We offer “Power Dimensions in Journalism” as a framework to systematically and holistically expose understudied intersections in journalism studies. This framework emphasizes two under-researched axes of identity in gender media studies: migration and intra-national identities. We adapt Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge’s four domains of power of intersectionality to examine how intersecting axes of identity are researched in journalism scholarship, in media production, content, and reception. Applying this framework as a heuristic tool in the German context demonstrates its utility in diverse national contexts to reveal connections between macro, meso, and micro levels.
ArendtF.BrosiusH.-B.HauckP. (2017). Die Auswirkung des Schlüsselereignisses „Silvesternacht in Köln“ auf die Kriminalitätsberichterstattung [The impact of the key event “New Year’s Eve in Cologne” on crime reporting]. Publizistik, 62, 135–152.
2.
AssmannK.EckertS. (2024). Are women journalists in leadership changing work conditions and newsroom culture?Journalism, 25(3), 565–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231159957
3.
BalsF.LaugwitzL.LischkaJ. A. (2024). Diversity as capital? Marginalized identities and subtle inequality in data journalism. Journalism Practice, 18, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2024.2401453
BockJ. (2020). Frauenbewegung in Ostdeutschland: Aufbruch, Revolte und Transformation in Leipzig 1980-2000 [Women’s movement in East Germany. Departure, revolt and transformation in Leipzig 1980-2020]. Mitteldeutscher Verlag.
6.
BoyerD. (2006). Gender and the solvency of professionalism: Eastern German journalism before and after 1989. East European Politics and Societies, 20(1), 152–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325405284251
BulutC. (2000). Von der Gastarbeiterin zur Schutzpolizistin [From women guest worker to women police officer]. In SchatzH.Holtz-BachaC.NielandJ.-U. (Eds.), Migranten und Medien: Neue Herausforderungen an die Integrationsfunktion von Presse und Rundfunk [Migrants and media: New challenges for the integration function of press and broadcasting] (pp. 253–264). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-07794-7_18
10.
ByerlyC. M. (2016). Factors affecting the status of women journalists. In Palgrave international handbook of women and journalism (pp. 11–23). Palgrave MacMillan.
11.
ByerlyC. M. (2017). Feminist intersectionality research in communications: Origins, contributions and tensions. Ex Aequo, 35, 23–31. https://doi.org/10.22355/exaequo.2017.35.02
12.
ByerlyC. M.McGrawK. A. (2020). Axes of power: Examining women’s access to leadership positions in the news media. In Djerf-PierreM.EdströmM. (Eds.), Comparing gender and media equality across the globe: A cross-national study of the qualities, causes, and consequences of gender equality in and through the news media (pp. 191–232). Nordicom.
13.
ByerlyC. M.ShaB.-L.GrantR. L.DanielsG. L.PevacM.NielsenC. (2023). The versatility of intersectionality in journalism and mass communication research. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 100(2), 249–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990231166941
CarbadoD. W.CrenshawK. W.MaysV. M.TomlinsonB. (2013). Intersectionality: mapping the movements of a theory. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 10(2), 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742058x13000349
16.
ChenG. M.PainP. (2019). Never about my work, never about my motivations: Exploring online experiences of women journalists of color. In LindR. A. (Ed.), Race/gender/class/media: Considering diversity across audiences, content, and producers (4th ed.) (pp. 223-226). Routledge.
17.
ChristiansC. G.GlasserT. L.McQuailD.NordenstrengK.WhiteR. A. (2009). Roles of news media in democracy. In ChristiansC. G.GlasserT. L.McQuailD.NordenstrengK.WhiteR. A. (Eds.), Normative theories of the media: Journalism in democratic societies (pp. 114–136). University of Illinois Press.
18.
ChristiansC. G.GlasserT. L.McQuailD.NordenstrengK.WhiteR. A. (2010). Normative theories of the media: Journalism in democratic societies. University of Illinois Press.
19.
CoffeyA. J. (2018). Challenging assumptions about ownership and diversity: An examination of U.S. local on-air television newsroom personnel. International Journal on Media Management, 20(4), 277–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2018.1557192
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167.
24.
CrenshawK. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241–1299.
25.
CroninM. M. (2011). Daughters of the new revolutionary war: Representations of confederate women and gun culture in the confederate press, 1861–1864. American Journalism, 28(4), 55–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2011.10677802
26.
DietlS. (2022). Transformation und Neustrukturierung des DDR-Rundfunks im Prozess der Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands: Akteure, Interessen, Prozesse [Transformation and restructuring of East German broadcasting in the process of German reunification: Actors, interests, processes] (Vol. 20). utzverlag GmbH.
27.
Djerf-PierreM.EkströmM. (2025). Constructive journalism as practice—Storytelling in solutions-focused news reporting in mainstream news media. Journalism Practice, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2025.2461213
28.
DoT. T.Nguyen-TrungK.LeC. H. (2023). North–South discrepancy and gender role attitudes: Evidence from Vietnam. Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, 7(1), 159– 178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41685-023-00276-9
29.
DorerJ.GeigerB.HipflB.RatkovićV. (Eds.). (2023). Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht: Perspektiven und Befunde der feministischen Kommunikations- und Medienforschung [Handbook of media and gender: Perspectives and findings of feminist communication and media research]. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20707-6
30.
EckertS.AssmannK. (2022). The “ProQuote” initiative: Women journalists in Germany push to revolutionize newsroom leadership. Feminist Media Studies, 22(5), 1011–1028. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2021.1881984
31.
EckertS.AssmannK. (2023). Ost- und westdeutsche Journalistinnen in Leitungspositionen: Zur Wahrnehmung von Arbeitssituationen und beruflichen Praktiken [East and West German women journalists in leadership: On the perception of work situations and professional practice]. In Medien und Ungleichheiten: (Trans-)nationale Perspektiven auf Geschlecht, Diversität und Identität (pp. 1–10). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft e.V. https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.86635
32.
EnglerW.HenselJ. (2018). Wer wir sind: Die Erfahrung, ostdeutsch zu sein [Who we are: The experience of being East German]. Aufbau.
33.
FordeK. R.BedingfieldS. (Eds.). (2021). Journalism and Jim Crow. White supremacy and the Black struggle for a new America. University of Illinois Press.
34.
ForoutanN.KalterF.CananC.SimonM. (2019). Ost-Migrantische Analogien I. Konkurrenz um Anerkennung [East-migrant analogies I. Competition for recognition] (DeZIM Research Notes). DeZIM Institut.
GansH. J. (2004). Deciding what’s news: A study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time. Northwestern University Press.
37.
GansH. J. (2011). Multiperspectival news revisited: Journalism and representative democracy. Journalism, 12(1), 3–13.
38.
GlückA. (2021). Kalter Krieg oder innere Einheit? Der Wandel des Mediendiskurses über Ostdeutschland durch ostdeutsche Journalist*innen in Die Zeit [Cold War or internal unity? The transformation of media discourse on East Germany by East German journalists in Die Zeit]. In BorchersN. S.GüneyS.KrügerU.SchamgergerK. (Eds.), Transformation der Medien—Medien der Transformation: Verhandlungen des Netzwerks Kritische Kommunikationswissenschaft [Transformation of media—media of transformation: Proceedings of the Network for Critical Communication Studies]. Westend Verlag. https://doi.org/10.53291/GFNG8688
39.
GoumaA.DorerJ. (2023). Intersektionalität: Methodologische und methodische Herausforderung für die feministische Medienforschung [Intersectionality: Methodological and methodical challenge for feminist media research]. In DorerJ.GeigerB.HipflB.RatkovićV. (Eds.), Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht: Perspektiven und Befunde der feministischen Kommunikations- und Medienforschung [Handbook of media and gender: Perspectives and findings of feminist communication and media research] (1st ed., pp. 183–197). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20707-6
40.
GreckR. (2018). Schaffen wir das? [Can we do it?]. Publizistik, 63, 359–382.
41.
Guimarães CorrêaL. (2020). Intersectionality: A challenge for cultural studies in the 2020s. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 23(6), 823–832. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877920944181
42.
HallinD. C.ManciniP. (2019). Western media systems in comparative perspective. In CurranJ.HesmondhalgD. (Eds.) Media and Society (pp. 167–186). Bloomsberg Academy.
43.
HanitzschT.HanuschF. (2012). Does gender determine journalists’ professional views? A reassessment based on cross-national evidence. European Journal of Communication, 27(3), 257–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323112454804
44.
HanitzschT.HanuschFolkerRamaprasadJyotikade BeerA. S. (2019). Exploring the worlds of journalism. In HanitzschT.HanuschF.FolkerRamaprasadJ.de BeerA. S. (Eds.), Worlds of journalism. Journalistic cultures around the globe (pp. 1–21). Columbia University Press.
45.
Hannah-JonesN.RoperC.SilvermanI.SilversteinJ., & New York Times Company (Eds.). (2021). The 1619 Project: A new origin story. One World.
46.
HegerK.HeftK. (2024). Vergeschlechtlichte Macht. Das (intersektionale) Geschlechterverhältnis in bundesdeutschen Eliten [Gendered power: The (intersectional) gender relations in German elites]. In KollmorgenR.VogelL.ZajakS. (Eds.), Ferne Eliten: Die Unterrepräsentation von Ostdeutschen und Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund [Distant elites: The underrepresentation of East Germans and People with a migration background] (pp. 179–233). Springer.
JohnsonT. J.VeenstraA. S. (Eds.). (2024). The press and democratic backsliding: How journalism has failed the public and how it can revive democracy. Lexington Books.
50.
JosephiB. (2016). Digital journalism and democracy. In WitschgeT.AndersonC. W.DomingoD.HermidaA. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of digital journalism (pp. 9–24). SAGE.
51.
KeilS.DorerJ. (2019). Medienproduktion: Journalismus und Geschlecht. [Media production: Journalism and gender. In DorerJ.GeigerB.HipflB.RatkovićV. (Eds.), Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht: Perspektiven und Befunde Der Feministischen Kommunikations- und Medienforschung [Handbook of media and gender: Perspectives and findings of feminist communication and media research] (1st ed., pp. 1–16). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
52.
KeilS.DorerJ. (2023). Medieproduktion: Journalismus und Geschlechter [Media Production: Journalism and Gender]. In DorerJ.GeigerB.HipflB.RatkovićV. (Eds.), Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht: Perspektiven und Befunde der feministischen Kommunikations- und Medienforschung [Handbook of media and gender: Perspectives and findings of feminist communication and media research] (1st ed., pp. 271–286). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20707-6
53.
KochR. (1996). “Medien mögen’s weiss”. Rassismus im Nachrichtengeschäft. Erfahrungen von Journalisten in Deutschland und den USA [“Media like it white.” Racism in the news business: Experiences of journalists in Germany and the USA]. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
54.
KolodziejR. (2003). Frauen in Führungspositionen bei deutschen Tageszeitungen [Women in leadership positions at German daily newspapers] [Master’s Thesis]. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität.
55.
KrügerU. (2017). Constructive news: A new journalistic genre emerging in a time of multiple crises. In HofkirchnerW.BurginM. (Eds.), The future information society (pp. 403–422). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789813108974_0022
56.
KühneA. S. (2023). Zwischen Anpassung und Selbstbehauptung: Identitäts- und Handlungsmuster ostdeutscher Journalist*innen [Between adaptation and self-assertion: Patterns of identity and behavior of East German journalists]. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH.
57.
LindF.MeltzerC. E. (2021). Now you see me, now you don’t: Applying automated content analysis to track migrant women’s salience in German news. Feminist Media Studies, 21(6), 923–940. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1713840
58.
LoosenW.AhvaL.ReimerJ.SolbachP.DeuzeM.MatzatL. (2022). ‘X Journalism’. Exploring journalism’s diverse meanings through the names we give it. Journalism, 23(1), 39–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920950090
59.
LünenborgM. (1997). Journalistinnen in Europa: Eine international vergleichende Analyse zum Gendering im sozialen System Journalismus [Woman journalists in Europe: An international comparative analysis of gendering in the social system of journalism]. Westdeutscher Verlag.
60.
LünenborgM.FritscheK.BachA. (2011). Migrantinnen in den Medien: Darstellungen in der Presse und ihre Rezeption [Migrant women in the media: Representations in the press and their reception]. Transcript.
61.
LünenborgM.FürsichE. (2014). Media and the intersectional other: The complex negotiation of migration, gender, and class on German television. Feminist Media Studies, 14(6), 959–975.
62.
LünenborgM.MedeirosD. (2021). Redaktionen dekolonisieren! Journalismus für die Einwanderungsgesellschaft [Decolonize newsrooms! A journalism for an immigration society]. In DilgerH.WarstatM. (Eds.), Umkämpfte Vielfalt. Affektive Dynamiken institutioneller Diversifikation [Contested diversity. Affective dynamics of institutional diversification] (pp. 95–115). Campus Verlag.
63.
MauS. (2024). Ungleich vereint: Warum der Osten anders bleibt. [Unequally united: Why the East will remain different]. Suhrkamp.
64.
MaurerM.JostP.HaßlerJ.KruschinskiS. (2019). Auf den Spuren der Lügenpresse: Zur Richtigkeit und Ausgewogenheit der Medienberichterstattung in der „Flüchtlingskrise“ [On the trail of the lying press: On the accuracy and balance of media coverage in the “refugee crisis”]. Publizistik, 64(1), 15–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-018-00466-y
65.
McIntyreK. E.LoughK. (2021). Toward a clearer conceptualization and operationalization of solutions journalism. Journalism, 22(6), 1558–1573. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918820756
66.
Meier-BraunK.-H. (2021). Der Begriff “Migrationshintergrund” [The term “migration background”]. Landesamt Für Politische Bildung [State Office for Political Education]. https://www.lpb-bw.de/migrationshintergrund
MulcahyM. C. (2017). Professional anxiety: African American female journalists writing their way to legitimacy, 1880-1914 [Doctoral]. University of Alberta.
69.
MullerD. (2021a). A new press theory: Democratic revival. In D. Muller, Journalism and the Future of Democracy (pp. 165–183). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76761-7_12
ÖzcanE. (2013). Lingerie, bikinis and the headscarf: Visual depictions of Muslim female migrants in German news media. Feminist Media Studies, 13(3), 427–442. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.712382
75.
PaulusS. (2008). Ethnisierung von Geschlecht und die diskursive Reproduktion von Differenz in der Fernsehdokumentation „Fremde Nachbarn. Muslime zwischen Integration und Isolation“ [Ethnicization of gender and the discursive reproduction of difference in the television documentary “Foreign neighbors: Muslims between integration and isolation.”]. In WischermannU.ThomasT. (Eds.), Medien—Diversität—Ungleichheit: Zur medialen Konstruktion sozialer Differenz [Media—diversity—inequality: On the construction of social difference by media] (pp. 125–139). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90860-1_7
76.
PfetschB.EildersC.NeidhardtF. (2004). Das “Kommentariat”: Rolle und Status einer Öffentlichkeitselite [The “Commentary”: Role and status of a public elite]. In EildersC.NeidhardtF.PfetschB. (Eds.), Die Stimme der Medien. Pressekommentare und politische Öffentlichkeit in der Bundesrepublik [The voice of the media: Commentaries in the press and the political public sphere in the Federal Republic of Germany] (pp. 39–73). VS Verlag.
77.
PinnI. (1997). Muslimische Migranten und Migrantinnen in deutschen Medien [Muslim migrants in German media]. In CleveG.RuthI.Schulte-HoltheyE.WichertF. (Eds.), Wissenschaft—Macht—Politik. Siegfried Jäger zum 60. Geburtstag [Scholarship—power—politics: Festschrift for Siegfried Jäger on his 60th birthday] (pp. 215–234). Westfälisches Dampfboot.
78.
PinnI.WehnerM. (1995). Europhantasien: Die islamische Frau aus westlicher Sicht [Europhantasies: The Islamic woman from a Western perspective]. Duisburger Institut für Sprach- und Sozialforschung.
79.
PintakL.BoweB. J.AlbrightJ. (2022). Influencers, amplifiers, and icons: A systematic approach to understanding the roles of Islamophobic actors on Twitter. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(4), 955–979. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211031567
80.
RöbenB. (2008). Migrantinnen in den Medien. Diversität in der journalistischen Produktion—Am Beispiel Frankfurt/Main [Migrant women in the media: Diversity in journalistic production—The example of Frankfurt/Main]. In WischermannU.ThomasT. (Eds.), Medien—Diversität—Ungleichheit: Zur medialen Konstruktion sozialer Differenz [Media—diversity—inequality: On the construction of social difference by media] (pp. 141–159). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90860-1_8
81.
RöbenB.WilßC. (Eds.). (1996). Verwaschen und verschwommen: Fremde Frauenwelten in den Medien [Washed out and blurred: Foreign women’s worlds in the media] (1st ed.). Brandes & Apsel.
82.
Röder-TzellosM. (2007). Haremsdame, Opfer oder Extremistin? Muslimische Frauen im Nachrichtenmagazin DER SPIEGEL [Lady of the harem, victim, or extremist? Muslim women in the news magazine DER SPIEGEL]. Frank & Timme.
83.
SchneiderB.SchönbachK. (1993). Journalisten in den neuen Bundesländern: Zur Struktur und zur sozialen Lage des Berufsstandes [Journalists in the new states: On the structure and social situation of the profession]. In MahleW. A. (Ed.), Journalisten in Deutschland: Nationale und internationale Vergleiche und Perspektiven [Journalists in Germany: National and international comparisons and perspectives] (pp. 35–56). Ölschläger. https://archive.org/details/journalisteninde0000wiss/mode/2up
84.
SchneiderB.SchönbachK.StürzebecherD. (1993). Journalisten im vereinigten Deutschland: Strukturen, Arbeitsweisen und Einstellungen im Ost-West-Vergleich [Journalists in united Germany: Structures, work styles, and attitudes compared between East and West]. Publizistik, 38(3), 353–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03653724
85.
SchneiderB.SchönbachK.StürzebecherD. (1994). Ergebnisse einer Repräsentativbefragung zur Struktur, sozialen Lage und zu den Einstellungen von Journalisten in den neuen Bundesländern [Results of a representative survey on the structure, social situation, and attitudes of journalists in the new states]. In BöckelmannF.MastC.SchneiderB. (Eds.), Journalismus in den neuen Ländern: Ein Berufsstand zwischen Aufbruch und Anpassung [Journalism in the new states: A profession between departure and adaptation] (Vol. 3, pp. 143–230). Uni Verlag Konstanz.
86.
SchudsonM. (2014). How to think normatively about news and democracy. In KenskiK.JamiesonK. H. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of political communication (Vol. 1, pp. 95–106). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.73
87.
StreitmatterR. (1992). Economic conditions surrounding nineteenth-century African- American women journalists: Two Case Studies. Journalism History, 18(1–4), 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1992.12066708
88.
SuhrM. (2026). Zwischen Repair und Care: Neugründungen als Chance für Diversität im Journalismus [Between care and repair: Start-ups as a chance for diversity in journalism]. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-50638-4
89.
ThieleM. (2023). Medieninhalte: Geschlechterrepräsentationen und -(de)konstruktion [Media Content: Gender Representations and (De)construction]. In DorerJ.GeigerB.HipflB.RatkovićV. (Eds.), Handbuch Medien und Geschlecht: Perspektiven und Befunde der feministischen Kommunikations- und Medienforschung [Handbook of media and gender: Perspectives and findings of feminist communication and media research] (1st ed., pp. 303–320). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20707-6
90.
TrögerM. (2019). Pressefrühling und Profit: Wie westdeutsche Verlage 1989/1990 den Osten eroberten [Press spring and profit: How West German publishers conquered the East in 1989/1990]. Herbert von Halem Verlag.
91.
TrostorffK. (2009). Diversity in der Redaktion [Diversity in the newsroom] [Master’s Thesis]. Freie Universität Berlin.
92.
United Nations. (2024). International Migrant Stock 2024: Key facts and figures (No. 13). UN DESA/POP.
93.
Van AntwerpenN.HermansL. (2025). “It’s more of a mindset”: Journalism professionals’ perceptions and experiences of constructive journalism. Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849251331262
94.
VuH. T.LeeT.-T.DuongH. T.BarnettB. (2018). Gendering leadership in Vietnamese media: A role congruity study on news content and journalists’ perception of female and male leaders. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(3), 565–587. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699017714224
95.
VuH. T.BarnettB.DuongH. T.LeeT. T. (2019). ‘Delicate and durable’: An analysis of women’s leadership and media practices in Vietnam. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 15(1), 87–108. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.15.1.87_1
96.
Wade-GaylesG. (1981). Black women journalists in the South, 1880-1905: An approach to the study of Black women’s history. Callaloo, (11/13), 138–152. https://doi.org/10.2307/3043847
97.
WellgrafS. (2008). Migration und Medien: Wie Fernsehen, Radio und Print auf die Anderen blicken [Migration and media: How television, radio, and print view others] (Vol. 5). LIT Verlag Münster.
98.
WellsJ. D. (2008). A voice in the nation: Women journalists in the early nineteenth-century south. American Nineteenth Century History, 9(2), 165–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664650802021766
99.
WellsJ. D. (2011). Women writers and journalists in the nineteenth-century south. Cambridge University Press.
100.
WinkerG.DegeleN. (2011). Intersectionality as multi-level analysis: Dealing with social inequality. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 18(1), 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506810386084
