International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on Big Data Discourses

How do we imagine Big Data—and why does our imagination matter?

This Special Section on Big Data Discourses, guest edited by Christian Pentzold and Charlotte Knorr, is driven by a simple but urgent idea: Big Data is not only a technological phenomenon. It is also a discursive one. The ways we talk about data—its promises, dangers, and futures—actively shape how datafication unfolds in practice. Narratives, metaphors, and imaginaries do not merely accompany technological advancement. They guide investment decisions, inform policy, structure institutions, and legitimize particular forms of power.

The Special Section turns attention to the discursive layer of Big Data. It examines how ideas, affects, and visions circulate across corporate communication, policy documents, journalism, public debate, and everyday sensemaking. Drawing on perspectives from communication studies, STS, sociology, linguistics, and critical data studies, the contributions in this Special Section explore how Big Data is imagined as objective, inevitable, efficient—and how these imaginaries compete and collide. The Special Section encourages thinking about data not as raw facts, but as outcomes of interpretation, classification, and social negotiation.

These articles are timely. As Big Data and AI increasingly shape governance, security, health, and everyday media use, public debate often lags behind technological implementation. Discourses about data tend to travel faster than critical understanding. By analyzing sociotechnical imaginaries and everyday folk theories, the Forum provides tools to better understand how data power operates beyond code and infrastructure.

At a moment when access to data and analytical capacity remains deeply uneven, the Special Section foregrounds the power of concepts, labels, and stories about Big Data that may circulate more widely than data itself. By unpacking these discourses, the contributions open space for critique—and for imagining alternative, more accountable data futures.

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on January 27, 2026. Please log into ijoc.org to read the papers of interest. We look forward to your feedback!

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Big Data Discourses: Introduction to the Special Section
Charlotte Knorr, Christian Pentzold

A Model of Frame Categories for Analyzing Media Discourse of Emerging Technologies
Emma Kaylee Graves-Sandriman

Reframing Datafication: News Media Discourses on Big Data and AI
Maria Cristina Paganoni, Gastón Becerra

Ask Me Anything! ◕‿◕ – How ChatGPT Got Hyped Into Being
Jascha Bareis

Curating AI Into Being: Hacks/Hackers as Amplifiers of Journalism’s Digital Futures
Andreas Hepp

Data Feelings: Everyday Affects and Sensory Dimensions of Personal Digital Data
Ash Watson, Deborah Lupton

Aesthetics of Boundless Insight: On the Scalar Ideology of the Data Imaginary
Magdalena Krysztoforska, Oliver Kenny

A New Source of the Self? A Critical View on the Domestication of Data
Jun Yu

Deceptive Stories About Scale: Digital Technology, Public Services, and the Promise of Efficiency
Alison B. Powell

Data in India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): A Deliberative Policy Ecology Approach
Preeti Raghunath

Toward Disability Data Justice: A Critical Discussion of Disability and Big Data Discourses
Kuansong Victor Zhuang, Gerard Goggin

Cultural Motifs of Big Data in User-Generated Content: A Semiautomated Analysis of 10 Years of Discourse
Charlotte Knorr, Andreas Niekler, Christian Pentzold

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Silvio Waisbord, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Andrew Taylor, Webmaster 
Christian Pentzold and Charlotte Knorr, Guest Editors

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 6th among all Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level.

International Journal of Communication Publishes a Forum on Not Entirely Artificial, Not That Intelligent: AI and Communication Research

What happens to communication when AI machines join the conversation?

Artificial intelligence has become one of the most transformative forces shaping the study of communication today. This two-part Forum on Not Entirely Artificial, Not That Intelligent: AI and Communication Research, moderated by Roni Danziger and Hadar Levy-Landesberg, brings together experts from diverse subfields to ask how AI is reshaping the very foundations of our discipline.

The contributors discuss AI not only as a technological innovation but also as a conceptual force that unsettles long-standing assumptions about authorship, authenticity, and the production of knowledge. Across both conversations, they show how AI enters research in three ways: as an object we study, as a tool we use, and as the cultural environment that shapes how communication unfolds.

Part I, “A Conversation on Hype, Contexts, and Practices,” explores how AI transforms research agendas and methods— spanning journalism, visual communication, media histories, diplomacy, and voice technologies. Part II, “A Conversation on Trust, Authenticity, and (Emerging) Futures,” turns to the ethical, epistemological, and political stakes of studying and living with AI. The contributors probe issues of bias, gatekeeping, and the changing conditions of trust in mediated communication.

Together, these dialogues reveal that AI is not simply automating communication or its study—it is redefining what counts as evidence, credibility, and expertise. At a time when machines increasingly participate in communication processes once considered exclusively human, this Forum demonstrates how communication research offers essential tools for distinguishing genuine transformation from inflated hype, and for tracing how familiar concerns—power, representation, trust—take new forms in an AI-driven environment.

We invite readers to reflect on how meaning is made, contested, and continually reshaped in a rapidly changing media landscape where humans and machines communicate side by side.

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on January 5, 2026. Please log into ijoc.org to read the papers of interest. We look forward to your feedback!

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Not Entirely Artificial, Not That Intelligent| AI and Communication Research: A Conversation on Trust, Authenticity, and (Emerging) Futures (Part 1)
Roni Danziger, Hadar Levy-Landesberg, Aya Yadlin, Ido Ramati, Lidor Ivan, Ilan Manor

Not Entirely Artificial, Not That Intelligent| AI and Communication Research: A Conversation on Trust, Authenticity, and (Emerging) Futures (Part 2)
Roni Danziger, Hadar Levy-Landesberg, Aya Yadlin, Ido Ramati, Lidor Ivan, Ilan Manor

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Silvio Waisbord, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Andrew Taylor, Webmaster 
Roni Danziger and Hadar Levy-Landesberg, Guest Editors

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 6th among all Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level.

International Journal of Communication invites you to read these 25 publications that published in November

The International Journal of Communication is pleased to announce the publication of 25 papers in November 2025, which includes the Special Section on “Generative AI and Disinformation.” To access these papers, please visit ijoc.org.
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ARTICLES

De-Westernizing Communication Studies Through Domesticating the Global South: A Critical Examination of the Mechanisms Shaping Scholarly Participation in the Field
Francisco Paulo Jamil Marques, Andressa Butture Kniess, Manuel Goyanes, Thaiane Oliveira

Is TikTok “for” News? Sociotechnical Frictions and Workarounds in Environmental News Events on TikTok
Ryland Shaw

Hostile Legacy Media, Friendly Social Media? Exploring Young People’s Use, Trust, and Bias Perception of Different News Sources About the Middle Eastern Conflict
Alexandra Wölfle, Desirée Schmuck

Is Journalism Making Its Workers Sick? Labor Conditions and Mental Health in Mexico and Spain
Dolors Palau-Sampio, Maria Iranzo-Cabrera, Ana Leticia Hernández Julián, Rubén Arnoldo González Macías

Assessing Media Polarization in Spain During a Highly Polarized Electoral Cycle (2015–2019): Increasing Effects of Vote and Ideology on News Media Consumption
Lidia Valera-Ordaz, María Luisa Humanes, José María Ramírez-Dueñas

Affinity, Agency, and Exclusion: Digital Feminist Pedagogy and Grassroots Empowerment in Douban’s Survival Guide for Ordinary Women
Xingyuan Meng

K-Drama as Ecocinema? A Multimodal Analysis of Climate Change Representation in 60 Globally Popular Korean TV Dramas
Cristiane Melchior, Hannele Seeck, Ratna Aini Hadi

BOOK REVIEWS

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge, Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future
Scott Timcke

Ingrid Richardson and Rowan Wilken, Bodies and Mobile Media
Amanda Ganus

Bernard Keenan, Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks
Sheila B. Lalwani

Michael Serazio, The Authenticity Industries: Keeping It “Real” in Media, Culture, and Politics
Jian Xiao, Linlin Wei

Ya-Wen Lei, The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China
Yuexin Lyu

Tupur Chatterjee, Projecting Desire: Media Architectures and Moviegoing in Urban India
Aparna Shastri

Global Communication Rights: Is There a Future? A Review Article
Damian Tambini

Mia Consalvo, Marc Lajeunesse, and Andrei Zanescu, Streaming by the Rest of Us: Microstreaming Videogames on Twitch
Steffi Shook

Barbara A. Biesecker, Reinventing World War II: Popular Memory in the Rise of the Ethnonationalist State
Aaron A. Toscano

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Silvio Waisbord, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor 
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections 
Andrew Taylor, Webmaster

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 6th among all Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world  — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level. 

International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on Generative AI and Disinformation

How does generative AI affect disinformation?

This Special Section on (Generative) AI and Disinformation, guest-edited by Aqsa Farooq and Claes de Vreese, zooms in on one of the biggest questions of today’s communication landscape.

Generative AI represents a pivotal development in the contemporary information ecosystem. Large Language and Image Models now enable rapid and scalable creation of (hyper)realistic yet synthetic content. As these models become more accessible and sophisticated, so too do their capacities to distort public discourse and manipulate perceptions. This can undermine trust in democratic institutions. At the same time, these technologies offer promising tools for detection, resilience-building, and possibly countering falsehoods. As such, there is rapid global and cross-disciplinary interest in understanding how AI-driven tools have added another dimension to the existing challenge of disinformation. Scholarship in this space is booming: In 2024 there were more than double the number of publications compared to the preceding years combined.

This Special Section brings together timely and original scholarship on this challenge. It explores the multifaceted role of AI, including how it can both contribute to, as well as potentially provide solutions to, the problem of disinformation. Overall, the collection of articles underscores both the negative potential of AI-driven technologies, such as by opportunistically targeting citizens for political campaigns, while also highlighting their promise in assisting the work of those tackling disinformation at scale. That said, informing citizens about the misuse of GenAI may in turn lead to the reduced efficacy of literacy interventions and journalism. Finally, analyses of the overarching role of AI in political contexts, journalism, and governance reveals both the dual nature of AI in the fight against disinformation, and the need for more collaborative efforts. 

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on November 18, 2025. Please log into ijoc.org to read the papers of interest. We look forward to your feedback!

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(Generative) AI and Disinformation—Introduction
Asqa Farooq, Claes de Vreese

Defining the Role(s) of AI in Disinformation Research—A Systematic Review
Maria F. Grub, Edda Humprecht

Breaking the News? Generative AI’s Impact on Journalism and Its Implications for Disinformation
Nicolas Mattis, Claes de Vreese

Socio-Technical Imaginaries of AI’s Role in the Strengthened EU Code of Practice on Disinformation
Alejandro Flores Moleón

Unveiling Disinformation Narratives With AI: Collaborative Insights from Fact-Checkers and Computer Scientists’ Work in Analyzing Climate Misinformation Narratives
Irene Larraz, Ramón Salaverría, Javier Serrano-Puche

Parental Perceptions of Dynamic Exchanges of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Misinformation and Corrections From AI Checkers on Reddit
Rita Tang, Benedetta Burston, Jikai Sun, Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode

A Beacon of Trustworthiness in a Sea of Disinformation: Does News Coverage About the Dangers of Generative AI Cause People to Flock to Journalism?
Tom Dobber, Michael Hameleers, Christopher Starke, Toni van der Meer

Echoes of Doubt: Exposure to Information About Generative AI Decreases Believability of News
Marina Tulin, Myrto Pantazi, Christopher Starke, Michael Sivolap, Tom Dobber

Synthetic Diversity: Examining the Effects of Ethnic Targeting Using AI-Generated Political Ads
Morgan Wack, Douglas A. Parry

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Silvio Waisbord, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Andrew Taylor, Webmaster 
Asqa Farooq and Claes de Vreese, Guest Editors

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 6th among all Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level.

International Journal of Communication invites you to read these 15 publications that published in October

The International Journal of Communication is pleased to announce the publication of 15 papers in October. To access these papers, please visit ijoc.org.
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ARTICLES

Journalism-Hate as Social Affect: How Anti-Press Sentiments Holistically Shape the Lives of Korean Journalists
Changwook Kim, Wooyeol Shin

Journalist YouTubers: How Platformization Transforms Journalism in an Authoritarian System
Can Ertuna, Ozan Aşık

Scandal as Constructivation: Trust Cultures and the Politics of Legitimacy in Southeast Asia
Karl Patrick R. Mendoza

Playing Dead: TikTok, #Darkhumor Memes, and the Absurdity of School Shootings in the United States
Jacqueline Ryan Vickery

Journalism Innovation Under Autocratization: Comparing Journalistic Resistance in Poland and Slovakia
Simone Benazzo

Christian Nationalism as Media
Reed Van Schenck

Black Lives Matter on the Ground and in Sports: Varied Influences of Delegitimizing News Coverage on Self-Perceived Knowledge and Support for Protests
Danielle K. Brown, Rachel Reis Mourão, Tania Ganguli

Habits and Motivations of Citizens in Receiving and Disseminating Disinformation on Social Media
Ignacio Blanco-Alfonso, María Solano-Altaba, Cristina Rodríguez-Luque, Sergio Arce-García

BOOK REVIEWS

Sara Petersen, Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture
Jisha Jacob

Myria Georgiou, Being Human in Digital Cities
Soojung Paek

Christopher Chávez, Isle of Rum: Havana Club, Cultural Mediation, and the Fight for Cuban Authenticity
Soojung Paek

Grant Bollmer and Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory: A Marxist Theory of Corporate Personhood on YouTube
Oscar Gómez Pascual

Ben Collier, Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy
Min Wang

Patrick Ferrucci, The Organization of Journalism: Market Models and Practice in a Fraying Profession
Yelena Dzhanova

Robert Gorwa, The Politics of Platform Regulation: How Governments Shape Online Content Moderation
Yunhee Shim

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Silvio Waisbord, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor 
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections 
Andrew Taylor, Webmaster

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 6th among all Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world  — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level.