Media skepticism in the online discourse

Journalistic media are criticized publicly – not only since “Pegida” and the crisis in Ukraine. They are blamed for trying to manipulate, for reporting biased, and for acting arrogantly towards their audiences. The catchphrase “Lügenpresse” (German for lying press) shows that meanwhile accusations against the media are expressed with an alarming vehemence and historical amnesia by certain groups. This skepticism about mainstream media manifests itself especially in the news sites’ commentary functions, on social networks, and on blogs.

A Humboldt Reloaded research project in the summer semester 2015, headed by Fabian Prochazka, pursues this phenomenon. Together with six students we examine user comments on news sites employing a content analysis. Thereby we examine comments on articles that discuss journalistic quality, e.g. in the context of the Germanwings reporting, reporting about the crisis in Ukraine, and other topics. We consider the questions how journalistic media are assessed by commenting users, which forms publicly uttered media criticism takes, and whether these points vary for different themes.