Public broadcasting is more controversial than ever. However, in public, discussions about it are mostly conducted by the same experts and actors from politics and civil society. In collaboration with two great partners, we want to complement this discourse in an innovative online participation process in order to find out: What needs to change, what should remain in television?
The cooperative project #meinfernsehen2021 is dedicated to the future of public television. The focus is on the question of whether the mission of public broadcasting in a digitalized society is still up to date and to what extent it corresponds to the audience’s expectations of television.
In a multi-stage online participation process, citizens can discuss various questions on the topic and contribute their own ideas. The results of this participation process will finally be presented at a conference with the involvement of various media representatives and interested citizens. We would also like to prepare the central findings for scientific publications and conferences.
The objectives can be summarized as follows:
- Collecting positions and arguments
- Gaining suggestions for a renovation
- Stimulating reflection and discussion on the topic among participants
- Awareness through participation in the discourse
- Contribute findings into public debate and scientific discussion
- Scientific publications and conferences
The project is scheduled to run for seven months (12/2020 to 06/2021) and is being carried out in cooperation with the Grimme Institute and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb).
Publications:
Eilders, Christiane / Gerlach, Frauke (2021): Gestaltungswille und Wissenslücken. Eine Zwischenbilanz zu #meinfernsehen2021. In: epd medien 14, 2021, 3-7. Read here.
Eilders, Christiane / Gerlach, Frauke (2021): Einbeziehen und erklären. Handlungsempfehlungen auf Grundlage der Beteiligungsplattform #meinfernsehen2021. Grimme-preis Publikation 57, 10-11. Read here.
Soßdorf, Anna / Seim, Jonathan / Warnke, Viviana N. E. (2021): “Zuhören überzeugt mehr als argumentieren.”. Grimme-preis Publikation 57, 6-9. Read here.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christiane Eilders (speaker)
Board, Communication Studies, DIID-Team

Prof. Dr. Christiane Eilders has been a professor for communication and media studies at the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf since 2011. She is a member of the DFG research group “Political Communication in the Online-World”.
Her research deals with public discourses and public opinion formation and puts a focus on the role of established mass media and online-communication.
Within the DIID, her interest lies in the deliberative quality and the different types of processes in online-discourses in the realm of political participation.
Research Interests
Projects
Contact
Dr. Anna Soßdorf
Alumni, Communication Studies

Dr. Anna Soßdorf joined the FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik Berlin in 2023 as a research associate in the Information Management & Analytics department and is part of the House of Participation team. Previously (2019-2022), she worked as a research associate at the Institute for Social Sciences and as a coordinator at the Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy (DIID) at HHU Düsseldorf in teaching and research. Since then, she has been an alumni of the DIID.
In 2015, she completed her PhD on the political participation of young people in communication studies at the University of Düsseldorf. Her research interests include (digital) participation, youth participation, digital literacy, citizen science, and science communication.
In addition, she has been active as a freelance trainer, consultant and researcher on digital and civic education, citizen science and science communication since 2015. Ms. Soßdorf is active in various Citizen Science networks and co-author of the recently published white paper Citizen Science Strategy 2030 for Germany.
Projects
Jonathan Seim
DIID-Team, Philosophy

Jonathan Seim studied political science and philosophy at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf and at the University of the West of Scotland. As a research assistant at DIID, he is responsible for the coordination of the institute. He is also a research assistant in the Digital Ethics project at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS). Jonathan Seim’s position is financed by project funds from the Mercator Foundation. His research focuses on moral philosophy and political philosophy, in particular democratic theory.
His dissertation deals with democratic participation rights in the context of citizen participation procedures. Although a correct allocation of participation rights is of fundamental importance for the legitimacy of those procedures, this question is not sufficiently addressed in politics or science. The aim of the dissertation project is to develop criteria for the allocation of participation rights in the context of consultative citizen participation procedures and guidance for the political practice. As a member of the DIID he is interested in requierements of legitimacy of online-participation.