Working Papers
Working Paper Series “ZeMKI Working Papers”
ZeMKI publishes the working paper series “ZeMKI Working Papers” (ISSN: 2510-9855) as a continuation of the series “Communicative Figurations Working Paper Series” (ISSN: 2367-2277), whose publications are available here and via the E-LIB document server (Digital Repository) of the State and University Library of Bremen.
No. 60 - Cornelius Puschmann, Hendrik Meyer: Gaging LLMs’ strengths and weaknesses in political content analysis
Abstract Recent innovation and growth in the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence have opened options for the scholarship of political communication. While large language models (LLMs) have much to offer to improve content analysis workflows (…)
10.06.2026
No. 59 - Hillel Nossek: Who is afraid of fake news? Public attitudes on questions concerning the sources, distribution, and impact of fake news in Israel
This article analyzes public attitudes in Israel toward the definition, sources, distribution, and perceived impact of fake news. It draws on an online survey of 502 respondents aged 15 and above conducted during the March 2019 election campaign.
30.04.2026
No. 58 - Enrique Uribe-Jongbloed, Carlos Gutiérrez-González: Restoring audiovisual products sustainably: innovative approaches to work with audiovisual archives
The paper explores evolving definitions and practices surrounding archives and repositories in the digital era. It highlights the challenges of distinguishing between these terms and the political complexities inherent in defining archives. The discussion draws (…)
24.03.2026
No. 57 - Eugenia Siapera: From Disruption to Reaction: The Eschatology of Silicon Valley
This article contends that Silicon Valley’s apparent rightward turn reflects a structural continuity rather than a rupture with its founding ideology. Reconstructing the genealogy of the Californian Ideology, it shows how the fusion of libertarian (…)
03.03.2026
No. 56 - Tara B. Smith: Administered Dehumanisation: Absurdity, Automation, and Resistance in We, Brazil, and Robodebt
Theodor Adorno’s concept of the administered world describes a reality in which anything that cannot be reduced to numbers is rendered useless, with managers and administrators as its true maintainers. This paper examines how this (…)
17.02.2026
No. 55 - Kerstin Radde-Antweiler, Solange Lefebvre, Gladys Ganiel: The Changing Role of Religion in Societies Emerging from Covid-19. Research Project Methodology.
This working paper presents the comprehensive methodological framework of a transnational research project examining the changing role of religion in societies emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. The study compares four contexts—Canada, Germany, Ireland/Northern Ireland, and (…)
02.02.2026
No. 54 - Raoni Rajão: The role of mass media in promoting fake environmental controversies in Brazil
Fake controversies have influenced policy-making on health and environmental issues for decades, leading to major setbacks in the implementation of environmental conservation policies worldwide. In this paper, we expand on Rajão et al (2022) to (…)
26.01.2026
Nr. 53 - Nicola Righetti, Petro Tolochko, Aytalina Kulichkina, Azade Kakavand, Daisuke Nakamura, Yuru Li, Paul Pressmann, Stephanie Geise, Annie Waldherr: A Longitudinal Approach to the Analysis of Social Media Engagement: The Case of Anger-Driven Climate-Skeptic Message Propagation During the 2021 German Elections
Social media have become an important space for political agenda formation and mobilization, with user engagement playing a key role in spreading messages. Accordingly, prior research has extensively examined social media users’ engagement and sharing (…)
19.12.2025
Nr. 52 - Adrian Roeske, Imke A.M. Meyer, Andreas Breiter: AI governance in higher education – insights from the implementation of communicative AI and AI-based formative feedback procedures
The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of AI-based tools in universities is a task for many and one of many tasks. From the perspective of AI governance, this article addresses how and (…)
19.12.2025
No. 51 - Shichao Zhang, Shinae Lee, Chankyung Pak: Uncertain Election Polls, Uncertain News Coverage: Two-Sided Heterogeneity in News Outlet–Pollster Relations
Election polls and their news coverage function as a form of chained gatekeeping, shaping voters’ perceptions of fellow citizens’ preferences. The recent proliferation of polling firms equipped with low-cost, novel methods has not only multiplied (…)
06.10.2025
No. 50 - Tom Van Hout: Beyond the gaze: Rhythms of surveillance, care, and recognition in the transcontinental race
This paper examines the Transcontinental Race (TCR), a self-supported ultra-distance cycling event across Europe, as a site where surveillance, care, and recognition intersect in complex ways. Drawing on two autoethnographic reflections from the 2023 (TCRNo9) (…)
01.09.2025
No. 49 - Göran Bolin: On the concept of communication in the face of artificial conversational agents
There are, as of course well known in the philosophy of communication, several conceptualisations of the phenomenon of communication throughout media and communications research. Examples include the intersubjective sharing of experience, or intersubjective sharing of (…)
26.08.2025