The last part of the publication projects of the 4th conference of Kritische Kommunikationswissenschaft has just been published by the International Journal of Communication.

How does who owns the media shape what we see, read, and believe?

Property is a cornerstone of modern capitalist societies, shaping the distribution of wealth, power, and access. Yet, in media and communication studies, it has long been overlooked as a subject in its own right. This IJoC Special Section on Unpacking Property: Media, Ownership, and Power in Transformation, guest edited by Sebastian Sevignani and Hendrik Theine, sets out to change that.

The Special Section explores how property in the media intersects with today’s social and economic shifts. It delves into transformations in media ownership, the implications for public interest, and how narratives around property and wealth are constructed and legitimized. Key topics include media concentration, feminist political economy, and the expanding dominance of global tech giants in the media landscape.

Through these lenses, the contributions offer fresh perspectives on pressing questions: How does media ownership shape journalistic content? What happens when Big Tech extends its grip to the media, influencing everything from the value chain to the working conditions of journalists? How do surveillance capitalists justify large-scale data dispossession? And can philanthropy-funded journalism provide a viable alternative to commercial media?

This Special Section broadens the scope of property research within communication studies, showing why it’s an essential lens for understanding media’s role in a rapidly changing world. The articles in this special section address crucial intersections—examining how gendered ownership structures link to authoritarian-populist politics and uncovering how the rich use media to construct and legitimize their wealth and property.

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on January 27, 2025. Please log into ijoc.org to browse the table of contents and read the papers of interest. We look forward to your feedback!

Sebastian Sevignani and Hendrik Theine co-author three aricles.