Media, Geopolitics, and North–South Power Relations in the Multipolar and Platform Age
Teaching language
Englisch
Dates
| ET |
Fr |
27.11.2026 |
10:00–16:00 |
C18-LG 4 | 03.03
|
| ET |
Fr |
11.12.2026 |
10:00–16:00 |
C18-LG 4 | 03.03
|
| ET |
Fr |
15.01.2027 |
10:00–16:00 |
C18-LG 4 | 03.03
|
| ET |
Fr |
29.01.2027 |
10:00–16:00 |
C18-LG 4 | 03.03
|
| ET |
Sa |
30.01.2027 |
10:00–16:00 |
C18-LG 4 | 03.03
|
Registration
[No data available.]
Modules
M Kom 2023 VMMM#01 // S 3LP ::333741::
Comment
This course invites students to explore questions of who controls information flows and communication infrastructures, which are essential for the development of mediated public spheres, amid current geopolitical shifts and platformization of journalism. Students will examine the current state of global news flows, including the growing global footprint of Chinese media, as well as the potential for transnational public spheres to emerge and facilitate debate on global issues such as climate change. We will also critically examine the disruptive role of predominantly U.S.-based technology companies in global communication and how they have contributed to the contemporary economic crisis of journalism. We will consider these developments alongside policy responses aimed at requiring digital platforms to compensate news organizations for the use of journalistic content in search, social media, and AI systems. By the end of the seminar, students will have developed a critical understanding of how media infrastructures and geopolitical power are intertwined, and how these dynamics are shaping mediated public spheres.
Literature
Fischer, R., & Jarren, O. (2024). The platformization of the public sphere and its challenge to democracy. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 50(1), 200–215.
Flew, T., Stepnik, A., & Koskie, T. (Eds.). (2026). Valuing news: Digital platforms and journalism futures. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ivanova, A., Schmidt, A., & Schäfer, M. S. (2014). Global climate change, global public sphere? Media attention for climate change in 27 countries. In Comparing political communication across time and space: New studies in an emerging field (pp. 210–227). Palgrave Macmillan.
Klinger, U., Kreiss, D., & Mutsvairo, B. (2023). Platforms, power, and politics: An introduction to political communication in the digital age. John Wiley & Sons.
Pfetsch, B., Knüpfer, C., & Heft, A. (2026). The transnational public sphere in the context of global challenges—Promises and threats of digital media to democratic governance. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), The Routledge companion to digital media and democracy (pp. 54–64). Routledge.
Santos, A. (2026). BRICS, geopolitics, and the synchronization of foreign news: Media and the making of transnational public spheres in the Global South. Springer Nature.
Smyrnaios, N. (2025). The political economy of the public sphere: From Enlightenment to Big Tech. Emerald Publishing.
Thussu, D. K. (2022). De-colonizing global news-flows: A historical perspective. Journalism Studies, 23(13), 1578–1592.
Thussu, D. (2024). Changing geopolitics of global communication. Taylor & Francis.
Wasserman, H. (2018). Media, geopolitics, and power: A view from the Global South. University of Illinois Press.
Westlund, O., Myllylahti, M., & Chua, S. (2024). Platform business poses risks for news publishers. In The Routledge companion to digital journalism studies (pp. 216–225). Routledge.
Wozniak, A., Liu, Z., & Lind, F. (2026). Media coverage of the Russo–Ukraine war beyond the West: Geopolitics and mainstream news in Brazil, India and South Africa. Media, War & Conflict, 19(1), 226–250.