Issue 25/1 Published: Media Influence, Policy Innovation, and European Identity in Focus

2025-07-04

Dear Colleagues, Authors, and Readers,

We are pleased to introduce the first issue of Studies in Communication Sciences in 2025. This issue features three original research articles in our General Section and one book review, offering valuable insights into the multifaceted field of communication research. The topics range from media effects in direct democracy and the discursive construction of Europe on social media to the decentralization of media policy in Switzerland, reflecting the breadth and interdisciplinary richness of our field. 

In the General Section:

  • Guillaume Zumofen investigates how newspapers and television influence vote choices in Swiss referendums, using a novel combination of panel data and Wordscores content analysis to reveal differentiated media effects across audiences. Link

  • Anja Noster and Manuel Puppis examine how cantons in Switzerland are quietly becoming laboratories of media policy innovation, following the federal rejection of a national subsidy plan. Their comparative study sheds light on the promise and fragmentation of decentralized support models. Link

  • Vaia Doudaki, Nico Carpentier, Miloš Hroch, Klára Odstrčilová, and Sandra Abdulhaková offer a discourse-theoretical lens on how the idea of “Europe” is constructed through Czech social media, revealing the symbolic tensions between institutions and popular narratives. Link

In the Reviews and Reports Section:

  • Philipp Bachmann reviews Roger Blum’s Das Blatt der Patrioten, a richly detailed history of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung. Beyond chronicling 150 years of a regional newspaper, the book invites us to reflect on the enduring political agency of local journalism. Link

We hope this issue not only informs but also sparks conversation—about the tools we use to study communication, the policies that shape it, and the meanings we build around it.

Best regards,
Philipp Bachmann