Let me ask you this: How much do you know? I’ll bet you are one of the most informed women or men on the planet. We all are. We are living in the age of information. We get it from all corners of our lives, all day long. It is increasingly hard not to be informed, even if you wish it so. But a further and more important question is: out of everything you know, how much of it have you really seen? I will bet that in comparison to what you know, what you have seen in your reality is small and dwindling. Most of our information is from the media. So, our judgements and considerations are mediated. Our understanding of right and wrong depends completely on media broadcasting. I find it fascinating and very, very scary that the power of the media is so immense.
This section of the site is dedicated to my academic activities. The aim is to create a small scientific resource which will provide basic and, at some point in the future, advanced information about my academic activities, further developments in related fields, and other resources that will provide more information for every area.
My interests are fourfold. First, I am researching the role of media in social developments and the permanent change of this role. This phenomenon, called mediatisation, is a very popular subject in mass-communication at the moment. Second, I am interested in framing. Framing – also called second-level agenda setting – is a highly intriguing theory that tries to understand the phenomenon of information Processing in individuals or social groups. Third, I am curious about further developments in the methods of content analysis. That is, in understanding how, what and why media outlets are writing or broadcasting. Fourth, I focus my attention on world’s central banks and their communication methods.
All four interest areas are interconnected. Mediatisation is a very broad subject and it is difficult to empirically assess and understand it. Therefore I am using framing as the theory to make it empirically testable. Content analysis is needed to understand different media frames and the central banks are needed to provide an example on which the developed model will be tested.
The main challenge when studying the phenomenon of mediatisation is the definition of it. In research terms, it is still unclear exactly what we mean when we speak about it. I personally find that it is very important to define a phenomenon before we assess it empirically. Therefore, for all my works, I provide following definition of mediatisation:
I define mediatisation as the process of change or the state in which institutions, and even entire societies, are defined anew by the media, and in which the outcomes of debate over all major political, social, economic or other important issues increasingly depend on media reporting. Therefore, mediatisation could also be understood as the shift of power from governmental institutions to the media.
My research has indicated that the influence of media on our perception of reality is immense. It is much greater than the influence of all the other institutions that exist within our societies. Therefore, I argue that we are living in an age when it is not the government that really has a say, but rather the media. I call that phenomenon the Infocracy.
Resources will be available soon.
I understand framing as the process of particular interpretation of perceived reality. Frames are perspectives though which facts are seen. Therefore, framing in media is an attempt to make certain aspects in the text or broadcasting more salient than others and to present them in positive negative or neutral light by providing problem definitions, interpretations, and moral, political, economic, social or personal treatment recommendations.
Resources will be available soon.
The content analysis method is one of the best ways to empirically access the phenomenon in question. Therefore, I utilize this research method for almost all my studies. I am using qualitative, as well as quantitative, methods for information assessments.
Resources will be available soon.
Central banks are one of most influential institutions in almost all developed democracies. Rarely is the communication from other institutions as important as the statements from central banks, as they directly influence the lives of nearly all citizens of any country. Therefore, I try to take a closer look at the communication process of this governmental institution and try to understand the ways it influences media, market and societies.
Resources will be available soon.
I am a bit late with my publications as I was sure that first I have to attain great amount of information with high quality and then writhe reasonable articles. unfortunately , the world of science not always works like this. Many times, it is more important how much you have published instead of what you have published. I think, this is not the way to go. Therefore I am going slowly.
This article is an expansion of Cyring in the desert. It establishes Media trend Hypothesis in my research. The abstract and full version can be found here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1495854
The present paper analyses the effects of mediatisation on formal organiztional communication. Research considers US Federal Reserve to be one of the most influential institutions worldwide. Based on the new empirical evidence research provides the key finding that mediatisation effects diminish the importance of US Federal reserve announcements for the media outlets.
The entire document is available on this site: http://www.mediaeconomics.ch/forschung/arbeitspapiere.html