Research Field 4

Research Area „ Strategic Communication & Media Performance“

In this area of research, we focus on organizational communication, the performance of news media, and – by taking a holistic approach – advertising and public relations. Our research on strategic communication reflects recent processes of media convergence and we are concerned with the successful communication management of organizations, as for instance in PR or election campaigns. We theorize that the performance of news media can be traced back both to the strategic communications of all involved actors and to the independent framing of issues provided by journalists. Furthermore, our research on media performance is based on the various functions of news media, such as orienting the public and critically reflecting the society. By doing so, we also analyze the ability of the news media to set the public agenda and to provide an adequate interpretation and contextualization of issues.

Research on strategic communication is mainly pursued within the divisions “media & policy” (Prof. Dr. Otfried Jarren), “media reality & media effects“ (Prof. Dr. Heinz Bonfadelli), “media psychology & media effects“ (Prof. Dr. Werner Wirth), and “media economics & media management“ (Prof. Dr. Gabriele Siegert). Research in the realm of media performance is conducted in the divisions “media reality & media effects“ (Prof. Dr. Heinz Bonfadelli), and “international & comparative media research” (Prof. Dr. Frank Esser).