Matthias Künzler

Matthias Künzler has been Professor of Communication Policy & Media Economics at the Institute of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin since April 2021.

He studied, earned his doctorate, taught and conducted research at the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Studies (IPMZ) at the University of Zurich.
Between 2008 and 2013, he was a senior assistant and lecturer in the “Media and Politics” department at the IMPZ. After a visiting professorship at the FU Berlin, he became head of research at the Institute for Multimedia Production (IMP) at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden in 2014.

His research interests include the history of of private broadcast companies in Switzerland, youth protection on the internet, crisis and change of leading media online and media promotion. His findings are published in monographs, anthologies and essays. He is currently head of research and professor at the Institute for Multimedia Production (IMP), FH Graubünden and was a visiting professor at FU Berlin.

It is important to him to share scientific research and results with a broad public, e.g. as an interview partner for press, private radio stations or the Swiss daily news program “Tagesschau”. As the former Managing Director of the Swiss Society for Communication and Media Studies (SGKM), he campaigned for the concerns of media research in Switzerland.


Ulla Autenrieth

Since 2021, she has been head of research and lecturer at the Institute for Multimedia Production (IMP) at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden and, since October 2017, has been the operational head of the project Public Service Media: Audience Acceptance and Future Opportunities (applicant: Prof. Dr. Matthias Künzler) at FH Graubünden.

Ulla Autenrieth received her PhD as a scholarship holder in the graduate programme ProDoc Intermedial Aesthetics. Game – Ritual – Performance and in the context of the project Youth Pictures Online, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), at the University of Basel. In 2011, she was a visiting researcher at the Center for New Media Studies at the University of Berkeley. Since 2012 she has been working as a research assistant at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Basel and headed the SNSF project Family Pictures on the Social Web (www.netzbilder.net, website in German).

Her research interests include visual communication in networked environments, use of online media and media literacy, and the impact of mediation processes and usage changes on media systems.
In addition to her academic work, she is a member of the Program Commission for Quality Assurance at the local TV station “Telebasel” and Commissioner of the GGG Kulturkick Basel in the field of Digital Youth Culture (www.digitalejugendkultur.ch, website in German).


Klaus Neumann-Braun

After research and teaching positions at the Universities of Trier, Frankfurt/Main, Koblenz-Landau and in 2002 as a visiting professor at the University of Vienna, where he continues to teach as an adjunct professor to this day, Klaus Neumann-Braun was Professor of Media Studies at the University of Basel until 2020. He is currently working as an emeritus professor in the field of communication consulting and project management.

In the SNSF-funded project “Service public: Publikumakzeptanz und Zukunftschancen” (Servive public: Audience acceptance and future opportunities), he was involved in the application process and in providing advice on the research.

His research focuses on media and communication studies as well as cultural sociology, popular culture analyses, audience, impact and reception research, digital media studies, interpretative methods of media and social research as well as media competence promotion and youth media protection. He is currently advising research projects on the topics of “school education and digitalisation” as well as university initiatives for the development of innovative study programmes at Master’s level on the topic of “digital media studies”.


Fiona Fehlmann

From 2012 to 2017, Fiona Fehlmann studied journalism and communication studies at University of Zurich with a minor in Modern History. Her master’s thesis Legitimacy through PSM Narrative? An experiment on the Influence of Public Service Media Narratives on the legitimacy assessment of the Swiss Radio and Television Corporation (SRG SSR) received the “Goldmedia Prize for Innovative Theses” in 2017.

In 2018 Fiona started a PhD program tied to the SNSF- funded project Public Service Media: Audience Acceptance and Future Opportunities at FH Graubünden and University of Basel.


Bettina Wittwer

Bettina Wittwer holds a B.A. in Media Studies and English linguistics / literary cultural studies and is now a master’s student of a multilingual course in literary studies at the University of Basel.

In addition to her studies she works as an assistant in this project, in a real estate agency and as a dance instructor, where she repeatedly encounters the changed interest of young people in media content.



Former team members

Nina Graf

Nina Graf studied media studies and history at the University of Basel.

In addition to her studies, she works as an assistant in this project and as an editor for a regional newspaper in Zurich. She considers being able to participate in a research project with a current topic such as public service media as a very enriching inside view into scientific research on media.

Isabelle Bannerman

Isabelle Bannerman holds a M.A. in Media Studies and English linguistics and literary / cultural studies from the University of Basel.

She wrote her master’s thesis with the focus on strategies of public service broadcasters to include viewer’s opinions and has now professionally entered the world of media.


Denise Fluhr

Denise Fluhr was a master’s student of Media Studies and English linguistics and literary / cultural studies at the University of Basel.

She dedicated her master’s thesis to researching how young target audiences select and watch entertainment content (BAKOM research project with Tanja Mettauer, supervised by Ulla Autenrieth).


Tanja Mettauer

Tanja Mettauer was also a master’s student of Media Studies and English linguistics and literary / cultural studies at the University of Basel.

She dedicated her master’s thesis to researching how young target audiences select and watch information content (BAKOM research project with Denise Fluhr, supervised by Ulla Autenrieth).



Seraina Tarnutzer

Seraina Tarnutzer completed her M.A. in Media Studies and Art History at the University of Basel. In autumn 2019, she started a PhD program at Università della Svizzera italiana | USI, Lugano, Switzerland.