معرفی
Marius Gerads is a research associate at the Chair of Communication and Media Studies III within the Institute of Social Sciences at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf since 2020. His work bridges academic research and media practice, informed by his prior experience as an online journalist at Wirtschaftswoche and current role in the multimedia editorial team at Deutschlandfunk.
- Education:
- M.A. in Political Communication, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- B.Sc. in Social Sciences and Economics, University of Cologne
- Journalism training at the Cologne School of Journalism
His research focuses on public opinion formation under online communication conditions, particularly the interplay between media bias perception, dissonant publics, and interpersonal communication. He is actively involved in the DFG-funded project 'Schweigespirale vernetzt', which examines opinion climate dynamics through the lens of Spiral of Silence Theory.
Gerads’ publications and conference presentations highlight his efforts to integrate Hostile Media Perception with the Spiral of Silence framework, analyzing how immediate social environments (friends, family) influence public discourse in hybrid media systems. His work spans theoretical extensions, methodological innovations, and empirical investigations.
- Notable Research Themes:
- Theoretical integration of Spiral of Silence and Hostile Media Perception
- Role of reference groups in opinion expression
- Hybrid network analysis of media and interpersonal communication
- Cognitive dissonance in digital public spheres
He contributes to academic advising for Communication and Media Studies in the BA SoWi program and collaborates with the DIID research team on meso-level communication processes.
