{"id":8069,"date":"2026-04-28T13:50:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-projects&#038;p=8069"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:25:43","slug":"podcasts-key-players-content-and-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"hbi-projects","link":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As audio media, such as podcasts, become more widely used, the risks of them distributing misinformation, disinformation, and fake news increase. The collaborative project \u201cSystematic Observation of New Auditive Risks\u201d (SONAR), funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), examines the structure of online audio media offerings and develops methods for identifying relevant narratives and manipulation strategies.<\/p>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<p>Podcasts and other long discussion formats have become a key source of information and entertainment for people of all ages and educational backgrounds in German-speaking countries. However, there is growing concern that disinformation is spreading through not only social media posts, but also audio formats. A new dynamic is emerging from AI tools that enable the rapid, inexpensive, and large-scale production of audio content, including synthetic voices.<\/p>\n<p>There has yet to be a systematic overview of who shapes the German-speaking \u201caudio public,\u201d what narratives circulate there, and how potentially harmful content spreads across time and platforms.<\/p>\n<h2>Project Overview<\/h2>\n<p>In collaboration with the HAW Hamburg, SONAR is conducting a comprehensive analysis of the structural elements of online audio media. The project aims to develop methods that can identify the explicit and implicit narratives of misinformation, disinformation, and manipulation strategies within audio formats.<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to lay the groundwork for an evidence-based classification system for audio disinformation risks. This could serve as a knowledge base for academia, journalism, factchecking, media regulation, and media literacy.<\/p>\n<h2>Methodology<\/h2>\n<p>SONAR combines qualitative media analysis with scaled, computer-assisted evaluation. The project involves creating a substantial corpus of audio content. Our multimodal approach is particularly innovative in that it analyzes not only transcripts but also auditory characteristics such as intonation, speech rate, and paralinguistic signals (e.g., laughter, role shifts) as indicators of communication strategies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8025\" src=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BMFTR_web-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BMFTR_web-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BMFTR_web-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BMFTR_web-1.jpg 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8011,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-8069","hbi-projects","type-hbi-projects","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As audio media, such as podcasts, become more widely used, the risks of them distributing misinformation, disinformation, and fake news increase. The collaborative project \u201cSystematic Observation of New Auditive Risks\u201d (SONAR), funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), examines the structure of online audio media offerings and develops methods for identifying [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-06T13:25:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-28T11:50:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-06T13:25:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png\",\"width\":1380,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-projects\\\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Homepage\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"width\":462,\"height\":123,\"caption\":\"Leibniz HBI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation","og_description":"As audio media, such as podcasts, become more widely used, the risks of them distributing misinformation, disinformation, and fake news increase. The collaborative project \u201cSystematic Observation of New Auditive Risks\u201d (SONAR), funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), examines the structure of online audio media offerings and develops methods for identifying [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/","og_site_name":"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","article_modified_time":"2026-05-06T13:25:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1380,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/","name":"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png","datePublished":"2026-04-28T11:50:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-06T13:25:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26-04-28-Podcasts-Akteure-Inhalte-und-Desinformation_Header.png","width":1380,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-projects\/podcasts-actors-content-and-misinformation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcasts: Actors, Topics, and Misinformation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","name":"Leibniz HBI","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization","name":"Leibniz HBI","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","width":462,"height":123,"caption":"Leibniz HBI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-projects\/8069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-projects"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hbi-projects"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}