Communication Research Lab Communi­cation Research Lab

Date:

May 7 to 9, 2026. 

Venue:

The conference will be hosted by Steffen Burkhardt, Hendrik Michael and André Haller at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg), Faculty of Management, Governance and Media, Finkenau 35, 22081 Hamburg, Germany

The international conference Scandalogy 6 investigates the dynamic field of power, protest and the politics of emotions in eight panels:. 

Thursday, May 7, 2026 

PANEL 1 (16:30 – 17:45)

Opening remarks 

Welcome by Hendrik Michael, André Haller & Steffen Burkhardt

Victimhood in Scandal and Scandalous Victimhood

Respondent: Manuel Menke

• The Affective Dimension of Public Apologies: Navigating Victimhood and Scandals in Danish Welfare State Politics (Marie Meier, Stine Grønbæk Jensen)
• Victimhood as Ritual Inversion in Political Scandal (Igor Prusa, Monika Verbalyte)
• Performing victimhood, fueling outrage: the clash of Nordic welfare values in the scandalization of Danish influencer Cathrine Wichmand (Eva Frijns)

Welcome Reception (18:00 – 19:00)

Friday, May 8, 2026

PANEL 2 (9:30 – 10:45) 

Scandalous Publics: Power, Control, and Emotional Mobilization

Respondent: André Haller

• “It Can’t Be True!” Scandals Revealed During the 2025 Polish Presidential Campaign and Their Impact on Society (Dominika Popielec)
• Uncontrolled Social Control: Social Media as a “Digital Panopticon” (Birgit Menzel)
• Demanding Public Outrage: On the Temporal Function of Scandal Communication (Jonas Jutz)
• When Friendship Becomes Scandal: Subversive Emotions and Political Transformation in Bi-National Activism (Yotam Ben-Meir)

Coffee Break (10:45 – 11:00)

PANEL 3 (11:00 – 12:15)

Outrage Narratives: Scandal Storytelling and Reputational Politics 

Respondent: Steffen Burkhardt

• A Culture War Scandal: Mapping complexity in the case of Claudine Gay (Mikkel Bækby Johansen & Anne Jerslev)
• Shattered Glory: Discursive Constructions of the Beckenbauer Scandal in German News Media (Max Eder & Theo Harzer)
• Scandalization by association: Celebrities’ risk of being pulled into a scandal (Nete Nørgaard Kristensen & Anne Jerslev) 
• Scandal Stories. Court Scenarios in Gayot de Pitaval’s Causes célèbres (Johanna-Charlotte Horst)

Lunch Break (12.15-13.45), self-paid at campus canteen)

PANEL 4 (13:45 – 15.00)

Mobilizing Shame: Scandal Communication in Protest Movements 

Respondent: Marijana Grbeša

• Scandal Communication in Social Movements: An Explorative Study of Telegram Data from Querdenken and Climate Activist Networks (Jan Dvorak & Tobias Schrimpf)
• The Fuji TV Scandal: From Sexual Assault to Corporate Disaster (Igor Prusa)
• When does the candle burn? Exploring Scandal–Emotion Constellation Analysis (SECA) through the South Korean Candlelight Demonstrations (2006–2025) (Gwendolyn Domning)

Coffee Break (15.00 – 15.30)

PANEL 5 (15.30 – 16.45)

Weaponizing Emotion: Discursive Transgression and Moral Sanctioning

Respondent: Monika Verbalyte

• From Tragedy to Scandal: Framing the Tempi Hunger Strike in Greece (Myrsini Dogani & Phoebus Voulgaris, Marilena Kokkini)
• Cancel Culture in Transnational Contexts: How Metainvective Scandalization Shapes Claim-Making Struggles (Mei-Chen Spiegelberg)
• When Words Become Scandal: Discursive Transgression and Social Sanctioning (Juan Cannata)
• Scandal as Emotional Weapon: The ‘Gay Kit’ and the Rise of Anti-Gender Grievances in Brazil (Beatriz Carbone)

Coffee Break (16:45 – 17:00)

PANEL 6 (17:00 – 18:00)

Affective Media Regimes: Deviance and the Economy of Outrage

Respondent: Hendrik Michael

• Invading the Screen: Affective Politics and the Vulnerability of Mediated Space (Marie Sophie Beckmann)
• The Role of Deviance in Scandal (Sergei Samoilenko)
• The Economy of Outrage: Emotional Exploitation in 1968 Journalism (Christina Krakowsky)

INFORMAL DINNER MEETUP (20:00 – 22:00)

We have reserved at Gasthaus Heimathafen (address: Baumwall 5-7, 20459 Hamburg; opposite: metro station U3 Baumwall; www.gasthaus-heimathafen.de), traditional Hamburg food & beer, vegan & vegetarian option, self-paid.

Hamburg’s 837th PORT ANNIVERSARY kicks off on Friday. You will find in front of the restaurant along the rive Elbe many ships, sailors and maritime activitities.

Saturday, May 9, 2026 

PANEL 7 (9:30 – 10:15) 

Moral Claims: Organizations and Scandals as Resource of Resistance

Respondent: Steffen Burkhardt

• “Emotions are a big issue here” – Affect and Agency of Health Care Workers (Katja Bürger)
• Manufacturing “Scandalettes” to Mobilize Supporters:  Leveraging Emotions to Force Organizations to Change Policies (Timothy Coombs & Sherry Holladay)

Coffee Break (10:15 – 10:45)

PANEL 8 (10:45– 12:00)

Performing Authority: The Emotional Power of Political Scandalization

Respondent: Hendrik Michael

• Teflon Leaders and Boiling Mobs: Emotions, Protest, and the Limits of Character Assassination (Eric Shiraev & Martijn Icks)
• Scandalizing the Sacred: Christianity as Affective Performance in Donald Trump’s Social Media Communication (Nina Krapić & Milica Vučković)
• “I love the smell of deportations in the morning”: Emotional Architecture of Donald Trump’s White House and POTUS Instagram Communication (Marijana Grbeša, Silvija Vuković, Domagoj Bebić)

Followed by Closing Remarks & Farewell

The aim of this conference was to foster exchange between “scandalogists” from different academic disciplines in order to gather and present recent findings from a wide range of theoretical approaches. We were pleased to welcome scholars from Austria, Portugal, Italy, Finland, Algeria, USA, Russia, and Germany to Bamberg. Keynotes were delivered by Prof. Dr. Robert M. Entman (School of Media and Public Affairs / George Washington University), Prof. Dr. Steffen Burkhardt (Hamburg University of Applied Sciences) and Prof. Dr. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf (WWU Münster). For more information see here.

The 2nd conference in Scandalogy followed the theme "Cultures of Scandals - Scandals in Culture". It established contacts with colleagues around the globe, who are interested in research of scandals. The conference was conceived as a forum for an academic dialogue about scandals as social phenomena. Prof. Dr. Hans-Mathias Kepplinger (University of Mainz) delivered a keynote on "Functional Analysis or Impact Research - Where is Scandal Research Going?" For more information see here.

The conference focused on “Scandals in New Media Environments”. The overarching theme served a two-fold goal: On the one hand, we intensified research on mediated scandals and substantiated our understanding of such forms of scandals and their impact on societies. On the other hand, we connected the study of scandals with a larger scientific community in the broad field of digital communication research, be it in organizational communication, journalism studies, political communication research or other fields. For more information see here.

The conference theme acknowledges the growing presence of populism, partisanship, and polarization and the need to analyze what this means for scandalization processes. Thus, the aim of this conference is to better understand possible impacts of these phenomena on public discourse and media practices from an interdisciplinary and critical scientific perspective. The organizers invited proposals from all subfields of communication studies, political communication research as well as related disciplines and create a forum where conceptual, empirical, and methodological research is presented, reflecting on political scandals and the role which media and/or communication plays therein. For more information see here.

The conference aims to analyze scandals in all their manifestations in regard to crises, conflicts, and conspiracies and discuss how this interrelation is relevant.The goal is to better understand possible impacts of these phenomena on public discourse and media practices from an interdisciplinary and critical scientific perspective.

Research at Scandalogy 5 comes from all subfields of communication studies, political communication research as well as related disciplines and presents conceptual, empirical, and methodological papers reflecting on scandals and the role which media and/or communication plays therein. The conference program includes both empirically and theoretically focused work from advanced scholars as well as graduate students or doctoral candidates. You can find the program for the 5. International Conference in Scandalogy online now.

The conference investigates the dynamic field of power, protest and the politics of emotions. Since ancient times the term scandal signifies schemata of communication in which groups mediate events and actions that involve the breaching of moral and legal codes by evoking strong collective emotional responses in public. From a functional perspective scandal is a communicative means to (re)negotiate social power by clarifying moral and legal codes and symbolically punishing those who break them by exercising collective shaming and ostracization of transgressors. However, during the political or social ruptures of the 21^st century, scandal has become an instrument used by social groups to sow distrust in the power of institutions and their agents, mobilize collective outrage against political opponents or social groups, and eventually reshape public discourse about moral and legal certainties. This conference explores how power, protest, and the politics of emotions intersect in scandalization, and invites scholars to critically engage with these dynamics across disciplines.

This edited volume presents contributions from international researchers. The book combines empirical research and theoretical studies on scandals which were presented at the 1^stInternational Conference in Scandalogy at the University of Bamberg in 2016. Contributions range from the field of communication studies to literary analysis. The publication is a pioneering work that maps the new research field of Scandalogy. You can find more information here.

How certain actions lead to mediated scandalization and public outrage is an indicator for the specific scandal culture of a society. For instance, sex scandals used to end political careers in the USA. Nevertheless, the prominent case of Silvio Berlusconi shows that there may be a different Mediterranean scandal culture. With larger political and technological trends in mind, it seems evident that scandal cultures are mutable, although by a long process.

The book examines such phenomena more closely because scandal studies lack a deeper analysis of cultural factors in the process of (non-)scandalization. In this publication international researchers present desiderata of scandalogy for cultures of scandals and scandals in culture.

This books presents research on mediated scandas and substantiates the understanding of such forms of scandals and thei impact on societies. It connects the study of scandals with the broader field of political communication research, organizational communication, journalism studies, and digital communication studies. The authors focus on the 21st century as an age of perpetual scandalization and on digital technologies as a catalyst in this respect. Against this backdrop, the book examines different aspects of the transformation of mediated scandals through digital communication practices. Click here to get more information about the book.

This volume examines the growing presence of populism, partisanship, and polarization and analyzes what this means for scandalization processes. While politics appears to have entered a mode of perpetual crisis and growing dysfunctionality, the rapid succession of scandals may be a symptom of this crisis and its catalyst at the same time. The book provides a better definition of political scandals and discusses from an interdisciplinary and critical scientific perspective how such scandals are relevant to political developments and how they impact public discourse and media practices. International experts from various subfields of communication studies, political communication research as well as related disciplines contribute to the volume with conceptual, empirical, and methodological approaches which reflect on political scandals and the role of media and/or communication. Read chapters from Scandalogy 4 here.

In recent years, political scandals involving nepotism, sexual harassment, coercion, and abuses of power have captured global attention. This book sheds light on this phenomenon, highlighting the transformations in media and journalism in the digital age and broader socio-political trends. Amidst global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, scandals increase rapidly as institutions struggle under pressure, leading to moral and legal transgressions. These scandals drive public conflict along ideological lines and serve as strategic tools in political battles, reinforced by partisan media. The book explores how scandals contribute to the spread of conspiracy theories, feeding public skepticism towards institutions. Based on recent research by international experts, it comprehensively analyzes the interplay between crises, conflicts, conspiracy narratives, and scandalization in modern society, presenting their impact on political and social dynamics. Read more here

This special issue of Medijske Studije | Media Mtudies presents a global perspective on scandals. The studies published in this special issue showcase that scandals are not trivial. Scandals are like a magnifying lens that offers us insights into the dynamics of public communication and societal change. As such, scandals offer us focal points to observe larger narratives and evolving media practices used by producers and consumers alike. The publication is open access.

Character assassination and scandals have a lot in common! To explore the links, CARP Lab will host the founders of the Scandalogy Research Initiative, André Haller of the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tyrol (Austria) and Hendrik Michael of the University of Bamberg (Germany). In this webinar, Haller and Michael discuss the transformation of scandals by drawing on a comparative framework that makes sense of scandals in global media systems.

Video available on YouTube

Together with crisis researcher W. Timothy Coombs from Texas A&M University we discuss character assassination, scandals, and crisis communication.

Video available on YouTube

Together with Marijana Grbeša (University of Zagreb) we were invited to a roundtable discussion at 4th CARP International Conference in Amsterdam (virtual) to discuss the relationship between scandals and character assassination in illiberal times.

Videos available on YouTube

The Lab for Character Assassination and Reputation Politics (CARP) is an interdisciplinary research team of scholars studying character assassination. It was founded in 2016 in cooperation with the International Society for the Study of Character Assassination (ISSCA). CARP includes researchers with disciplinary homes in psychology, history, communication, and public relations. The research team spans continents, including scholars here at George Mason University and at the University of Amsterdam.