DIACOMET research highlights pressures on democratic discourse in Austria

Our partners from the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Klagenfurt (AAU) presented DIACOMET research at the 71st Annual Meeting of the German Communication Association (DGPuK).

The conference took place at TU Dortmund, Germany, from 18 to 20 March 2026, focusing on the relationship between science, communication, and democracy.

Marina Lindmeyr presented the paper “Silent Control: How Economic and Political Dependencies Endanger Democratic Discourse in Austria”, developed together with Christina Krakovsky, Tobias Eberwein, Marie Rathmann, Sandra Förster, and Krisztina Rozgonyi. The paper explored how political influence, economic dependencies, and structural changes can put journalistic autonomy and democratic debate under pressure.