Dear visitor,
Thanks for stopping by!
My name is Cornelia Mothes, but most people call me Neli ... so please feel free to do the same. I'm a Professor of Journalism and Media Management at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig. My research focuses on political communication, media and political psychology, and journalism in digital democracies. At the heart of most of my work are questions of how communication can strengthen social cohesion and support democratic societies.
Besides research and spending time with my wonderful family, music is one of my greatest passions. I'm an avid music lover and concertgoer (the most recent highlight was the incredible Phosphorescent), and I play in two bands with close friends—friends we'd describe in German as people you could steal horses with: the kind of friends you can always count on (although, to be clear, we don't actually steal horses).
If you'd like to talk about research, teaching, music, or just say hello, please don't hesitate to get in touch! c.mothes[at]macromedia.de
Main Research Areas
#Political Polarization
#Democratic Resilience
#Civic Self-Affirmation
#Social Cohesion
#Democracy-Sensitive Journalism
#Media Literacy
#Epistemic Uncertainty
#News Fatigue and Avoidance
Recent publications
Open Educational Resource – OER Methodenkoffer (2026): "Wem kann ich glauben? – Ein Planspiel über Vertrauen in Medien", Jördis Dörner, Johanna Scheerer, Cornelia Mothes & Cornelia Fiebiger. https://kf-education.com/portfolio/wem-kann-ich-glauben-planspiel/
Mothes, C. (2025). Cognitive dissonance. In A. Nai, M. Grömping, & D. Wirz (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication (pp. 216–220). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035301447.vol1.00059
Mothes, C., & Prinzing, M. (2025). Was macht öffentlich-rechtlichen Journalismus wertvoll? Der Public Value öffentlich-rechtlicher Medien aus Sicht der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer. Media Perspektiven, 8, 1–33. https://www.ard-media.de/fileadmin/user_upload/media-perspektiven/pdf/2025/MP_8_2025_Was_macht_oeffentlich-rechtlichen_Journalismus_wertvoll.pdf
Mothes, C., Mellado, C., Boudana, S., Himma, M., Nolan, D., McIntyre, K., Kozman, C., Hallin, D. C., Amiel, P., Brin, C., Katherine Chen, Y.-N., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Dingerkus, F., El-Ibiary, R., Frías Vázquez, M., Glück, A., Garcés-Prettel, M., Luisa Humanes, M., … Van Leuven, S. (2025). Spurring or blurring professional standards? The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 102(1), 88–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692
Mothes, C. (2025). Objektivität im Journalismus. In T. Hanitzsch, W. Loosen & A. Sehl (eds.), Handbuch Journalismusforschung (pp. 325–344). Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748932291
Latest presentations
Mothes, C., & Klimek, L. C. (May 2026). Transparency as media literacy: Explaining professional fact-checking as a strategy for trust-building in fragmented media environments. Annual Conference of the European Media Management Association (emma), Lappeenranta, Finland.
Mellado, C., & Mothes, C. (July 2026). Sub-dimensional variations in journalistic role performance: an experimental study on audience evaluations of quality and interest across political news. Annual Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Galway, Ireland.