Pilgrimage to Max & Marianne Weber gravesite, Bergfriedhof Heidelberg, March 2014
My name is Matthias Revers (PhD Sociology, SUNY-Albany) and I’m Associate Professor of Political Communication at the University of Leeds. I’m also Interim Professor (part-time) for the Chair of Communication Studies, esp. Climate and Science Communication at the University of Hamburg. I’m a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University and a former Fulbright scholar.
My current research deals with political polarization in contemporary democracies, including on the moral boundaries of speech, the mediated experience of political antagonism and micropolarization. This research involves qualitative field research, survey experiments, hermeneutic and computational methods of text analysis.
My earlier research deals with professional cultures of journalism and their role in increasingly networked public spheres, for which I conducted ethnographic research on political reporters in the US and Germany over a period of 3.5 years. Most of this research is included in my book Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany: Agents of Accountability (Palgrave Macmillan USA. Other works of mine have been published in Journal of Communication, Information, Communication & Society, Media, Culture & Society, Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, The American Sociologist, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie.
My broader areas of interest are political communication, media sociology, cultural sociology, comparative media research, journalism studies, history of sociology, social theory and qualitative methodology.
My research explores political polarization as both a structural condition of democratic life and a lived social reality. At its core is a concern with how political conflict is performed, contested, and experienced—both in public discourse and in interpersonal relationships. I conceptualize this through the lens of performative polarization, a term I use to describe how public displays of antagonism shape affective boundaries and influence social interaction (Revers, 2023). This has led to a growing interest in micropolarization—how political divisions permeate everyday interactions, including among friends, families, and strangers.
As co-lead of Working Group 1 in the COST Action Redressing Radical Polarisation (CA22165), I contribute to the network’s conceptual and theoretical agenda. This work aims to synthesise and advance European approaches to polarization research by developing a more comparative and culturally embedded understanding of affective conflict. It has resulted in two working papers: Affect and Meaning: A Cultural Sociological Perspective on Polarization (Binder et al., 2025), and Hybrid Media and the Polarization of Civil Society: Elite Polarization Beyond Political Institutions (with Maria Luengo-Cruz and Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk). These contributions develop a perspective on polarization as a meaning-making process shaped by symbolic boundaries, media environments, and emotional repertoires. The COST network also serves as an important platform for cross-national dialogue on the relationship between political antagonism and democratic resilience.
My work on micropolarization began with a collaborative study (Revers and Coleman, 2025) of interpersonal conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on interviews in the UK and Germany, we examined political estrangement within families and the communicative dynamics around vaccine opposition and protest. Building on this, one current project DEPOLCLIMATE (with Lone Sørensen, University of Leeds, and Michael Brüggemann, University of Hamburg) investigates how depolarization can be fostered in discussions about climate politics. Based on 60 unmoderated dyadic conversations across political lines, the project explores how disagreement, knowledge-building, and conversational practices interact in shaping de/polarization.
A new strand of research within the POLARIS project (Polarization in Online Landscapes and Radical Influence Studies) investigates how the New Right mobilizes affective polarization through TikTok. Working with Hendrik Meyer and Lasse Rodeck (University of Hamburg) and Julia Niemann-Lenz (DZHW), our first study focuses on the EU parliamentary election campaign, examining how AfD politicians construct antagonistic narratives for their TikTok audiences (Meyer et al., 2025). Ongoing research extends this framework to the 2025 German federal election, with a comparative study of TikTok content and audience responses across all major political parties.
A parallel strand of my research examines the moral boundaries of speech, particularly in relation to academic freedom and freedom of expression. This work (Revers and Traunmüller, 2020; Traunmüller and Revers, 2020; Villa, Traunmüller and Revers, 2021) has addressed contentious debates in German universities and contributed to a broader public conversation on open discourse. It also sparked an adversarial collaboration with colleagues at LMU Munich (Alex Wuttke), the University of Mannheim (Richard Traunmüller, and the University of Konstanz (Claudia Diehl, Nils Weidmann) to develop a more representative and methodologically rigorous survey of speech norms and viewpoint tolerance at German universities (Diehl et al., 2025).
Together, these projects combine qualitative, quantitative, computational, and conceptual approaches to understanding polarization—from institutional and ideological dynamics to the granular level of interpersonal communication. They are united by a commitment to interdisciplinary research and a reflexive orientation to the role of communication in democratic life.
Digital Journalism
In my ethnography of political reporting I examined the digital transformation of journalism in the United States, focusing specifically on Twitter. This research deals with digital journalism and transformations of professional norms (Revers 2014), the reorganisation of spatial and temporal dimensions of news reporting (Revers 2015) and the event-drivenness of technological adoption (Revers 2017).
Comparative Media Research
My book Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany (Revers 2017) combined cultural sociology and field theory to study the news profession in Germany and the US. In this first systematic cross-nationally comparative news ethnography, I show that professional authority of journalism requires continuous maintenance and care through performance and boundary work. One of the findings is that German journalism—despite stronger ideological self-conceptions—values professional autonomy just as much as its US counterpart, which is taken (or rather: sees itself) as the epitome for this normative commitment.
Revers, Matthias. 2019. Die Neue Kultursoziologie. In: Fleck, Christian, and Daye, Christian (eds.) Meilensteine der Soziologie. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, pp. 611-619.
Revers, Matthias. 2019. Habitus. In: Fleck, Christian, and Daye, Christian (eds.) Meilensteine der Soziologie. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, pp. 574-584.
Revers, Matthias. 2019. Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit. In: Fleck, Christian, and Daye, Christian (eds.) Meilensteine der Soziologie. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, pp. 477-482.
Belair-Gagnon, Valerie and Revers, Matthias. 2018. Sociology of Journalism. In Vos, Tim P. (ed.) Journalism. Berlin, Boston: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 257-280.
Revers, Matthias. 2015. Cultural Sociology, history of. International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition, Vol 5. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 498–503.
Microfoundations of Political Polarization. Workshop: Provocations: What are they, how could they work, and with which societal implications? Stockholm School of Economics, 17-18 June, 2025.
Hybrid Media and thePolarization of CivilSociety: Elite PolarizationBeyond Political Institutions. Addressing the Rise of Radicalisation in Digital Spaces, COST Symposium at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 6 May 2025 (with María Luengo-Cruz and Karoline Ihlebæk)
Crises and micro-macro dynamics of polarization. Marie Jahoda Summer School of Sociology “Crises, justice, democracy,” University of Vienna, 8-12 July, 2024.
Ist die Meinungsfreiheit an der Universität in Gefahr? (with Richard Traunmüller), IHF Bayerisches Staatsinstitut für Hochschulforschung und Hochschulplanung, March 9, 2021.
Ist die Meinungsfreiheit an der Universität in Gefahr? (with Richard Traunmüller), Union Stiftung, March 9, 2021.
Who Can Say What, About Whom, and How? The Informal Regulation and Politics of Speech. Religion & Theology Research Seminar, University of Manchester, November 22, 2018.
Flucht, Öffentliches Räsonnement und Engagement: Der Fall Zogaj und danach. Symposion: (Mediale) Repräsentation von Migration / Flucht / Asyl, University of Graz, April 29, 2016.
The Twitterization of News Making: Transparency and Journalistic Professionalism. Workshop in Cultural Sociology, Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, April 5, 2013.
Conference Presentations
Hybrid Media and the Polarization of Civil Society: Elite Polarization Beyond Political Institutions. (with María Luengo-Cruz)
Happy to disagree: Drivers of affective and ideological polarization in interpersonal discussions. (with Lone Sorensen, Michael Brüggemann) ECREA European Communication Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 24-27 September, 2024
The Microfoundations of Political Backlash. Civil Sphere Conference, Heidelberg, 18-19 October, 2023.
Performative polarization: The interactional, medial, and cultural drivers of political antagonism. Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, 5. – 9. August, 2022
What Are We Allowed To Say? A Survey Experiment on the Regulation of Free Speech. (with Richard Traunmüller) Annual conference of the European Political Science Association, Vienna, June 21-23, 2018.
The Populist Journalism Challenge: A Comparative Analysis of Right-Wing Media Sites in the USA, Germany, and Austria.” (with Lea Hellmüller) ICA preconference on “Global Perspectives on Populism and the Media” in Budapest, 22 May, 2018.
The Polarization is Mediatized. DGS/DGPuK conference on Medien- und Kommunikationssoziologie, Friedrichshafen, 11-13 October, 2017.
The Role of Events in ICT Adoption: Same-Sex Marriage and Twitter. Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Seattle, August 20-23, 2016.
How not to Establish a Specialty: Media sociology in the US. (with Casey Brienza) Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Seattle, August 20-23, 2016.
Participatory Journalism and Transformative Events: Covering the Same-Sex Marriage Debate on Twitter. Communication Across the Life Span, Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 21-25, 2015.
Digital Media and the Diversification of Professionalism: A US-German Comparison of Journalism Cultures. Communication Across the Life Span, Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 21-25, 2015.
Journalistic professionalism and social media: A US-German comparison. Changing Media – Changing Democracy? Exploring the Democratic Potential of Social Media, 20th Anniversary Conference of the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies, Austrian Academy of Science, Vienna, Austria, November 7, 2014.
Political Embeddedness: Boundary Processes in US and German News Reporting. Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, August 16-19, 2014.
The Augmented Newsbeat: Spatial and Temporal Dynamics in a Twitterized News Ecosystem.
Communication and “the Good Life,” Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Seattle, WA, May 22-26, 2014.
The Objects of Journalism, International Communications Association Pre-Conference (sponsored by the Journalism Studies division and Communication History division), London, June 17, 2013.
The Twitterization of News Making: Transparency and Journalistic Professionalism.
Communication and “the Good Life,” Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Seattle, WA, May 22-26, 2014.
Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, August 10-13, 2013.
Journalistic Autonomy as Cultural Practice: Boundary Work and Performance in Political News Production.
Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, August 10-13, 2013.
Annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaften, Mainz, Germany, May 9-10, 2013.
Communication and Community, Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Phoenix, AZ, May 24-28, 2012.
Media Sociology Forum III, Columbia University, School of Journalism, New York, March 2, 2012.
Socio-techno-discursive Formations and Mediated Deliberation: What Twitter does to Political Journalism. Cultures and Civilizations in the Contemporary World, Midterm Meeting, Research Committee Sociological Theory (RC16), International Sociological Association, Trento, Italy, June 28-29, 2012.
Polanski und das Verhältnis transnationaler und nationaler Öffentlichkeiten. (with Brian McKernan, Sebastian Moser, and Ian Sheinheit) Neuer Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit, Gemeinsamer Kongress für Soziologie der DGS, ÖGS, SGS, Innsbruck, Austria, October 1, 2011.
In the Lions’ Den: Boundary Processes in Political Reporting. Spring Conference of the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, April 29, 2011.
Morally Polluted or Purified Auteur: A comparative analysis of international media coverage regarding the Roman Polanski extradition case. (with Brian McKernan, Sebastian Moser, Ian Sheinheit). Eastern Sociological Society Annual Conference, February 25, 2011.
Deportation and Cultural Conflict: Comparing Media Dramas about Civic Belonging. Konstanzer Meisterklasse “Clash of Cultures?” Universität Konstanz, Germany, July 19–27, 2010.
Media Systems and Media Cultures: News Coverage of Deportation in the US and Austria. World Congress of Sociology, International Sociological Association, Gothenburg, Sweden, July 11-17, 2010.
Embedded in Political Communication. What the Concept of Embeddedness in Economic Relations Explains About News. Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, August 7-10, 2009.
Mediensysteme im transatlantischen Vergleich: Ein kultursoziologischer Ansatz. Kolloquium des Nachwuchsnetzwerks Politische Kommunikation, University of Mannheim, Germany, June 19, 2009.
Towards a Cultural Understanding of Media Systems. Spring Conference of the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, May 8, 2009.
Public Sociologists in News Media: Enhancing the Image of the Discipline? Annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Baltimore, March 2-5, 2009.
Sociologists in the Press. Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston, July 31-August 3, 2008.
Palgrave Macmillan, Cultural Sociology Series, edited by Jeffrey Alexander, Philip Smith, David Inglis, and Ron Eyerman
Are Western media systems becoming more American in the digital age? This is often thought to be the case, but Matthias Revers challenges this popular assumption with an nuanced study of contemporary journalism in the US and Germany, arguing that journalistic cultures are not only significantly different from each other still but also variably open and resistant to change. Drawing upon extensive field research of political reporters and examination of discourses of journalistic professionalism as well institutional analysis, Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany finds that occupational norms and values of journalism in the US are vigorously upheld but in fact relatively porous and malleable. In Germany, by contrast, professional boundaries are rather strong and resilient but treated matter-of-factly. This, Revers contends, is both a consequence of institutional arrangements of media systems and historically evolved cultural principles of journalism in both countries which mutually constitute each other.
Endorsements/reviews:
“This is first-rate scholarship. Cross-national studies of the news media are unusual; those based on ethnographic research are rare indeed. This rich, well-conceived, and deeply thoughtful work illuminates both German and American journalistic values and practices. It’s a treasure!” Michael Schudson, Professor of Journalism, Columbia University, New York
“Matthias Revers has written a terrific cross-national ethnographic study of political news reporting in two leading democracies. He draws out the similarities and differences between Germany and the United States with compelling observations and quotes, and he explains his findings with a sophisticated blend of cultural sociology and field theory. Revers is sometimes critical, but never cynical: one comes away from this book with a renewed appreciation of how much civic values still matter for journalists and why these normative commitments are important for all of us.” Rodney Benson, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University, and author of Shaping Immigration News: A French-American Comparison
“No one is foolish enough to think of news media as a transparent window into political action, but few consider the national differences in how the work that journalists do to construct mediated realities for their readers. This study of local political reporting in Albany and Munich unpacks German and American reporters’ beliefs about professionalism, objectivity and fairness to explain significant differences in how they walk the line between facts and opinion.” Myra Marx Ferree, Alice H. Cook Professor of Sociology and co-author of Shaping Abortion Discourse
“[A] rich comparative analysis. As a long-standing advocate of such an approach, I can say that Revers’ work is among the most deeply illuminating of them all.” (Jay Blumler 2019)
Table of Contents
Introduction: Textures and Porosities of Journalistic Fields Chapter 1: Contextualizing US and German Journalism Chapter 2: The Sacred Discourse of Journalistic Professionalism Chapter 3: Staking out the Boundaries of Professionalism: Good and Bad Journalism Chapter 4: Competitive Collegiality: The Press Corps Environment Chapter 5: Embedded Political Reporting: Boundary Processes and Performances Chapter 6: Digital Media and the Diversification of Professionalism Conclusion: Occupational Cultures and Journalistic Fields in Germany and the United States
Courses Taught
University of Hamburg Fall 2023/24: Diskursive Polarisierung (BA Political Science, seminar), Fall 2023/24: Journalismus und digital vernetzte Gesellschaft (MA Journalism, lecture) Fall 2023/24: Theorien des Journalismus in der digital vernetzen Gesellschaft (MA Journalism, seminar) Fall 2023/24: Introduction to Social Sciences and Climate Communication (MA Integrated Climate System Sciences, lecture, co-coordinator) Fall 2023/24: Introduction to Social Sciences’ Methods (MA Integrated Climate System Sciences, lecture and seminar) Spring 2023, 2024: Misinformation, Fake News, and Alternative Facts: Truth and Knowledge in the Public Sphere (MA Journalism, seminar) Spring 2023, 2024: Politik der Debattenfreiheit und Diversität (BA/MA Political Science, seminar) Spring 2023, 2024: Politischer Konflikt: Kommunikations- und Kulturtheoretische Perspektiven (BA Political Science, seminar) Spring 2023, 2024: Researching and Shaping Climate Futures (MSc Integrated Climate System Science; guest lecturer, co-coordinator spring 2024)
University of Leeds Since 2018: COMM1950 Power, Politics and the Media (BA) Since 2018: COMM5540/3340 The Reporting of Politics (MA/BA) Since 2021: PhD Seminar (Ph.D.)
Guest lectures in: Journalism, Politics and Society (BA), The History of Communication (BA), Keywords in Political Communication (MA), Innovations in Political Communication (MA), Journalism: Practice and Policy (MA), Ph.D. seminar
PhD supervision:
Dr. Jose Ortega Chavez: Understanding how the Colombian media intervened in the 2012 -2016 peace negotiation process: a mediatization approach (graduated 2022, co-supervisor, Dr. Katy Parry main supervisor; currently Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of Winchester)
Dr. Andrew Morris: Ritual, resentful affectivity and relationships: An ethnographic examination of reactionary social movement activists’ spaces (2024, main supervisor, co-supervisor Prof. Stephen Coleman)
Sergio Reuben Matamoros: Online civility in news conversations: A disagreeable approach to disagreement (in process, co-supervised with CW Anderson)
Ariadna Obregon Solis: Free speech in Mexican universities (in process, co-supervised with Giles Moss)
Sultan Al-Azri: The influence of social media on first-time parliamentary voters in Oman (in process, co-supervised with Nour Halabi)
Hao Sun: Newsgames and journalistic practices: The roles of newsgames as forms of journalism and the shifts of journalistic practices (in process, co-supervised with Kate Nash)
Goethe-University Frankfurt Winter 2017/18: The Politics of Free Speech and Diversity (BA) Summer 2017: Forschungspraktikum Arbeitskulturen im Vergleich (BA) Winter 2016/17: Institutional Theory (MA) Winter 2016/17: Berufs- und Professionssoziologie: Lehrerberuf (BA) Summer 2016: The Digitization of Work/Lives (BA) Summer 2016: Comparing Work Cultures (MA) Winter 2015/16: Sociology of Occupations and Professions: Media work (BA) Winter 2015/16: Perspectives on the Sociology of Work (MA), (with Heather Hofmeister)
University of Graz Winter 2014/15: Introduction to Sociology (BA) Summer 2013, 2014: Social Theory (Contemporary Theories of Power and Domination) (MA) Summer 2014: Advanced Qualitative Methods (MA) Summer 2013: Methods of Empirical Social Research (BA) Winter 2012/13: Argumentation and Academic Writing (BA) Winter 2012/13: Economic Sociology (MA; for students in economics and business administration) Summer 2012: Media Sociology Winter 2011/12: Cultural Sociology
matthiasrevers.com 