Science comics for adult education: The "Ask Sophie!" project

Die Wissenschaftskommunikation ist gefordert, Bürger*innen jenseits eines hochgebildeten, wissenschaftsaffinen Publikums zu erreichen, zu informieren und zur aktiven Auseinandersetzung mit Wissenschaft zu bewegen. Da Visualität und Narration dabei helfen können, Hürden des Verstehens abzubauen, bergen Wissenschaftscomics eine Chance, dieser Herausforderung zu begegnen. Vor diesem Hintergrund animiert der Wissenschaftscomic „Frag Sophie!“ Bürger*innen dazu, aktiv in den Austausch mit Wissenschaft zu gehen. Die Comic-Figur „Sophie“ fungiert dabei als Dialogpartnerin: Interessierte können Wissenschaftsfragen mithilfe einer Eingabemaske einreichen – „Sophie“ beantwortet diese unterstützt von Wissenschaftler*innen der Universität Münster. Die Autorinnen des Beitrags gehen auf Erwachsene als vielschichtige und entlang von Bildung, Wissenschaftsvertrauen und Mediennutzung differenzierbare Zielgruppe der Wissenschaftskommunikation ein und reflektieren die Potenziale, aber auch Grenzen von Wissenschaftscomics als Instrument der Erwachsenenbildung. (DIPF/Orig.)Science communication needs to reach citizens beyond a highly educated, science¬friendly public and inform as well as motivate them to actively engage with science. Since visualization and narration can help break down barriers to understanding, science comics are one way to meet this challenge. Against this backdrop, the science comic “Ask Sophie!” encourages citizens to actively participate in an exchange with science. The comic character “Sophie” serves as a partner in dialogue: Science questions may be submitted via an online form, and Sophie answers them with the support of scientists at the University of Münster. The authors of the article see adults as a multilayered target group for science communication that can be differentiated according to education, trust in science and media use and reflect on the potentials and limits of science comics as a tool for adult education. (DIPF/Orig.

Catch me, if you can - eine Kompetenzperspektive auf Journalismus als Berufsfeld und Forschungsgegenstand

Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, den Status quo eines sich im Wandel befindlichen Journalismus über die beruflichen Anforderungen, die aktuell an (angehende) Journalist*innen gestellt werden, zu beschreiben. Dafür operationalisieren und systematisieren wir journalistische Praxis entlang eines Kompetenzmodells, das klassische und neue Kompetenzen integriert. Mittels einer standardisierten Inhaltsanalyse journalistischer Stellenausschreibungen (n=337) erfassen wir, inwieweit diese Kompetenzen den Journalismus aktuell kennzeichnen. Die Perspektive ist dabei dreigeteilt: Die Analyse fokussiert auf den Journalismus allgemein, sie betrachtet digitale, journalistische Arbeitsfelder und darüber hinaus auch jene Tätigkeitsbereiche, die das journalistische Arbeiten flankieren. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass das journalistische Handwerk den Journalismus über alle Mediengattungen und Anstellungsverhältnisse hinweg weiterhin definiert. Zugleich zeigt sich, wie sehr neue Kompetenzen im Bereich der Technik, digitalen Gestaltung und des unternehmerischen Denkens journalistisches Arbeiten im Bereich Online, Cross Media und Social Media definieren. Periphere Tätigkeiten verweisen auf Entgrenzungsprozesse im Journalismus und zeigen daher auf, inwieweit journalistische Kompetenzen auch nicht-journalistische Tätigkeiten prägen und welche nicht-journalistischen Tätigkeiten umgekehrt auch den Journalismus zunehmend kennzeichnen. Tatsächlich zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass periphere, insbesondere technische Stellenprofile zu jenen neuen Kompetenzfeldern neigen, die das journalistische Kompetenzportfolio erst seit einigen Jahren erweitern. Dennoch verfügen digitale Journalist*innen über ein eigenes Berufsprofil, das sich von jenem der peripher Tätigen unterscheidet. Der Beitrag diskutiert abschließend die Chancen eines inhaltsanalytischen Vorgehens für die Journalismusforschung.The aim of this article is to describe the status quo of a changing journalism by means of the professional demands currently placed on (prospective) journalists. To this end, we operationalize and systematize journalistic practice alongside a competence model that integrates classical and new competencies. By means of a standardized content analysis of journalistic job advertisements (n=337), we determine the extent to which these competencies characterize journalism today. The perspective is threefold: The analysis focuses on journalism in general; it considers digital, journalistic fields of work and, in addition, those fields of activity that accompany journalistic work. The results show that journalistic craft continues to define journalism across all media genres and employment levels. At the same time, the results also show the extent to which new skills in technology, digital design and entrepreneurial thinking define journalistic work in the online, cross-media and social media sectors. Peripheral activities refer to processes of delimitation in journalism and therefore show the extent to which journalistic skills also characterize non-journalistic activities and, conversely, which non-journalistic activities increasingly characterize journalism. In fact, the results show that peripheral, especially technical job profiles are tending towards those new fields of competence that have been expanding the journalistic competence portfolio in recent years. Nevertheless, digital journalists occupy a professional profile of their own that differs from that of peripheral professionals. Moreover, the article reflects on the opportunities that content analysis offers for journalism research

Schlüsselaspekte der Medienproduktion

Die Produktion von Information und Unterhaltung unterscheidet sich in einigen Punkten von anderen Industrien. Sie ist auf das Zusammenspiel hoch spezialisierter, idiosynkratischer Akteure angewiesen, sie steht unter dem stetigen Zwang zur Innovation und ist mit einer Reihe von Unsicherheiten und Risiken konfrontiert. Daraus ergeben sich Konsequenzen für das Management der Medienproduktion. Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Besonderheiten des Beschaffungs-, Innovations- und Risikomanagements in der Medienwirtschaft und deren organisationstheoretische Bewertung. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf Entwicklungen, die der Digitalisierung geschuldet sind, wie etwa der kollaborativen Produktion im Internet, der Newsroom-Konvergenz, dem datengetriebenen Journalismus und dem Prozessmanagement in der audiovisuellen Produktion

Can digitisation help overcome linguistic and strategic disadvantages in international media markets? Exploring cross-border business opportunities for German-language media companies

The media economy and production literature offers insights into the international activities of media companies that provide products in ‘world languages’. Researchers point out that English-language content and, thus, English-language companies have a linguistic advantage and dominate the global media market. In comparison, there is limited knowledge of how companies that originate from non-dominant-language territories expand their activities abroad. This is all the more relevant as digitisation and fragmentation transform markets and new business opportunities arise. Against this background, we ask whether media companies from non-dominant-language markets can benefit from new constellations and business models to overcome linguistic and strategic disadvantages. We use the example of German-language media companies to explore whether and how digitisation and, to some extent, fragmentation mediate the cross-border activities of non-dominant-language media companies. Using qualitative interviews with top media managers, we address their market perceptions and strategies regarding cross-border activities. In sum, market hierarchies remain persistent, as new challenges, such as portfolio redefinition and rising competition, emerge. However, companies focusing on generic products or niche markets can benefit from digitisation, as can companies that have already grew large and overcome their linguistic constraints

What is a media company today? : rethinking theoretical and empirical definitions

Every day, media managers face different challenges in a constantly changing global economic, cultural and technological setting (Hollifield, Leblanc Wicks, Sylvie, & Lowrey, 2016, p. 110, 177; Albarran, 2013; Shaver & Shaver, 2008; Hollifield, 2001). Between all these challenges, questions on what a media company is today, how it might be defined and the kinds of features characterizing it often remain unanswered. These questions are rarely addressed by authors and scholars working in both business economics, journalism, media, and communication science, maybe because there is the existing assumption of a self-evident and generally accepted definition of the term “media company” (as argued by Sjurts, 2004, p. 390) which actually does not exist. The aim of this paper is therefore to offer an overview of the existing theoretical approaches used to define “media companies,” to identify possible shortcomings of each definitional approach and, deduced from there, to suggest a theoretically sound and empirically applicable approach, which takes into account the challenges and needs of the actual media landscape

A motivation-based typology of media companies’ cross-border engagement

This article contributes to theoretical discussions in the field of transnational media management research. We argue that investigating media companies’ activities abroad from a strategy-as-practice perspective can overcome shortcomings implied in research predominantly focusing on strategies applied by entire companies. This is especially valid in times of digitization where changing technological frameworks force media companies to internationalize and restructure their business models. Based on a comparative qualitative analysis of interviews with 34 international senior media managers, this article provides a typology of cross-border activities related to three types of motivations: economic, organizational and socio-political. Relating activities and motivations provides a useful heuristic to systematically compare activities of most diverse media companies beyond objectives such as profit and growth. This sheds light on processes of digitization as related to numerous emerging organizational activities abroad with yet unclear economic trade-offs

Patterns of structural and sequential ambidexterity in cross-border media management

Organisational ambidexterity – the ability of a company to successfully link exploitation and exploration – is a fruitful approach for cross-border management. It is a crucial concept for media companies that, because of the dual (cultural and economic) character of their products, need to reconcile strategies of mere expansion with local customisation when engaging across borders. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with international media managers, this article captures patterns of ambidextrous strategising and organising in cross-border media activities. The article focuses on digitisation, which has altered the opportunities for balancing exploration and exploitation in internationalisation. The analysis reveals how, in this context, exploitation takes centre stage and how patterns of ambidexterity differ significantly depending on the media type and the background of the company