Annabella Backes, Margreth Lünenborg, Ana Makhashvili (Freie Universität Berlin), Débora Medeiros (Lesben und Alter e. V.), Laura Sūna (University of Siegen)

Language: German

Outrage, hatred, or hope: media play a key role in shaping, structuring, and circulating emotions as social expressions. At the same time, our motivations for engaging with media are themselves deeply affective—whether it is the desire for distraction, the pleasure of second-hand embarrassment, or the anxiety triggered by the news. Over more than a decade, our research has explored the role of emotions and affects in the production, reception, and circulation of media—from reality TV and journalism to social media platforms.

We have observed television audiences in their living rooms, spoken with journalists about the role of emotions in their work, and analyzed affective intensities on platforms such as Twitter and TikTok. In this roundtable, researchers from different project phases reflect on these experiences, revisit key media images, and discuss how the theoretical concepts developed within the project continue to shape future research—particularly in the fields of media education, democratic publics, and belonging. At the same time, we turn to current political mobilizations, from right-wing authoritarian actors to feminist and emancipatory movements, to examine how media infrastructures organize, amplify, and make affects collectively effective.