Profile of the Teaching and Research Unit

The Teaching and Research Unit is headed by Professor Thomas Hanitzsch since 2010.

In research and teaching, Professor Hanitzsch and his team emphasize an international, comparative and interdisciplinary approach. Thematically located at the intersection of political science, social psychology and sociology, the team uses the whole spectrum of qualitative and quantitative research methods, ranging from interviews and surveys to content analyses, experiments and ethnographic analyses.

The array of socially relevant topics covered by the Teaching and Research Unit is broadly revolving around journalism and the news: Besides journalism culture and conflict coverage, Professor Hanitzsch and his team focus, among other things, on trust in the journalistic context, media economics and advertising, and precarization in journalism.

Selected Publications

Journalism Culture and Comparative Journalism Research

Hanitzsch, T., Hanusch, F., Ramaprasad, J. & de Beer, A. S. (eds.) (2019). Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hanitzsch, T., Seethaler, J. & Wyss, V. (eds.) (2019). Journalismus in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. [Journalism in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland]. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Hanitzsch, T. (2019). Journalism studies still needs to fix Western bias. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 20(1), 214–217.
Hanitzsch, T. & Vos, T. P. (2018). Journalism beyond Democracy: A new look into journalistic roles in political and everyday life. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 19(2), 146-164.
Hanitzsch, T. & Vos, T. P. (2017). Journalistic roles and the struggle over institutional identity: The discursive constitution of journalism. Communication Theory, 27(2), 115–135.

Reporting on War and Conflict

Hanitzsch, T. & Hoxha, A. (2019). Journalism of War and Conflict: Generic and Conflict-Related Influences on News Production. In R. Fröhlich (eds.), Media in War and Armed Conflict. Dynamics of Conflict News Production and Dissemination (pp. 169-190). London: Routledge.
Hoxha, A. & Hanitzsch, T. (2018). How conflict news comes into being: reconstructing “reality” through telling stories. Media, War & Conflict, 11(1), 46-64.
Tenenboim-Weinblatt, K., Hanitzsch, T. & Nagar, R. (2016). Beyond Peace Journalism: Reclassifying Conflict Narratives in the Israeli News Media. Journal of Peace Research, 53(2), 151-165.
Hanitzsch, T. (2007). Situating Peace Journalism in Journalism Studies: A Critical Appraisal. Conflict & communication online, 6(2).

Journalism, Media, and Trust

Blöbaum, B., Hanitzsch, T. & Badura, L. (eds.) (2020). Medienskepsis in Deutschland: Ursachen, Ausprägungen und Konsequenzen. [Media Skepticism in Germany: Causes, Characteristics and Consequences]. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Steindl, N. (2019). Vertrauen in gesellschaftliche Institutionen [Trust in societal institutions]. In T. Hanitzsch, J. Seethaler & V. Wyss (eds.), Journalismus in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. [Journalism in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland] (pp. 163-185). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Van Dalen, A., Berganza, R., Hanitzsch, T., Amado, A., Herrero, B., Josephi, B., Seizova, S., Skovsgaard, M. & Steindl, N. (2019). Trust: Journalists’ Confidence in Public Institutions. In T. Hanitzsch, F. Hanusch, J. Ramaprasad & A. S. de Beer (eds.), Worlds of Journalism. Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe (pp. 233-258), New York: Columbia University Press.
Hanitzsch, T., van Dalen, A. & Steindl, N. (2018). Caught in the Nexus: A comparative and longitudinal analysis of public trust in the press. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(1), 3-23. DOI: 10.1177/1940161217740695.
Hanitzsch, T. & Berganza, R. (2012). Explaining Journalists’ Trust in Public Institutions across 20 Countries: Media Freedom, Corruption and Ownership Matter Most. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 794-814.

Journalism, Media Economics, and Advertising

Lauerer, C. (2019). Advertising & Journalism. Oxford Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies. Online first DOI 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.775.
Lauerer, C. (2018). Bröckelt die Brandschutzmauer? Werbeinteressen und ihr Einfluss auf journalistische Arbeit in Medienunternehmen. [Cracks in the Chinese Wall? Advertising interests and their influence on journalistic work in news media] In A. Czepek, M. Hellwig, B. Illg & E. Nowak (eds.), Freiheit und Journalismus [Freedom and Journalism]. (pp. 123-140). Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Lauerer, C., Steindl, N., Hanitzsch, T., Dingerkus, F., Wyss, V., Lohmann, M. I. & Seethaler, J. (2017). Alarmierende Verhältnisse oder viel Lärm um Nichts? Ökonomischer Druck auf Journalisten in Medienunternehmen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. [Alarming conditions and a lot of noise about nothing? Economic pressure on journalists in German, Austrian and Swiss media companies]. In I. Stapf, M.Prinzing & A. Filipović (eds.), Gesellschaft ohne Diskurs? Digitaler Wandel und Journalismus aus medienethischer Perspektive [Society without a Discourse? Digital change and journalism from a media ethics perspective]. (pp. 201-218). Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Hanusch, F., Hanitzsch, T. & Lauerer, C. (2017). ‘How much love are you going to give this brand?’ Lifestyle journalists on commercial influences in their work. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 18(2), 141-158.

Precarization in Journalism

Hanitzsch, T., Lauerer, C. & Steindl, N. (2016). Journalismus studieren in der Krise. [Studying journalism during the crisis]. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, 64(4), 465-482.
Hanitzsch, T. & Rick, J. (2021). Prekarisierung im Journalismus. Erster Ergebnisbericht März 2021. [Precarisation in Journalism. 1st Result report, March 2021] Retrieved from https://survey.ifkw.lmu.de/Journalismus_und_Prekarisierung/Prekarisierung_im_Journalismus_erster_Ergebnisbericht.pdf.
Lauerer, C., Dingerkus, F. & Steindl, N. (2019). Journalisten in ihrem Arbeitsumfeld. [Journalists in their work environment]. In T. Hanitzsch, J. Seethaler & V. Wyss (eds.), Journalismus in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz . [Journalism in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland]. (pp. 71-101). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Steindl, N., Lauerer, C. & Hanitzsch, T. (2018). „Die Zukunft ist frei!”. Eine Bestandsaufnahme des freien Journalismus in Deutschland. [“The future is freelance!”. The state of the freelance journalism in Germany]. Journalistik, 01, 47-59.

Journalism and Gender

De Miguel, R., Hanitzsch, T., Parrat, S. & Berganza, R. (2017). Women journalists in Spain: An analysis of the sociodemographic features of the gender gap. El Profesional de la Informacion, 26(3), 497-506.
Hanitzsch, T. (2021). Genderstern und Binnen-I: Es ist Zeit, die Realität zu akzeptieren. [Gender star and Binnen-I. It is time to accept the reality]. Publizistik, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-021-00645-4.
Hanitzsch, T. & Hanusch, F. (2012). Does Gender Determine Journalists’ Professional Views? A Reassessment Based on Cross-National Evidence. European Journal of Communication, 27(3), 257-277.