Issue 26/1 published

We are pleased to introduce the first issue of 2026, featuring three research articles in our General Section as well as a book review in our Book Review Section.

The General Section opens with a contribution by Michelle Möri, Frank Mangold, and Andreas Fahr, who develop and validate a concise instrument for measuring parasocial processing. By introducing a theoretically grounded and empirically robust short inventory, the article advances methodological rigour in a field long marked by conceptual fragmentation and measurement challenges.

The second article, by Esteban Courbet, examines how citizens perceive and interpret personalised political communication in social media environments. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the study provides nuanced insights into audience expectations, political norms, and parasocial dynamics in digital political communication.

The third contribution, by Vinzenz Wyss, Filip Dingerkus, Louis Schäfer, Guido Keel, and Colin Porlezza, offers a rare longitudinal perspective on journalism in Switzerland. Based on three waves of the Worlds of Journalism Study, the article documents continuities and transformations in journalistic role perceptions, working conditions, and professional challenges across all language regions of Switzerland.

The issue is complemented by a book review by Philip Di Salvo of Paula Bialski’s Middle Tech: Software Work and the Culture of Good Enough.

As always, we would like to sincerely thank the authors for their contributions, the reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive feedback, and our editorial and publishing partners for their continued commitment to the journal. We hope you enjoy reading this issue.