Research

My general research focuses on the changing framework of (semi-)public mass communication and its implications for social discourses and societal orders more generally. This includes new media phenomena and their embeddedness in diverse societal environments and media systems, the actors involved, their novel practices, and their increasingly transnational exchange relations and cooperations.

I have conducted extensive research on the field of (political) fact-checking, covering both fact-checking initiatives in various countries and the community of fact-checkers on a global scale. In particular, my dissertation explored different forms and logics of political fact-checking initiatives in Argentina, Georgia, Italy, and the United States in connection with relevant political and media characteristics of their respective contexts. The thesis is titled “Similar Practice, Different Rationales – Political Fact-Checking Around the World” and has been awarded as the university’s best Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 2022. A manuscript giving a comprehensive overview of the findings of this research project is finally complete – see here.

Currently, I am working on understanding the international network of fact-checkers, its ability to organize and connect with other stakeholders and fields of activities in the domain of public communication. I am further exploring my more general interests in the area of trust and truth in digital information environments and emerging initiatives that will shape the ideas in this realm.