SCM Studies in Communication and Media

Freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental human rights in modern democracies. On the one hand, it enables individual personal development and the formation of opinions. On the other hand, it is central to the functioning of democratic...

Self-tracking technologies have been regarded both very optimistic and very critical. However, these conclusions are often based on single application studies and lack empirical evidence on actual self-tracking usage. We set out to identify types of...

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy beliefs about the virus spread quickly. Using an online-representative survey in Germany, this study examines the relationship between such conspiracy beliefs and media use with special regard to...

As a result of the digitalization of corporate communications, the professional figure of the social media manager (SMM) has emerged in recent years. This paper aims to examine the emergence of this figure within the established structure of...

Media trust is under threat in many countries, and mistrust in mainstream media and discussions about “fake news” have increased in recent years. Critical attitudes toward the media can be a potential danger for society; therefore, it is crucial...

Since its emergence in the 1960s, virtual reality (VR) has generated significant enthusiasm among researchers and practitioners, as well as technology and media companies. In journalistic practice, however, VR has so far only been able to compete to...

Journalism is crucial to modern democracies in that it provides valid knowledge about current events in the form of news. Through shared epistemic standards and the professional norm of objectivity, journalism helps to generate societal knowledge...

Social norms messages may motivate COVID-19 preventive behaviors, such as getting vaccinated. To date, however, the research has mainly focused on the established concept of static norms and widely ignored the potential of dynamic norms. Dynamic...

This study investigates the comparative prevalence of information avoidance concerning the coronavirus and its relationship with media evaluation and use. We argue that information avoidance is a behavior that broadly signifies the intermittent and...

The global corona crisis has increased people’s information seeking and their use of voice assistants as providers of current information on the pandemic. However, little is known regarding the kind and quality of information that different voice...

With more young adults turning to YouTube for up-to-date news, this development raises questions about their news usage patterns and, more precisely, their perception of News-YouTubers as a crucial source for opinion-forming. Drawing on concepts of...

Terror attacks are followed by public shock and disorientation. Previous research has found that people use social media to collectively negotiate responses, interpretations, and sense-making in the aftermath of terror attacks. However, the role of...

Many studies show a positive relationship between media use and protest participation. Yet, the picture becomes less clear-cut for different types of media (traditional vs. social media). Thus, the mechanisms underlying these mobilizing media...

Narratives are stories that give the possibility of understanding and interpreting reality on both an individual and collective level. They are present in everyday communication and incorporate a normative perspective. Narratives are characterised...

How citizens perceive social crises is heavily influenced by the information sources they use and their individual characteristics. These strongly impact how the information received is processed and interpreted. This should also be true in the case...

Addressing the high prevalence of depression among university students and the need to motivate professional help seeking, we examine whether recovery stories featuring a similar - compared to a dissimilar - person sharing their personal experience...

Departing from a systemic perspective, the paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of ordinary citizens’ everyday political talk from a deliberative democratic point of view. Drawing on unique survey data collected in Germany it...

Vaccinations are a medical success story. However, many individuals still experience doubts, which challenge vaccine compliance. Online communities for parents are important sources for the discussion about vaccination with similar others. They...