معرفی
Dr. Judith Kretzschmar serves as a Researcher and Project Manager at the Center for Journalism and Democracy (JoDem) at the University of Leipzig's Institute for Communication and Media Studies. She leads the Volkswagen Foundation-funded research project "Citizens Make Journalism – Strengthening Media Trust for a Changing Democracy" since April 2025, following her role as Research Associate at JoDem from 2019-2025. Her work bridges academic research with practical journalism initiatives, particularly focused on addressing media distrust in Eastern Germany.
Her research interests span journalism competence, media trust, cultural and transformation research in East Germany, Saxon local television in the post-reunification period, and the social-political dimensions of the concept of 'home' in audiovisual media. She has particular expertise in GDR television history, having completed her doctoral thesis on the representation of 'home' on GDR television and worked on the DFG project 'Programming History of GDR Television.' Her work integrates media theory, historical analysis, and contemporary democratic challenges.
Her most recent publication, 'Von Lügenpresse und abgehobenen Eliten: Journalismus- und Demokratievertrauen in Sachsen' (2025), represents a significant contribution to understanding media distrust in Saxony, analyzing the relationship between perceptions of political elites and media trust. This work emerges from extensive qualitative research including over 60 interviews across all ten Saxon districts.
Dr. Kretzschmar actively engages in knowledge transfer through numerous public events, citizen discussions, and workshops across Saxony, collaborating with organizations like CivixX and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to address media trust issues directly with communities.
She teaches diverse courses at the University of Leipzig including Media Theories, Audiovisual Media Analysis, Film Theory, and Digital Storytelling, connecting theoretical frameworks with practical applications for student media competence development. Her teaching reflects her commitment to bridging academic research with practical media literacy.
As part of the interdisciplinary Center for Journalism and Democracy, she collaborates with scholars from communication studies, political science, and education to develop innovative approaches to democracy and journalism competence, with particular focus on rural areas where media trust is lowest.
