Digitalisation@WWU: Communication Scholars are sought-after Experts
(21.03.2018) Accompanying the featured theme "Digitalisation at Münster University", the Press office published expert interviews featuring Prof. Bernd Blöbaum und Katie M. Grosser, as well as a guest article by Felix Brinkschulte und Dr. Lena Frischlich. The video interview with Prof. Bernd Blöbaum started off the 6-month period in which WWU features "Digitalisation".
Video-interviewed by Norbert Robers (WWU Press Office Director), Bernd Blöbaum gives an overview on the role of trust in a digitized world. He also touches on the chances and risks for the building of trust in the digital context. He states that through digitalisation "there is a chance for more mistrust to be engendered and for this to reach larger groups of people more quickly.” But he also sees "the chance that in the case of decisions where you are not exactly sure whether to trust a person or an organization, the fact that information is available more quickly through digitalisation means that you have a better basis for making your decision.”
In the interview about her dissertation on "The Presentation of Trust, Mistrust and Problems of Trust in the Media in the Context of Digitalization" Katie M. Grosser emphasis: "Today everyone is talking about ‘lying media’s, ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’, and a lot of people – including many in the academic world – are thinking about the connection between trust, mistrust and journalism. In most cases, it is a question of trust or mistrust felt towards journalism. What is just as important for our society, though, is the question of trust and mistrust within journalism itself.
She also presents central results of her dissertation that deals specifically with the question how the media report on relationships which, in a digital context, are characterized by trust, mistrust or problems of trust – which she describes collectively as dimensions of trust.
In their guest article "Fake News? Disinformation in the Age of Digital Media", Felix Brinkschulte and Dr. Lena Frischlich point out: "Of course, presidents who accuse the press of making mistakes in their reporting are nothing new – and nor is politically motivated disinformation. " The two communication scholars moreover explain the possible meanings behind "Fake News", how digitalization contributes to the rapid spread of disinformation and users’ possibilities to deal with alleged "Fake News".
The full Interviews with Prof. Bernd Blöbaum and Katie M. Grosser, as well the full guest article by Felix Brinkschulte and Dr. Lena Frischlich and further articles concerning the featured theme in German and English can be found on the WWU featured theme website.
Contact person for press and public relations:
Dr. Stephan Völlmicke
phone: +49 251 83-23006
telefax: +49 251 83-21310 (department office IfK)