Silke Fürst
Biographic Data
| ID | 4168964 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Silke Fürst |
| GIVEN NAMES | Silke |
| FAMILY NAME | Fürst |
| SIGNATURE | FÜRST S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1978-4277 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
“Everything has changed”
Universities are pivotal in contemporary knowledge societies, bridging science and society. Amidst societal transformations, communication has become crucial for higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, research on university communication is limited, with few studies capturing long-term developments. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining changes in university communication departments over the past decade in Switzerland. Semi-…
Historical Roots of Information Flows in Hybrid Media Systems
Research on hybrid media systems has predominantly focused on recent digital developments, often overlooking historical precedents and long-term patterns that continue to shape today’s media landscape. This study addresses that gap by examining information flows—the cross-media dissemination of information and amplification of attention—from a historical perspective. Combining a literature review in journalism and media history with a longitudina…
The plurivocal university
Science communication has diversified in the wake of the digital transformation of communication and media ecosystems. Social media enable universities, but also academics and institutions affiliated with them, to expand their communication. This leads to increasing plurivocality of universities, yet the many different voices remain largely unexplored. This study develops a typology to conceptually distinguish eight voices by their representation…
Impulsgeber in der Medienkrise? Konstruktiver Journalismus als Mittel zur Stärkung demokratierelevanter Medienstrukturen
Medien stehen in vielen westlichen Ländern wegen des sinkenden Interesses an Nachrichten, des abnehmenden Medienvertrauens und der stagnierenden Zahlungsbereitschaft des Publikums vor erheblichen Herausforderungen. Offen ist, ob eine andere, bisher vergleichsweise wenig praktizierte Nachrichtenform diesen Trends entgegenwirken könnte: ein „Konstruktiver Journalismus“, der sich durch Lösungsorientierung, positive Berichterstattung und Kontextualis…
Beyond the News Media Logic? Analyzing the Social Media Orientation of University Leadership
Building on scholarship on the mediatization of organizations, we propose a conception of the social media orientation of organizational leaders and apply it to higher education. Based on an online survey of 276 leaders of Swiss higher education institutions, we show that social media platforms have made their way into university management and communication but are still not as important as news media. The study discusses differences between uni…
It’s Not so Easy to Measure impact”
Universities are key actors at the intersection of science and society and their strategic communication and its effective implementation is essential, as is the measurement and evaluation (M&E) of its impact. Despite the growing relevance of M&E in university communication, however, empirical studies on the subject are rare. Therefore, this study explores M&E practices of central communication departments at Swiss universities through semi-struc…
Higher Education Institutions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Public communication has become more important to higher education institutions (HEIs), with many HEIs using social media to communicate with stakeholders. However, scholarship on the subject is scarce and mainly based on single-platform studies and small datasets. Therefore, we conducted a cross-platform study to examine the communication of all Swiss HEIs on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The results were based on two datasets: an automated …
From precarious conditions to permanent positions? Problems, responsible actors, and solutions for strengthening the academic mid-level staff in Switzerland
The precarious situation of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, resulting from fixed-term contracts and the demanding working conditions of young researchers at Swiss universities, has been increasingly discussed in recent years by academic organizations, political actors, and the broader public. While discussions on various levels are intensifying, concrete measures remain largely absent, and young researchers find themselves in an environmen…
Assessing changes in the public communication of higher education institutions
Over the past decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) across the world have institutionalized communication departments and played an increasingly important role in communicating science to the public. While a growing body of research has analyzed the practices and structures of central communication departments in HEIs, little is known about developments over time. This study examines perceived changes in HEI communication along different …
Conceptualizing the dialogical structure of mass communication
Theoretical contributions conceptualizing dialogical processes and structures of mass communication are scattered, hence different disciplines work on the same issues without uniting their potentials. The mediated social communication (MSC) approach developed by German communication scholars and the dialogical network (DN) approach informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis share important characteristics. This paper contributes to in…
Verstrickt in der Rhetorik der Technologie-, Daten- und Medienunternehmen? Zu Problematiken im Umgang mit nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten
Die Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft sowie benachbarte Disziplinen fragen zunehmend danach, wie soziales Handeln durch Daten bzw. digitale Spuren gemessen, ausgewertet und repräsentiert wird. Es gibt jedoch nur wenige Analysen dazu, wie die Kommunikations- und Medienforschung selbst in unterschiedlichen Formen solche nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten verwendet. Dieser Beitrag zeigt, dass Nutzungsdaten von Technologie-, Daten-, Marktfor…
Public communication science in times of the Covid-19 crisis”
What is public science? What can communication science scholars contribute to society, especially in times of crisis? What are the challenges and limitations of such engagement? These questions were addressed at a recent preconference held on April 7, 2021, titled “Public communication science in times of the Covid-19 crisis”. The preconference was organized as part of the DACH 21 conference (the first three-country conference on commu nication s…
Attention for Attention Hotspots
News value research assumes that news factors may shift and diversify over time. Despite the technological and economic transformations of the media over the past decades, however, there has been little conceptual work on how journalistic news factors might be changing. This paper addresses how broader developments, such as digitization, datafication, and audience fragmentation, lead to changing news practices. One characteristic of the digital a…
Silvio Waisbord. “The communication manifesto”
The communication manifesto is a timely book that calls for more public scholarship in communication and media studies. It aims to develop ideas that further stimulate conversation about our contribution to society and, most importantly, action that strengthens “scholars’ engagement with publics beyond academia” (p. 9). This means not only to communicate and discuss scientific knowledge in and with various publics but also to do research with pra…
In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality
A large and growing body of literature shows that audience metrics exert a significant influence in many newsrooms around the world. Scholars assume that this might affect the quality of news, but findings on how audience metrics influence news quality and media performance are scattered. Based on a widely used set of news quality criteria, this article is the first to focus on this question. It reviews and discusses the existing findings by cons…
Popularität statt Relevanz? Die journalistische Orientierung an Online-Nutzungsdaten
Twitter-Armies“, „Earned Media“ und „Big Crowds“ im US-Wahlkampf 2016
Lückenhafte Selbstregulierung der Schweizer Medien – Medienethische Herausforderungen im Zuge der Ökonomisierung
Die gegenwärtige Finanzierungskrise des Journalismus und die fortschreitende Ökonomisierung der Medien führen nicht nur zu einem Abbau von redaktionellen Ressourcen, sondern lassen auch Auswirkungen auf die Berichterstattungsfreiheit befürchten. Internationale Studien stellen heraus, dass sich die Arbeitsbedingungen im Journalismus verschlechtert haben und die journalistische Autonomie durch ökonomische Interessen gefährdet wird. Die Berichtersta…
Organizational Influence on Scientists’ Efforts to Go Public
This article contributes to the debate on the influence of organizational settings on scientists’ media contact. Drawing on a quantitative survey of researchers ( n = 942) from 265 German universities, the results indicate that a large proportion of scientists from all disciplines participate regularly in the dissemination of research findings. The authors provide evidence that scientists’ media efforts are influenced by how they adopt their univ…
Neue Governance und die Öffentlichkeit der Hochschulen
In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality
A large and growing body of literature shows that audience metrics exert a significant influence in many newsrooms around the world. Scholars assume that this might affect the quality of news, but findings on how audience metrics influence news quality and media performance are scattered. Based on a widely used set of news quality criteria, this article is the first to focus on this question. It reviews and discusses the existing findings by cons…
Organizational Influence on Scientists’ Efforts to Go Public
This article contributes to the debate on the influence of organizational settings on scientists’ media contact. Drawing on a quantitative survey of researchers ( n = 942) from 265 German universities, the results indicate that a large proportion of scientists from all disciplines participate regularly in the dissemination of research findings. The authors provide evidence that scientists’ media efforts are influenced by how they adopt their univ…
Attention for Attention Hotspots
News value research assumes that news factors may shift and diversify over time. Despite the technological and economic transformations of the media over the past decades, however, there has been little conceptual work on how journalistic news factors might be changing. This paper addresses how broader developments, such as digitization, datafication, and audience fragmentation, lead to changing news practices. One characteristic of the digital a…
It’s Not so Easy to Measure impact”
Universities are key actors at the intersection of science and society and their strategic communication and its effective implementation is essential, as is the measurement and evaluation (M&E) of its impact. Despite the growing relevance of M&E in university communication, however, empirical studies on the subject are rare. Therefore, this study explores M&E practices of central communication departments at Swiss universities through semi-struc…
Conceptualizing the dialogical structure of mass communication
Theoretical contributions conceptualizing dialogical processes and structures of mass communication are scattered, hence different disciplines work on the same issues without uniting their potentials. The mediated social communication (MSC) approach developed by German communication scholars and the dialogical network (DN) approach informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis share important characteristics. This paper contributes to in…
Verstrickt in der Rhetorik der Technologie-, Daten- und Medienunternehmen? Zu Problematiken im Umgang mit nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten
Die Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft sowie benachbarte Disziplinen fragen zunehmend danach, wie soziales Handeln durch Daten bzw. digitale Spuren gemessen, ausgewertet und repräsentiert wird. Es gibt jedoch nur wenige Analysen dazu, wie die Kommunikations- und Medienforschung selbst in unterschiedlichen Formen solche nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten verwendet. Dieser Beitrag zeigt, dass Nutzungsdaten von Technologie-, Daten-, Marktfor…
Neue Governance und die Öffentlichkeit der Hochschulen
Organizational Influence on Scientists’ Efforts to Go Public
This article contributes to the debate on the influence of organizational settings on scientists’ media contact. Drawing on a quantitative survey of researchers ( n = 942) from 265 German universities, the results indicate that a large proportion of scientists from all disciplines participate regularly in the dissemination of research findings. The authors provide evidence that scientists’ media efforts are influenced by how they adopt their univ…
Popularität statt Relevanz? Die journalistische Orientierung an Online-Nutzungsdaten
Twitter-Armies“, „Earned Media“ und „Big Crowds“ im US-Wahlkampf 2016
Lückenhafte Selbstregulierung der Schweizer Medien – Medienethische Herausforderungen im Zuge der Ökonomisierung
Die gegenwärtige Finanzierungskrise des Journalismus und die fortschreitende Ökonomisierung der Medien führen nicht nur zu einem Abbau von redaktionellen Ressourcen, sondern lassen auch Auswirkungen auf die Berichterstattungsfreiheit befürchten. Internationale Studien stellen heraus, dass sich die Arbeitsbedingungen im Journalismus verschlechtert haben und die journalistische Autonomie durch ökonomische Interessen gefährdet wird. Die Berichtersta…
Silvio Waisbord. “The communication manifesto”
The communication manifesto is a timely book that calls for more public scholarship in communication and media studies. It aims to develop ideas that further stimulate conversation about our contribution to society and, most importantly, action that strengthens “scholars’ engagement with publics beyond academia” (p. 9). This means not only to communicate and discuss scientific knowledge in and with various publics but also to do research with pra…
In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality
A large and growing body of literature shows that audience metrics exert a significant influence in many newsrooms around the world. Scholars assume that this might affect the quality of news, but findings on how audience metrics influence news quality and media performance are scattered. Based on a widely used set of news quality criteria, this article is the first to focus on this question. It reviews and discusses the existing findings by cons…
Conceptualizing the dialogical structure of mass communication
Theoretical contributions conceptualizing dialogical processes and structures of mass communication are scattered, hence different disciplines work on the same issues without uniting their potentials. The mediated social communication (MSC) approach developed by German communication scholars and the dialogical network (DN) approach informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis share important characteristics. This paper contributes to in…
Verstrickt in der Rhetorik der Technologie-, Daten- und Medienunternehmen? Zu Problematiken im Umgang mit nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten
Die Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft sowie benachbarte Disziplinen fragen zunehmend danach, wie soziales Handeln durch Daten bzw. digitale Spuren gemessen, ausgewertet und repräsentiert wird. Es gibt jedoch nur wenige Analysen dazu, wie die Kommunikations- und Medienforschung selbst in unterschiedlichen Formen solche nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten verwendet. Dieser Beitrag zeigt, dass Nutzungsdaten von Technologie-, Daten-, Marktfor…
Public communication science in times of the Covid-19 crisis”
What is public science? What can communication science scholars contribute to society, especially in times of crisis? What are the challenges and limitations of such engagement? These questions were addressed at a recent preconference held on April 7, 2021, titled “Public communication science in times of the Covid-19 crisis”. The preconference was organized as part of the DACH 21 conference (the first three-country conference on commu nication s…
Attention for Attention Hotspots
News value research assumes that news factors may shift and diversify over time. Despite the technological and economic transformations of the media over the past decades, however, there has been little conceptual work on how journalistic news factors might be changing. This paper addresses how broader developments, such as digitization, datafication, and audience fragmentation, lead to changing news practices. One characteristic of the digital a…
From precarious conditions to permanent positions? Problems, responsible actors, and solutions for strengthening the academic mid-level staff in Switzerland
The precarious situation of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, resulting from fixed-term contracts and the demanding working conditions of young researchers at Swiss universities, has been increasingly discussed in recent years by academic organizations, political actors, and the broader public. While discussions on various levels are intensifying, concrete measures remain largely absent, and young researchers find themselves in an environmen…
Assessing changes in the public communication of higher education institutions
Over the past decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) across the world have institutionalized communication departments and played an increasingly important role in communicating science to the public. While a growing body of research has analyzed the practices and structures of central communication departments in HEIs, little is known about developments over time. This study examines perceived changes in HEI communication along different …
Higher Education Institutions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Public communication has become more important to higher education institutions (HEIs), with many HEIs using social media to communicate with stakeholders. However, scholarship on the subject is scarce and mainly based on single-platform studies and small datasets. Therefore, we conducted a cross-platform study to examine the communication of all Swiss HEIs on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The results were based on two datasets: an automated …
Beyond the News Media Logic? Analyzing the Social Media Orientation of University Leadership
Building on scholarship on the mediatization of organizations, we propose a conception of the social media orientation of organizational leaders and apply it to higher education. Based on an online survey of 276 leaders of Swiss higher education institutions, we show that social media platforms have made their way into university management and communication but are still not as important as news media. The study discusses differences between uni…
It’s Not so Easy to Measure impact”
Universities are key actors at the intersection of science and society and their strategic communication and its effective implementation is essential, as is the measurement and evaluation (M&E) of its impact. Despite the growing relevance of M&E in university communication, however, empirical studies on the subject are rare. Therefore, this study explores M&E practices of central communication departments at Swiss universities through semi-struc…
Historical Roots of Information Flows in Hybrid Media Systems
Research on hybrid media systems has predominantly focused on recent digital developments, often overlooking historical precedents and long-term patterns that continue to shape today’s media landscape. This study addresses that gap by examining information flows—the cross-media dissemination of information and amplification of attention—from a historical perspective. Combining a literature review in journalism and media history with a longitudina…
The plurivocal university
Science communication has diversified in the wake of the digital transformation of communication and media ecosystems. Social media enable universities, but also academics and institutions affiliated with them, to expand their communication. This leads to increasing plurivocality of universities, yet the many different voices remain largely unexplored. This study develops a typology to conceptually distinguish eight voices by their representation…
Impulsgeber in der Medienkrise? Konstruktiver Journalismus als Mittel zur Stärkung demokratierelevanter Medienstrukturen
Medien stehen in vielen westlichen Ländern wegen des sinkenden Interesses an Nachrichten, des abnehmenden Medienvertrauens und der stagnierenden Zahlungsbereitschaft des Publikums vor erheblichen Herausforderungen. Offen ist, ob eine andere, bisher vergleichsweise wenig praktizierte Nachrichtenform diesen Trends entgegenwirken könnte: ein „Konstruktiver Journalismus“, der sich durch Lösungsorientierung, positive Berichterstattung und Kontextualis…
“Everything has changed”
Universities are pivotal in contemporary knowledge societies, bridging science and society. Amidst societal transformations, communication has become crucial for higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, research on university communication is limited, with few studies capturing long-term developments. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining changes in university communication departments over the past decade in Switzerland. Semi-…
Political science (14 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Public relations (10 works) · Social Media and Politics (7 works) · Media studies (6 works) · Media Studies and Communication (6 works) · Humanities (5 works) · Art (4 works) · Climate Change Communication and Perception (4 works) · Higher education (4 works)