Portrait: Dr. Florian Wintterlin
© Nadine Daum

Dr. Florian Wintterlin

Akademischer Rat a.Z.

Department of Communications
Room: 222a
Bispinghof 9-14
D-48151 Münster

Phone: +49 251 83-24279

 

Consultation hours

by appointment

  • Research interests

    • Trust and journalism
    • Journalistic sources and verification
    • Propaganda and desinformation
    • political opinionforming
    • Science Communication

     

  • Research project

     PropStop (05/2016 - 04/2019)

    PropStop is a project funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) that aims at studying hidden propaganda disseminations via online media, in order to identify and prove accordant attempts. Throughout the project an interdisciplinary team of statisticians, communication scientists, IT-security researchers, journalists and IT-security companies works together. Besides a large-scale examination of propaganda characteristics online, huge quantities of public opinion statements in different areas of the digital public sphere will be analyzed for repeated semantic and technical patterns. The insights gained throughout the project will be used to enhance our detection of massive, hidden propaganda attacks, to develop technologies to identify these attacks, and to improve our abilities to verify propaganda attacks. Real-time simulations of massive hidden propaganda attacks will provide meaningful insights into the transdisciplinary applicability of the gained findings.

  • Short CV

    After studying communication science in Münster and subsequently earning his PhD with a dissertation on "Trustworthiness of Social Media Sources from the Perspective of Journalists," Florian Wintterlin spent two years conducting research in a project on "Detecting, Proving, and Combating Covert Propaganda Attacks via Online Media" in the "Online Communication" research area. From October 2019 to September 2022, he was employed as an assistant professor (akademischer Rat) in the research unit "Forms of Public Communication". From October 2022 to March 2023, he worked as an interim professor for "Digitization and the Public Sphere" at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. From April 2023, he is again employed as a assistant professor at the University of Münster.

    In addition to journalism and disinformation research, his focus is on science communication and political communication. In his research, he deals with the following topics, among others: journalism and digitalization (user-generated content in reporting from the perspective of users and journalists, verification, development of news beats); dark participation (how users deal with disinformation and incivility, journalistic moderation); trust (trust in journalistic and political contexts, measurement of trust, interdisciplinary trust research); science communication (use of new forms and channels, evidence construction).

  •  

    Publications

    • , , & (). How Are Attitudes Toward News Coverage of Immigration Related to General Trust in News Media? A Longitudinal Test of Spillover Effects of Hostile Media and Credibility Perceptions. International Journal of Communication, 18, 4748–4769.

    • Metag, J., Wintterlin, F., & Klinger, K. (ed.), Media and Communication, 11 (1).
    • , , & (). Editorial: Science Communication in the Digital Age: New Actors, Environments, and Practices. Media and Communication, 11 (1), 211–373. doi: 10.17645/mac.v11i1.6905.
    • , , , , , & (). “It’s us against them up there”: Spreading online disinformation as populist collective action. Computers in Human Behavior, 146, Article 107784. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107784.

    • , , , , , & (). Predicting Public Trust in Science: The Role of Basic Orientations Toward Science, Perceived Trustworthiness of Scientists, and Experiences With Science. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 1–13. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.822757.
    • (). Anonymous Sources. in Borchard, G. (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Journalism (pp. 1523–1525). SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781544391199.n381.
    • (). Sources. in Borchard, G. (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Journalism (2. edt.) (pp. 1519–1521). SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781544391199.n380.

    • , , , , , & (). Lost in the stream? Professional efficacy perceptions of journalists in the context of dark participation. Journalism, online first. doi: 10.1177/14648849211016984.
    • , , , & (). Roots of Incivility: How Personality, Media Use, and Online Experiences Shape Uncivil Participation. Media and Communication, 9 (1), 195–208. doi: 10.17645/mac.v9i1.3360.
    • , , , , , & (). Corrective actions in the information disorder. The role of presumed media influence and hostile media perceptions for the countering of distorted user-generated content. Political Communication, 38 (6), 773–791. doi: 10.1080/10584609.2021.1888829.
    • , , , , & (). Methodological and Practical Challenges of Interdisciplinary Trust Research. in Blöbaum, B. (ed.), Trust and Communication. Findings and Implications of Trust Research (pp. 29–57). Springer VDI Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-72945-5_2.
    • , , , , & (). Manipulationsversuche im digitalen Bundestagswahlkampf 2017. in Ursula, M., Heinrich, O., & Jörg, S. (ed.), Komplexe Farbenlehre: Perspektiven des deutschen Parteiensystems im Kontext der Bundestagswahl 2017 (1. edt.) (pp. 173–189). Campus Verlag.

    • , , & (). Social networking sites, personalization, and trust in government: Empirical evidence for a mediation model. Social Media + Society, online first. doi: 10.1177/2056305120913885.
    • , , , , & (). Between overload and indifference: Detection of fake accounts and social bots by community managers. in Grimme Christian, P. M., & Takes Frank, W. A. (ed.), Lecture Notes in Computer ScienceDisinformation in open online media (pp. 16–24). Springer.
    • , & (). Prochazka, Fabian: Vertrauen in Journalismus unter Online-Bedingungen. Zum Einfluss von Personenmerkmalen, Qualitätswahrnehmungen und Nachrichtennutzung. Publizistik. doi: 10.1007/s11616-020-00634-z.
    • , , , , & (). How to Cope with Dark Participation: Moderation Practices in German Newsrooms. Digital Journalism, 8 (7), 904–924. doi: 10.1080/21670811.2020.1797519.
    • , , & (). Can transparency preserve journalism's trustworthiness? Recipients' views on transparency about source origin and verification regarding user-generated content in the news. SC|M Studies in Communication and Media, 9 (2), 218–240. doi: 10.5771/2192-4007-2020-2-218.
    • , & (). Use and Assessment of Sources in Conspiracy Theorists’ Communities. Disinformation in Open Online Media. MISDOOM 2019, Hamburg. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-39627-5_3.
    • (). Trust in distant sources: An analytical model capturing antecedents of risk and trustworthiness as perceived by journalists. Journalism, 21 (1), 130–145. doi: 10.1177/1464884917716000.

    • (). Quelle: Internet. Journalistisches Vertrauen bei der Recherche in sozialen Medien. Nomos.
    • , , , , & (). Bedrohte Deliberation: Information Warfare und Desinformation als Bedrohung digitaler Öffentlichkeiten. Communicatio Socialis, 52 (2), 147–158. doi: 10.5771/0010-3497-2019-2-147.
    • , , & (). On measuring trust and distrust in journalism: Reflection of the status quo and suggestions for the road ahead. Journal of Trust Research, 9 (1), 66–86. doi: 10.1080/21515581.2019.1588741.
    • , , & (). Trustworthy or shady? Exploring the influence of verifying and visualizing user-generated content (UGC) on online journalism’s trustworthiness. Journalism Studies, 20 (4), 500–522. doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2017.1392255.

    • , & (). Examining Journalist’s Trust in Sources: An Analytical Model capturing a Key Problem in Journalism. in Blöbaum, B. (ed.), Trust and communication in a digitized World. Models and concepts of trust research (pp. 75–90). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-28059-2.

    • (). #Neuland. Die Eindrucksbildung über Politiker in Sozialen Netzwerken und ihre Wirkung auf politisches Vertrauen. Transfer, 18 (1).
  •  

    Scientific Talks

    • Price, L., Faure, A., Kumari, A., Ginosar, A., Mellado, C., Marchetti, D., Wintterlin, F., Mick, J., Neto, L., Waschková Císařová, L., Coddington, M., Malling, M., Skrynnikova, P., Vatikiotis, R., González, R., Splendore, S., van Leuven, S., Reich, Z. : “Still no freelance zone, with greater gender equality: How politics is covered in 13 elite newsrooms around the world”. ECREA’s 10th European Communication Conference, Ljubljana, .
    • Wintterlin, F. : “Does contact with science communication increase trust in science? The mediating role of perceived trustworthiness”. ECREA’s 10th European Communication Conference, Ljubljana, .
    • Zils, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Metag, Julia; Mede, Niels G.; Schäfer, Mike S. : “Informed critics? Exploring media- and science-related predictors of alternative media use for information about science”. 6th Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media (MISDOOM 2024), Münster, .
    • Van Leuven, S.; Price, L.; Vatikiotis, P.; Malling, M.; Waschková Císařová, L.; Faure, A.; Kumari, A.; Ginosar, A.; Mellado, C.; Marchetti, D.; Wintterlin, F.; Mick, J.; Neto, L.; Coddington, M.; Skrynnikova, P.; González, R.; Splendore, S.; Reich, Z. : “Beyond the bylines: A structural analysis comparing beat composition across 14 countries”. ECREA Journalism Studies Conference: Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in and through Journalism, Sheffield, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Klinger, Kira; Metag, Julia : „ Just more of the same? Ein Systematic Review der Forschung zur Nutzung von sozialen Medien durch Politiker*innen“. Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe „Kommunikation und Politik“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik‐ und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK) und der Fachgruppe „Politische Kommunikation“ der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kommunikations‐ und Medienwissenschaft (SGKM), Bern, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Gurr, Gwndolin; Metag, Julia : “The Perception of Issue-Specific Coverage and Trust in News Media. Examining the Influence of Hostile Media Perceptions and Credibility”. 72nd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Paris, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Gurr, Gwendolin; Metag, Julia : “The Perception of Issue-Specific Coverage and Trust in News Media: Examining the Influence of Hostile Media Perceptions and Credibility”. 72nd Annual ICA Conference, Paris, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Hendriks, Friederike; Mede, Niels; Bromme, Rainer; Metag, Julia; Schäfer, Mike S. : “Antecedents of trust in scientists: The role of attitudes to and experiences with science”. ICA-Preconference "The science of science communication: Mapping the field", Paris, .
    • Langmann, Klara; Wintterlin, Florian; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Frischlich, Lena; Quandt, Thorsten : “In the face of dark participation. Community managers’ views on the efficacy of content moderation”. ECREA’s 8th European Communication Conference, Online, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Quandt, Thorsten : „Hate Speech, Disinformation and Incivility: The Moderation of Negative User Content in German Newsrooms“. 65. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), München, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Frischlich, Lena; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja, Quandt, Thorsten : „Who corrects misinformation online? The Effect of Third-, Second-, and First-Person Perceptions on Corrective Actions“. Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe „Kommunikation und Politik“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), des Arbeitskreises „Politik und Kommunikation“ der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW) und der Fachgruppe „Politische Kommunikation“ der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft (SGKM) "Desinformation, Populismus, “Lügenpresse” - Vertrauen und Glaubwürdigkeit in der politischen Kommunikation", Mainz, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Gurr, Gwendolin; Metag, Julia : „Current news coverage topics and trust in media. On the influence of hostile media perceptions and credibility assessments.“ Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe „Kommunikation und Politik“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), des Arbeitskreises „Politik und Kommunikation“ der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW) und der Fachgruppe „Politische Kommunikation“ der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft (SGKM) "Desinformation, Populismus, “Lügenpresse” - Vertrauen und Glaubwürdigkeit in der politischen Kommunikation", Mainz, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Frischlich, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : „Sampling on Twitter: Sampling Bias due to Deleted Content“. 21. Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe „Methoden der Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), Universität Greifswald, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Quandt, Thorsten : “How to cope with dark participation? Authoritative and participative moderation in German newsrooms”. Future of Journalism Conference, Cardiff, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Frischlich, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Boberg, Svenja; Adam, Lena; Quandt, Thorsten : “Who is Affected by the Disinformation Order? Predicting the Exposure to Distorted Information Prior to the Parliamentary Election in Germany”. 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Washington D.C., USA, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Reer, Felix; Quandt, Thorsten : “Corrective actions in the information disorder. Presumed influence and the countering of distorted information”. 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Washington D.C., USA, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : „Best-Practice Preprocessing. Lecture in the context of the special window Research Software in Communication and Media Science.“ Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), Münster, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Frischlich, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : „Titles vs. topics: Thematic Commonalities of Journalistic Articles and the Corresponding User Comments“. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), Münster, .
    • Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : „On the relevance of person characteristics and media usage patterns for the confrontation with hate-speech and personal victimization in the Internet.“ Jahrestagung der deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikation (DGPUK), Münster, Deutschland, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Quandt, Thorsten : „The Role of Citizens in the Disinformation Order: Who Amplifies Fake News?“ Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPUK), Münster, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : „In the Thicket of Conspiracy: Information Sources of Conspiracy-Theoretical Online Communities“. SmartNETWORK-Tagung „Öffentlichkeit und Debattenkulturen“, Universität Münster, .
    • Boberg, Svena; Frischlich, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Quandt, Thorsten : “Between overload and indifference. Detection of fake accounts and social bots by community managers”. MISDOOM - Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Online Media, Hamburg, .
    • Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : “Use and Assessment of Sources in Conspiracy Theorists' Communities”. MISDOOM Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Online Media, Hamburg, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Frischlich, Lena; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Boberg, Svenja; Quandt, Thorsten : “Manipulation attempts during the German federal election 2017”. MISDOOM - Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Online Media, Hamburg, .
    • Engelke, Katherine M.; Wintterlin, Florian; Hase, Valerie; Blöbaum, Bernd : “User comments in journalism: The recipients' view on the potential for deliberative discourse”. ECREA 2018, Lugano, Schweiz, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian; Hase, Valerie; Engelke, Katherine M. : “Strategies of preserving trust in journalism: Recipients' views on transparency and verification of user-generated content”. ECREA 2018, Lugano, Schweiz, .
    • Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Wintterlin, Florian; Quandt, Thorsten : “The effects of fake news, political emotions, and trust on populist votes”. DGPs, Frankfurt, .
    • Frischlich, Lena; Boberg, Svenja; Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim; Wintterlin, Florian : “Roots of Hate. Interpersonal differences and the amplification of hate”. Multidisciplinary perspectives on radicalization, Cologne, Germany, .
    • Hase, Valerie; Wintterlin, Florian; Grosser, Katherine M.; Blöbaum, Bernd : “User-generated content in online journalism. Exploring how verifying and visualizing UGC influences journalism’s trustworthiness.” 67th ICA Annual Conference, San Diego, USA, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian : “The Verification of Online Sources in German Newsrooms”. ICA 2017 ICA Preconference “Online and Newsworthy: Have Digital Sources Changed Journalism?”, San Diego, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian : “Social Media as a Source in Crisis Reporting. A Content Analysis”. Digital Opportunities and Challenges, Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield, .
    • Grosser, Katherine M.; Hase, Valerie; Wintterlin, Florian; Blöbaum, Bernd : “Trustworthy or shady – How does UGC influence journalism’s trustworthiness in a digitized world?” ECREA 2016, Prag, Tschechien, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian : “Sourcing Social Media. Trust in Sources and Risk Perceptions of Journalists”. 66th Annual ICA Conference, Fukuoka, Japan, .
    • Wintterlin Florian; Blöbaum, Bernd : “How to trust sources? New journalistic strategies to verify news material.” Future of Journalism Conference, Cardiff, UK, .
    • Wintterlin, Florian : “Quelle: Internet. Die Rolle des Vertrauens der Journalisten in Social-Media-Quellen für die Berichterstattung aus Krisengebieten”. Re-Inventing Journalism, PhD-workshop at DGPuK/ECREA Journalism Studies Section Conference, Winterthur, Schweiz, .
    • Marcinkowski, F., Starke, C. & Wintterlin, F. : “Social Media, Impression Formation of Politicians and Trust in Politics”. ECREA 2014, Lissabon, Portugal, .