Prof Dr. Bernhard Pörksen

Bernhard Pörksen, born in 1969, is a Professor of Media Studies (focus on print and online media).

The focuses of Bernhard Pörksen's research work and key topics include: media scandals and media ethics, communications and media theories, media transformation and changes in occupational areas/competency profiles, forms of staging in politics and media, journalism and celebrities. Bernhard Pörksen appears in various media as a partner for interviews and a participant in discussions; these include Spiegel online, Tagesspiegel, dpa, die Zeit, Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio, SWR, NDR, 3SAT, ZDF.

In line with various research projects, he has to date written five books with students ("Trendbuch Journalismus", "Medienmenschen", "Skandal!", "Die Casting-Gesellschaft", "Die gehetzte Politik"; see list of publications as a PDF file). He has also published numerous articles in scientific publications and his books on cybernetics and constructivism (co-written with Heinz von Foerster and Humberto Maturana) have been translated into English, Italian, Danish, Korean and Spanish. He recently published "Kommunikation als Lebenskunst" together with the communication psychologist Friedemann Schulz von Thun.

Bernhard Pörksen studied German, journalism and biology in Hamburg, was invited by Ivan Illich as a visiting scholar to Pennsylvania State University, and completed an internship with the Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt. In addition to his academic works, he has published essays and comments, reports and interviews in daily newspapers (Die Welt, tageszeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt, Frankfurter Rundschau etc.), weekly publications (Die Zeit, Freitag, Rheinischer Merkur, Die Weltwoche, Wochenpost etc.), magazines (Der Spiegel, Wiener, Gehirn & Geist, Journalist etc.) and various Internet media (Spiegel online, telepolis). His total publications to date exceed 200.

After receiving his Ph.D. (1999) for his work on media and the language of neo-Nazi groups, Bernhard Pörksen founded and ran the module "Schreibpraxis" at the University of Greifswald, and lectured in communication and language science. He was then Assistant Professor at the University of Hamburg, and was appointed Professor of Journalism and Communication Science in 2002. In 2006 Bernhard Pörksen represented the Chair of Communication Theory and Media Culture at the University of Münster. In 2007 he received his “Habilitation” in communication and media studies, and in 2008 was appointed Professor of Media Studies at the University of Tübingen. That same year, the jury of the university publication Unicum voted him "Professor of the Year" in the category Humanities, Social and Cultural Sciences. From 2009 to 2011 he was a founding director, and later Head of Department of the Institute of Media Studies, University of Tübingen.

• Consulting editor and member of the Advisory Board for "Cybernetics & Human Knowing", "Constructivist Foundations", "Familiendynamik", "The Open Cybernetics and Systemics Journal", member of the advisory board of the journals "message" and "Pop".
• Reviewer for trade publications (e.g. "Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft", "Publizistik"), divisions of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), the DAAD
• Conceptions of series and focal points for specialist publications ("Communicatio Socialis", "Aviso", "Fachjournalist").
• Publisher of book series ("Sprache in der Gesellschaft" with Ingrid Schröder, Peter Lang Verlag; "Systemische Horizonte. Theorie der Praxis", Carl-Auer-Verlag).
• Involvement in the DFG network "Integrative Theoriekonzepte in der Kommunikationswissenschaft" 2005-2010 (initiators: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Quandt, Prof. Dr. Bertram Scheufele).

• Pörksen, B. (2018): Die große Gereiztheit. Wege aus der kollektiven Erregung. München: Hanser Verlag.
• Pörksen, B., & Schulz von Thun, F. (2014): Kommunikation als Lebenskunst. Philosophie und Praxis des Miteinander-Redens. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer-Systeme.
• Pörksen, B., & Detel, H. (2012). Der entfesselte Skandal. Das Ende der Kontrolle im digitalen Zeitalter. Cologne: Herbert von Halem Verlag.
• Pörksen, B. (2011). The Creation of Reality – A Constructivist Epistemology of Journalism and Journalism Education. Exeter: Imprint Academic.
• Bergmann, J., & Pörksen, B. (ed.). (2009). Skandal! Die Macht öffentlicher Empörung. [Scandal! The power of public indignation.] Cologne: Herbert von Halem Verlag.
• Pörksen, B. (2005). Die Konstruktion von Feindbildern. Zum Sprachgebrauch in neonazistischen Medien. [The construction of the bogeyman. The use of language in neo-Nazi media.] With a foreword by Johano Strasser (second extended edition). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
• Maturana, H., & Pörksen, B. (2002). Vom Sein zum Tun. Die Ursprünge der Biologie des Erkennens. [From being to doing. The origins of the biology of recognition.] (second edition 2008). Heidelberg: Carl-Auer-Systeme.
• Pörksen, P. (2001). Die Gewissheit der Ungewissheit. Gespräche zum Konstruktivismus. [The certainty of uncertainty. Talking about constructivism.] With Heinz von Foerster, Ernst von Glasersfeld, Humberto R. Maturana, Gerhard Roth, Siegfried J. Schmidt, Helm Stierlin, Francisco J. Varela and Paul Watzlawick (second edition 2008). Heidelberg: Carl-Auer-Systeme.
• von Foerster, H., & Pörksen, B. (1998): Wahrheit ist die Erfindung eines Lügners. Gespräche für Skeptiker. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer-Systeme. [10., korrigierte Aufl. 2013].

List of publications as a PDF file.