The goal of this lecture series is to help you to make sense of digital media, the changes it brings, and the challenges it presents. In order to do so, we look at some of the biggest controversies about the uses of digital media in politics and society. We look beyond the headlines and see what kind of scientific evidence is available, how this evidence is produced, and what it does tell us about the role of digital media in politics and society. This podcast will introduce you to the best available evidence on ongoing controversies, enable you to ask better questions on the role of digital media in politics and society, and show you the tools that allow you to answer them. Digital media are hear to stay. No matter how much some people might wish, there is no way back to a time and politics before. So, we'd better start figuring out how this works.

Introduction - Defining digital media - Characteristics of digital media - Digitization and Digitalization - Lowered information costs - Interactivity - Networks - A (very) brief history of digital media - Cultures - Housekeeping - Coda

Script to episode with references and further readings: http://digitalmedia.andreasjungherr.de/intro.html