The third issue of M&K in 2025 is a special edition on “Diversity, Intersectionality, and Gender in Journalism,” edited by Margreth Lünenborg, Ana-Nzinga Weiß, Yener Bayramoğlu, and Bernadette Uth. The nine articles are available open access on the Nomos eLibrary.
In their introductory article, the guest editors contextualize the journal within previous research in German communication studies. The article summarizes key studies that have addressed relevant issues and identifies gaps in existing research.
Building on this, the article discusses how the contributions to the special issue provide new impetus and perspectives for the academic debate on diversity and gender in journalism.
The contributions offer a wide range of research perspectives. They include diversity-critical and new empirical approaches to gender and sex in journalism and journalism research, as well as the analysis of diversity in the context of changes in journalistic roles and tasks brought about by new technological innovations.
To conclude, the introduction discusses the challenges that arise for research on diversity, intersectionality, and gender in the journalistic context. The introduction advocates for a critical research perspective that encourages self-reflection on existing norms, standards, and structures within German communication studies.
Overview of the Nine Articles
Ana-Nzinga Weiß / Margreth Lünenborg / Yener Bayramoğlu / Bernadette Uth
Diversität, Intersektionalität und Geschlecht im Journalismus: zur Einführung in das Themenheft [Diversity, Intersectionality and Gender in Journalism: An Introduction to
the Special Issue]
Tanja Thomas / Fabian Virchow /Gamze Uğur
Journalismus und Rassismus in einer postmigrantischen Gesellschaft. Diversität als Herausforderung an die Berichterstattung über die rechtsterroristischen Morde in Hanau [Reporting Hanau. Journalism, Racism, and the Challenge of a Post-Migrant Society]
Christina Haritos / Ana-Nzinga Weiß
Representing the Marginalized. A Critical Interrogation of (Self-)Representation
Steffen Grütjen / Milan Skusa
„Was geschrieben wird, ist manchmal wie so ein Gummiband gezogen“. Leichte und Einfache Sprache im Journalismus aus Nutzer:innenperspektive[“Feels Stretched Like a Rubber Band.” How Users Experience Easy and Plain Language in the News]
Jana Rick
Berufsflucht der Journalistinnen? Geschlechterunterschiede beim Ausstieg aus dem Journalismus [The Exodus of Women Journalists? Exploring Gendered Career Exits]
Alija Andrich / Marko Bachl / Emese Domahidi
Do Women Write More About Women? The Impact of Journalist Gender on the Media Visibility of Female and Male Politicians
Karin Boczek / Liane Rothenberger
Was mit Medien, was mit Gender: Repräsentation, Forschungsthemen und institutionelle Standorte von Journalismusforscher:innen, die zu „Gender“ arbeiten[Something with Media, Something with Gender. Representation, Research Topics, and Institutional Contexts of Scholars in Journalism Studies, Who Work on “Gender”]
Kim Löhmann / Phoebe Maares / Daniel Nölleke / Folker Hanusch
Diversität im journalistischen Selbstverständnis. Eine Analyse des Rollenselbst- und -fremdbildes traditioneller und peripherer Akteur*innen im österreichischen Journalismus [Diversity as a Part of Journalistic Role Conceptions. An Analysis of Differences in Role Conceptions between Traditional and Peripheral Journalistic Actors]
Lina Brink / Elke Grittmann
Diversität in der Berichterstattung über die sozialen Folgen Künstlicher Intelligenz. Eine intersektionale Diskursanalyse [Diversity in Media Coverage and the Social Consequences of Artificial Intelligence. An Intersectional Discourse Analysis]
You can access the entire issue here. Short English abstracts are available for the German-language articles.