Media History

The “Media History” research group examines the role of communication and the media in social and societal processes from two perspectives within the history of media and communication – on the one hand, as communication in the past, and on the other, as communication about the past.

In the first case, media providers, communicators and communicative processes are examined in terms of their significance for historical processes of transformation. One example of this is the project on the history of Hessischer Rundfunk in the post-war period.

In the second instance, studies are being carried out on the valuation of the past, based on the fundamental changes in the constellation of actors and communicative practices in digital interactive media. This research into practices of remembrance and a ‘digital media history’ is being carried out in close collaboration with the Leibniz Research Network ‘Value of the Past’ in its 2nd phase (2025–2029) and Research Group 3 ‘Participation and Appropriation’, which is part of it.

Head of the research group: Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wagner

Photo by Pablo García Saldaña on Unsplash

Overview

Last update: 16.09.2026

Blog Articles, News, Projects, Publications, Podcast Episodes

Cover of the journal AfP
Published in AfP

State Media Treaties Under Pressure

In an article published in the journal AfP 6/2024, Tobias Mast discusses state media treaties in a climate of polarized and fundamentally opposing politics.

Cover of the Handbook Media and Communication Governance
accessible open access

Private Ordering of Media

In a handbook article, Tobias Mast, Matthias C. Kettemann and Wolfgang Schulz address the question of how media organizations and platform operators setprivate law through, for example, their terms and conditions.

Cover of the journal Wissenschaftsrecht
Open Access Publication

Research Data Access and Technology Regulation

In their article, Tobias Mast and Martin Fertmann examine the growing inclusion of access to research data in digital regulatory legislation at the national and European levels (e.g., NetzDG, UrhDaG, and DSA). You can access the article free of charge.

Portrait Kristina Kobrow
New Appointment

A Warm Welcome to Kristina Kobrow!

Since October 2024, Kristina Kobrow has been the new host of our BredowCast and a member of the HBI's science communication team. Thank you for joining us!

Cover of the brief expert opinion on the Reform State Treaty
On the Future of Public Broadcasting

Brief Expert Opinion on the Reform Treaty

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz has written a brief expert opinion on the state treaty on the reform of public broadcasting (Reform State Treaty), which is available here as a PDF file. The heads of government of the federal states had requested feedback on their draft state treaty by October 11, 2024.

Matthias C. Kettemann
Appointed to Task Force “Internet Governance”

Matthias C. Kettemann Advises BMDV

Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann has been appointed to the Internet Governance Task Force by the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV). The task force has six months to develop future scenarios for the development of German digital policy up to the year 2040.

Symbolbild von rotunde

Coding Public Value

How can we develop software that is not only oriented towards business models, but also towards the common good, user interests, and media regulation? Coding Public Value (CPV) translates questions on media law into approaches and methods for a responsible software engineering.

Auf einem weißen Schreitisch liegen Tastatur, Handy und ein Kameraobjektiv
Pilot Project Computational Social Science

Journalistic Use of Information Environments Influenced by Algorithms

The pilot project in the field of computational social science used browser data donations to investigate how relevant the offerings of individual search engines and social media are in the everyday work of journalists.

Wandbild von Menschen mit Gepäck und Schriftzug "Made in Crisis"
BMBF Project

Communication in Times of Crisis

How do communications change in a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic? What role do actors from science, politics and the media take over? How do they deal with uncertainty from this situation? A project that reviewed existing studies and interviewed experts provided answers to this question.

Digitaler ahmmer au
Funded by Stiftung Mercator

Platform Democracy

How could "platform councils" or other institutions for integrating public interests into platform rule-making processes ensure that public interests and democratic values are taken into account? A new project is embarking on a search for global best practice models.

Mann auf Rolltreppe
BMBF Project

Media and Science Communication

How do scientific findings about journalistic media and social media get into the world? What criteria do science editors use to select topics? And what impact can scientific content have with it?

Blick vom Weltraum auf die nächtliche Erde mit Lichtspots
International Cooperation Project

Global Media and Internet Concentration

The international Global Media & Internet Concentration Project (GMICP) analyses communication, internet and media markets in nearly 40 countries. The HBI is responsible for collecting and reporting the data for Germany.

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