Mediatization of Organizations: Comparing the Intensity and Quality of Adaptations to the Logic of Public Attention.

• Applicant: Dr. Andreas Matthias Scheu
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315061581

The project compares the mediatization of organizations from the social fields health, politics, law and science. Mediatization is an active process that - from the perspective of actors - serves to preserve or enhance their performance. The concept of mediatization describes adaptations to (perceived) media logic, that ensure access to services of mass media, particularly the service of providing public visibility and attention for issues, events and organizations. Dependent on the role of public attention for the performance of organizations from different social fields, the need for mediatization of these organizations should differ, too. For example, political parties have a strong need for public attention in order to ensure their performance (e.g. elections). The performance of hospitals on the other hand is relatively independent from media coverage. The study asks, if and how such differences influence the mediatization of actors and their relation to mass media. The focus of the project therefore lies with differences considering the mediatization of organizations. Firstly, this concerns the perception of media logic which serves as orientation horizon of adaptations. Secondly, I am interested in differences considering the intensity and quality of adaptations. The intensity of mediatization can be explored regarding the level of actions (importance of media visibility and public relations for mutual observation, interference and negotiations), and the level of structural adaptations (adaptations/transformations of structures of constellations, expectations and interpretations). A comparison of the selected organizations serves to identify influencing factors that impede or advance mediatization processes. Empirically, I qualitatively analyze documents (e.g. protocols, organization charts, mission statements and self-portrayals of organizations) and conduct and analyze 120 interviews with experts (decision-makers within organizations, specialized journalists). The qualitative analysis of all data will be based on research categories that have been derived from theory and former research and will be adjusted inductively during the research process.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants