Hamburg, 18 April 2018. Wiebke Loosen, Senior Researcher at the Hans-Bredow-Institut for Media Research, has been appointed professor at Universität Hamburg. The certificate of appointment signed by university president Professor Dieter Lenzen was given to the media researcher yesterday by vice-president Professor Jetta Frost. In addition to her research activities at the Hans-Bredow-Institut, Wiebke Loosen will in future teach as a professor in the field journalism and mass communication at the university.
With the appointment according to §17 of the Hamburg University Law, two hours of courses per semester are expected. Wiebke Loosen had already taught at Universität Hamburg before, also in the English-speaking Erasmus Mundus study programme “Journalism, Media and Globalisation.” In 2010, she habilitated at Universität Hamburg with the topic “Transformation of Journalism and Journalism Research.“ Based on her habilitation, the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences awarded her the Venia Legendi. Prior to this, she studied communication science, psychology and German studies at the University of Münster, where she also received her doctorate.
Her major areas of expertise are the transformation of journalism within a changing media environment, theories of journalism, and methodology. At the Hans-Bredow-Institut, she oversees the
Research Programme "Transformation of Public Communication", which examines how a public sphere can be constituted under the condictions of digitalisation and how opinion formation is made possible.
Professor Uwe Hasebrink, Director of the Hans-Bredow-Institut: “We are very happy for Wiebke Loosen about the recognition of her academic achievements, which are distinguished by their theoretical foundation, methodological solidity and passionate interest in current developments and innovative concepts.”
Professor Michael Brüggemann, Director of the study programme “Journalism and Mass Communication“ at Universität Hamburg says, “We congratulate Wiebke Loosen and we are happy that we are supported by an outstanding journalism researcher in our study programme. We want to strengthen our co-operation with the Hans-Bredow-Institut in the research of digitalisation and journalism.”
According to “Outstanding” academic achievements are according to the law the most important requirement for earning the title of Professor. Professor Volker Lilienthal, the Chairman of the Appeals Committee appointed by the Faculty Council who had helped to prepare the President's decision, explained, “After a thorough evaluation of the research and teaching achievements, the committee reached the unanimous view that Universität Hamburg had the chance with Mrs. Loosen to bind a first-class scientist closer to itself. This was also confirmed to us by two external experts.” Lilienthal was pleased that the Faculty of Social Science, the Dean’s Office and the Council of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Science as well as the President at the end of the procedure followed the recommendation of the committee.
Contact
Christiane Matzen, Tel. 040 450 217 41,
E-Mail
Information on Journalism and Mass Communication (JKW) at Universität Hamburg
Since 1990, the former Institute for Journalism and Mass Communication has been dealing with public communication and its current transformation, with a special focus on the role of journalism in society. Journalism and communication science is currently investigating the role of journalism in the digital media world, which is characterised by new possibilities for design and interaction and a change in the professional image. The new challenges also include dealing with globalisation and global risks such as climate change.
Information on the Hans-Bredow-Institut
The research perspective of the Hans-Bredow-Institut focuses on media transformation and related structural changes of public communication. With its cross-medial, interdisciplinary and independent research, it combines basic research and transfer research, and thus, generates knowledge on issues relevant for politics, commerce and civil society. In both research and teaching, the Institute works closely together with Universität Hamburg and its department for ‘Journalism and Mass Communication’, for example in the Erasmus Mundus study programme “Journalism, Media and Globalisation” or promoting young junior researchers. In 2019, the Institute will be admitted into the Leibniz Association. The Joint Science Conference passed a corresponding resolution on 13 April 2018. More at
www.hans-bredow-institut.de/en.
