paper Available for Download

Babies and Toddlers in Family Influencing

In what ways and how often are babies and young children (ages 0–5) depicted on commercially oriented German-language social media profiles on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube? Stephan Dreyer, Claudia Lampert, Kira Thiel, and others analyze this question using qualitative and quantitative methods. They also critically discuss the findings in light of the applicable legal framework and media ethics considerations.

Publikation Open Access Publication

Assessing Age Assurance Technologies: Effectiveness, Side-Effects, and Acceptance

In the article “Assessing Age Assurance Technologies: Effectiveness, Side-Effects, and Acceptance,” Dr. Wouter Lueks, Dr. Stephan Dreyer, Prof. Dr. Hannes Federrath, and Prof. Dr. Judith Simon analyze existing age verification methods.

Publikation Review of a Dissertation

Government Public Relations in New Media

For years, the democratic legitimacy of government public relations has been a topic of discussion in academic literature and constitutional jurisprudence. Tobias Mast reviews a recently published dissertation on the subject, exploring the untapped potential of interdisciplinary legal scholarship in relation to commonly accepted empirical assumptions.

Publikation Article for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Platform Badges for Civic Communication

Digital platforms have become central infrastructures for political communication and social negotiation processes. In his article, Jan Rau examines platform badges, which are tools that platforms use to fulfill their obligation to mitigate risk by creating positive incentives for users to adhere to certain communicative norms.

Cover des Arbeitspapiers
Publikation Working Paper for Download

Responsibility in the Platform Quadrangle

This working paper by Tobias Mast comments on the European Court of Justice's recent Russmedia ruling and sets out the premises for a relationship between EU legal acts in the digital single market that respects fundamental rights.

ein Kabel führt in ein Smartphone
Projekt Project with Helmut Schmidt University

Data Collection and Analysis on TikTok and YouTube

In order to develop the best practices for collecting and analyzing data on short video platforms, Gregor Wiedemann's Media Research Methods Lab at the HBI is participating in a Helmut Schmidt University project examining the German Armed Forces' representation on TikTok and YouTube.

Eine Fernbedienung zeigt auf einen Bildschirm mit unscharfen bunten Bildern
Projekt International Cooperation Project

Euromedia Ownership Monitor

The Euromedia Ownership Monitor provides policymakers and the general public with in-depth insights into the extent of media ownership transparency in the EU. It was updated in 2025.

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