Wi4impact Projektseite

During the winter of 2022/23, we conducted a web-based search of the study sample, focusing on science blogs and podcasts from public universities, universities of applied sciences, and non-university research institutions in Germany. Using each institution's website search function, we looked up the keywords "blog" and "podcast." If a site lacked a search function, we instead performed a Google search using the institution’s name combined with either "blog" or "podcast." For universities, we also expanded our search beyond their primary domain to capture content from central institutions such as university hospitals. Our primary interest was the activity status of the blogs and podcasts as of the cut-off date, September 1, 2021. We marked any media launched after this date as "new" (57 blogs, 172 podcasts) and labeled those with no updates for a year or more after the cut-off as "inactive" (183 blogs, 167 podcasts). In total, our web-based research identified 1,287 digital media outlets, with 7 blogs and 29 podcasts undated.

After completing the web-based search, we reached out to the producers of active blogs (about 394) and podcasts (about 275) to gather insights into their production backgrounds, goals, and target audiences. In July and August 2023, 268 producers participated in the online survey, resulting in a 39.9% response rate. Humanities and social sciences were the most strongly represented academic fields, accounting for over 61%, followed by natural sciences and engineering. Notably, life sciences had a higher proportion of podcasts than blogs, likely due to increased productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Approximately 15% of media could not be classified into the four main DFG disciplines. The survey results reveal that beyond knowledge transfer, such as fostering dialogue with society, blogs and podcasts also aim to increase visibility (e.g. for scientists and research projects). The content is primarily intended for the general public (79.1%), particularly those with a casual interest in science and research, as well as students (79.1%) and participants in the science community (70.1%), with blogs showing a notably higher reach. On average, each medium targets three distinct audience groups.