Award for research team at ICA 2025
A remarkable achievement for the team led by Vanessa Kokoschka (h_da), Bernadette S. Uth, Hannah Ötting and Henning Eichler: together, they were awarded the Journalism Division’s Top Extended Abstract Award at the prestigious International Communication Association Conference (ICA) in Denver for their abstract ‘Debate Spaces Audiences Actually Want? A Case Study of the Public Spaces Incubator’.
An alternative forum for discussion: the Public Spaces Incubator
The Public Spaces Incubator (PSI) is an international project involving public service broadcasters such as ZDF, ARD, CBC/Radio-Canada, RTBF (Belgium), SRG SSR (Switzerland) and ABC (Australia), in cooperation with the organisation New_Public. The aim is to design digital tools for their own platforms in such a way that they promote constructive, non-commercially driven public dialogue.
To this end, ZDF has already developed tools that can be used directly on its own website or in its media library – such as live formats where viewers can comment, or a role-based system that makes it clear from which perspective users are arguing. “The aim is to depolarise debates and make them more nuanced,” says Vanessa Kokoschka. “Above all, it’s about fostering a culture of discussion in digital spaces on our own platforms that can be moderated more effectively – in order to specifically limit hate speech, disinformation and fake news.”
What did the research team investigate?
The study focused on how ZDF editors rate the new PSI tools. To this end, the research team conducted guided interviews with editorial teams who had already been given the opportunity to test the PSI prototypes. “We wanted to know what their expectations are for an ideal interaction with the audience and what opportunities they see in the new tools,” explains Kokoschka. They found the social relevance particularly intriguing: “There’s discussion everywhere about disinformation, algorithmic bias and right-wing movements, but so far there are hardly any genuine alternatives to the mainstream platforms. PSI could be one such alternative. That’s why we wanted to take a closer look.”
A look behind the scenes: the visit to Denver
The team hadn’t expected to win an award – so the surprise was all the greater when, two weeks before departure, news arrived from the head of the Journalism Division: their submission had been shortlisted. “That was a huge delight. We travelled to the conference with a whole new sense of energy and motivation,” says Kokoschka. In total, over 270 entries had been submitted in the Extended Abstract category. She has vivid memories of the award ceremony. The ICA Conference in Denver was not only the largest international conference in her field, but also a place for informal exchange: “I met some wonderful people. You just strike up a conversation – there are virtually no hierarchies in conversation.” As well as the award, she also took home many new contacts, insights and ideas for the next phase of her research.
What’s next?
As a next step, the team intends to investigate how the public perceives the PSI tools: do they work from the users’ perspective? Do they meet their expectations? And would they actually use them in everyday life? “We want to compare the editorial teams’ perspective with that of the users,” says Kokoschka. Initial preparations are already underway, and an ethics application for the planned qualitative survey is being drawn up. Furthermore, according to Kokoschka, it would be fascinating to pursue the topic internationally: “The project was co-developed internationally from the outset. Perhaps this will also lead to country-specific comparative studies or new research collaborations.”