Dr. Melanie Radue

International Communication, Comparative Media Systems Research, Polarization, Disinformation, Media Freedom, Social Movements, Media Systems and Democratization/Autocratization, Qualitative Network Analysis, Qualitative and Quantitative Surveys and Content Analysis

In her post-doc project "Networks, Context and Media Control", funded by the Bavarian State, she investigates the relationship between media dynamics, discursive polarization and the shift towards the extreme right. She focuses on the phenomenon of moral panics, phases of hightened public concern in which media and political actors construct certain events, groups or behaviors as a threat to social values, and compares discourses in Germany and Malaysia, together with Nottingham University Malaysia (with Dr. Gayathry Venkiteswaran).

More information on this project

DFG Network "Cosmopolitan Communication Studies"

An overview of the network can be found here​​​​​​​.

Dr. Melanie Radue was a founding member of the DFG network "Cosmopolitan Communication Studies".The network promoted a process of "deep internationalization" of communication studies in research, teaching and university structures. Within the framework of the project, significant steps were taken to show the scientific community concrete indications of such a process towards a cosmopolitan communication science (KW). This included three central pillars, which were implemented in sub-projects: (1) a systematic inventory of the status quo of German KW with regard to structural and content-related internationalization (mapping), (2) the perspective of a cosmopolitan research and teaching agenda by means of a handbook, and (3) the integration of young academics for the sustainable implementation of international and transcultural topics.

Related Publications:

• Handbook: Buch: „Cosmopolitan Communication Studies“ 2025

The book "Cosmopolitan Communication Studies: Toward Deep Internationalization" is a core result of the network's work. Edited by Carola Richter, Melanie Radue, Christine Horz-Ishak, Anna Litvinenko, Hanan Badr and Anke Fiedler, the volume comprises 15 contributions that make a cosmopolitanization of communication science vivid. The volume proposes a "deep internationalization" of communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how a cosmopolitan perspective can be integrated into different subfields of our discipline. Building on debates about de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism, the authors argue for the inclusion of both global and local perspectives as well as context-driven approaches. They argue that acknowledging and incorporating epistemologies, themes and methodologies from different regions, contexts and backgrounds will expand the complexity and relevance of our discipline and promote a more inclusive and meaningful understanding in communication studies. The book has been published by transcript and can be downloaded free of charge as an open access edition here.

Richter, C., Radue, M., Horz-Ishak, C., Litvinenko, A., Badr, H., & Fiedler, A. (Hrsg.) (2025). Cosmopolitan Communication Science: Towards Deep Internationalization. Transcript.

• Evaluation study on personnel and research structures as well as teaching programs in German communication studies with regard to their "deep internationalization":

The article presents and discusses the results of a comprehensive survey and several document analyses on personnel and research structures as well as teaching programs in German communication studies with regard to their "deep internationalization" or cosmopolitan orientation. By this we mean a comprehensive recognition and integration of global diversity in knowledge production and measure this along the content and regional dimension of the research and teaching output of the professorships and the job structures associated with them. The findings show that German communication studies has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to cosmopolitan knowledge production. Against the background of the relevance of global values, global knowledge and global governance, however, potentials are also shown and higher education policy measures are discussed that can promote the internationalization of German communication studies in terms of content.

Richter, C., Grüne, A., Hafez, K., Fiedler, A., Behmer, M., Horz-Ishak, C., Badr, H., Litvinenko, A., Hahn, O., Radue, M., Sarısakaloğlu, A., Löffelholz, M., Fengler, S., Illg, B., Hamidi, K., Hanitzsch, T., & Thomaß, B. (2023). Die „tiefe Internationalisierung“ der deutschen Kommunikationswissenschaft? Eine Evaluation der Personal- und Forschungsstrukturen sowie der Lehrprogramme deutscher Hochschulen. Global Media Journal – German Edition, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.22032/dbt.57904

• Position paper:

The scientific policy paper explains deficits and solutions to the "deep internationalization" in German communication studies (published in Publizistik 3/2020).

Badr, H., Behmer, M., Fengler, S., Fiedler, A., Grüne, A., Hafez, K., Hahn, O., Hamidi, K., Hanitzsch, T., Horz, C., Illg, B., Litvinenko, A., Löffelholz, M., Radue, M., Richter, C., Thomaß B., & Töpfl F. (2020). Kosmopolitische Kommunikationswissenschaft: Plädoyer für eine „tiefe Internationalisierung“ des Fachs in Deutschland. Publizistik 65, 295–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-020-00576-6

• Debattenpapier:

A Critical Dialogue on the Cosmopolitan Turn in Communication StudiesInterventions by Cherian George, Winston Mano, Michael Yao Wodui Serwornoo and Ylva Rodny-Gumede. A conversation convened by Melanie Radue, Carola Richter, and Anke Fiedler

Fiedler, A., George, C., Mano, W., Radue, M., Richter, C., Rodny-Gumede, Y., & Serwornoo, M. Y. W. (2025). A Critical Dialogue on the Cosmopolitan Turn in Communication Studies: Interventions by Cherian George, Winston Mano, Michael Yao Wodui Serwornoo and Ylva Rodny-Gumede. A conversation convened by Melanie Radue, Carola Richter, and Anke Fiedler. Global Media Journal - German Edition, 15

(2). doi.org/10.60678/gmj-de.v15i2.359