Reporting Web3: Challenges of Technology Journalism in Serving Informed Publics in Europe

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60678/chxj7t92

Keywords:

Technology journalism, comparative research, Web3, quantitative and qualitative content analysis, journalism analysis, blockchain, crypto

Abstract

This article presents a quality assessment of Web3 coverage in mainstream media across four European countries—Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom—as a starting point for discussing the standards of technology journalism that can meaningfully support an informed public. It begins with an overview of existing research on technology journalism and its role in fostering informed citizenry. This is followed by a mixed-methods content analysis, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, to examine how the complex topic of Web3 is reported in the four European countries. Insights from journalists and editors contextualize the analysis. The findings highlight three key challenges across all countries: an event-driven rather than process-oriented focus, a narrow thematic scope on the financial applications of Web3 technology (cryptocurrencies), and a relatively limited diversity of sources. The article concludes by exploring how these challenges—and the broader trends in Web3 reporting—shed light on the potential and pitfalls of technology journalism in contemporary societies.

Author Biographies

  • Katja Leifheit, Stuttgart Media University

    Katja Leifheit is a research associate at Stuttgart Media University, where she previously studied Audiovisual Media (B.Eng.) and Media Management (M.A.). She is pursuing a PhD on the adoption of generative artificial intelligence in the film and television industry as an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Innovation Management & Media at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

  • Judith Pies, Stuttgart Media University

    Judith Pies is a professor for data journalism at Stuttgart Media University. She holds a PhD in communication science from the University of Erfurt. Her research focus is on international and transcultural journalism with a special focus on the MENA region, media in conflict and media accountability. In 2018, she has founded the organization Medien | Kompe-tenz | International, which offers international media consultancy and training in media literacy. 

  • Hilde Van den Bulck, Drexel University

    Hilde Van den Bulck is professor and head of the department of communication at Drexel University. She combines expertise in media structures and policies with expertise in media cultures, focusing on the impact of digitalization on legacy media, especially public service media. Her recent project focuses on the impact of datafication, algorithmization and platformization on citizens’ epistemic agency, analyzing how media can help solve rather than contribute to the epistemic crisis in the digitalized public sphere. 

  • Alessandro D’Arma, University of Westminster

    Alessandro D’Arma is a Reader in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster, where he also serves as Director of the School’s doctoral programme. His research focuses on communications policy, with particular attention to public service media, the politics of media policy, and the digital transformation of the media industries.

  • Marius Dragomir, Media and Journalism Research Center / University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Marius Dragomir is the director of the Media and Journalism Research Center. He works as a professor at Central European University (CEU) in Vienna where he teaches journalism and research design courses as well as practical classes on advocacy and policy engagement. He is also a researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Over the last 35 years, Dragomir has specialized in areas, such as media and communication regulation, digital media, public service media governance, broadcasting, journalism business models and media sustainability, and media ownership regulation. He is currently leading a dozen research projects, among them Media Influence Matrix, Global Media Finances and State Media Monitor. In 2025, Dragomir received the Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award 2025 for the Media Capture Monitoring Report, a research report by the Media and Journalism Research Center and the International Press Institute.

  • Minna Horowitz, University of Helsinki

    Minna Aslama Horowitz, PhD, is a researcher and instructor at the University of Helsinki specializing in communications policy, media trust, and digital governance. She has published widely on transformations of public service media, platform regulation, information disorders, and digital information literacy. In addition to her academic research, she collaborates with governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as policy institutions. Currently, she serves as the Interaction Coordinator for the Finnish research consortium DECA (https://www.decatutkimus.fi/home), is a member of the Nordic Observatory for Digital Media and Information Disorder (https://www.nordishub.eu/), and is a Fellow at the Media and Journalism Research Center (https://journalismresearch.org/).

  • Marta Rodríguez-Castro, University of Santiago de Compostela

    Marta Rodríguez Castro is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), where she is part of the research group Novos Medios. She holds a PhD in Contemporary Communication and Information and completed a postdoctoral stay at the University of Porto in 2022. Her research focuses on Public Service Media (PSM), particularly on public value creation, governance, funding, and regulation within European communication policies. She has authored numerous articles in leading journals such as Journalism Studies, European Journal of Communication, Journal of Information Policy, and Journalism and Media and edited several books. Marta has participated in several national research projects, conducted research stays at CEU (Budapest) and the Hans-Bredow-Institut (Hamburg), and serves on the boards of the International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR), AGACOM and the IAMCR working group “Public Media”.

  • Martín Vaz-Álvarez, University of Santiago de Compostela

    Martín Vaz-Álvarez is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), winner of the Extraordinary PhD Prize in Contemporary Communication and Information by the same university, and member of the Novos Medios Research Group, where he works on technology, artificial intelligence and journalistic values, co-creation, and innovation in Public Service Media. He is also deputy-director for Innovation at the RTVE-USC Chair for the study of European PSM, senior expert at the Media and Journalism Research Center, and member of IDEGA (Institute for the Economic Development of Galicia).

    His research explores the intersection between AI, journalism, and media innovation, with a focus on governance, participation, and digital transformation in public media systems. He has taken part in several national and European R&D projects and has been a visiting researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (SMIT) and at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

    Martín has published extensively in leading international journals, including Journalism, Journalism Studies, Communication & Society, El Profesional de la Información, and Frontiers in Communication and has also authored books and chapters in edited volumes.

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Published

14-07-2026

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Peer-Reviewed Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Katja Leifheit, Judith Pies, Hilde Van den Bulck, Alessandro D’Arma, Marius Dragomir, Minna Horowitz, Marta Rodríguez-Castro, Martín Vaz-Álvarez

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Leifheit, K., Pies, J., Van den Bulck, H., D’Arma, A., Dragomir, M., Horowitz, M., Rodríguez-Castro, M., & Vaz-Álvarez, M. (2026). Reporting Web3: Challenges of Technology Journalism in Serving Informed Publics in Europe. Global Media Journal - German Edition, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.60678/chxj7t92