Johanna Sebauer

Science Communication

Johanna Sebauer was at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI) from May 2018 until August 2024. As part of the communications team, she supported Christiane Matzen and Wiebke Schoon in maintaining the website, blog and social media channels of the institute.

She hosted and produced the monthly podcast BredowCast, in which she sat down with HBI researchers to discuss current topics in the world of media research.

Johanna Sebauer studied the Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme Journalism, Media and Globalization in Aarhus (DK), Santiago de Chile and Hamburg, which she completed in 2015. Prior to this, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Vienna. Besides working at the HBI, she is also an author.

Social media

Last update: 02.10.2024

Works by Johanna Sebauer

The most comprehensive HBI publication ever!

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.

Brief Expert Opinion

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.

Cover of the first volume of the EU publication series

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.

Project Findings Available for Download

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.

Cover of the 6/2025 issue of the New Journal of Administrative Law.

Article in Journal for Administrative Law

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.

Education Study in Media Perspektiven

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.

Auf schwarz-weißem Schachbrett stehen sich weiße und schwarze Figuren gegenüber

DAAD cooperation project

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.

Cover of the Handbook Digital Journalism

Recently Published

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.

Cover von Heft 1/2025 der Zeitschrift M&K

Available Open Access

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.

Cover of the journal Computational Communication Research

Open Access Article

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.

Cover des Nomos-Handbuchs Journalismusforschung

Recently Published

Journalism Research

A new Nomos Handbook, edited by Thomas Hanitzsch, Wiebke Loosen and Annika Sehl, offers an insight into the diversity of research on journalism in its social context. It looks, among other things, at actors, organisations and institutions, as well as at news, how it is produced and how it is used. The volume reflects the thematic, theoretical and methodological diversity of research.

Blog Post on Verfassungsblog

Elections in a Fortified Platform Democracy

The integrity of the German parliamentary elections and future European elections has been and continues to be threatened by influence peddling via social networks. The Digital Services Act (DSA) is supposed to provide a remedy against election manipulation. In a blog post on the Verfassungsblog, Jan-Ole Harfst explains why Art. 34-35 of the DSA could hardly remedy the systemic risks of this federal election campaign.

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