Dominik Speck

Research interests

• Public Service Media
• Media Accountability & Media Transparency
• Media Policy
• Foreign Coverage
• International Reporting on Migration and Forced Displacement

Short biography 

• Since September 2025 and from March 2021-January 2024 Research Assistant at the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism
• 2025 awarded with the TU Dortmund Teaching Award for courses with less than 60 participants
• Since 2025 Adjunct Lecturer in the M.A. Digital Quality Journalism at the Institute of Journalism and Public Relations, Westphalian University of Applied Sciences
• Since July 2024 Vice Secretary and since January 2024 Newsletter Editor of the International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR)
• Since 2021 Member of the pre-selection jury online audiovisual of the Robert Geisendörfer Award
• Since September 2014 freelance journalist, e.g. for media trade service epd medien
• January 2018-August 2026 Research Assistant at the Institute of Journalism at TU Dortmund University
• September 2023 Two-week research stay at the University of Brasília and São Paulo State University, Brazil
• February 2020-January 2021 Visiting Researcher, Media Intelligence Service, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Geneva
• Since 2021 Member of the preselection jury, Robert Geisendörfer Preis
• December 2017 Master of Arts in Journalism (Thesis: "Between Professional Autonomy, Public Responsibility and State Interference. Media Accountability in Myanmar's Transitional Media System")
• October 2016 Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (Thesis: "Der Rockstar-Finanzminister. Die Berichterstattung über den ehemaligen griechischen Finanzminister Yanis Varoufakis in deutschen und französischen Qualitätszeitungen")
• February 2015-November 2017 Student Assistant at the Institute of Journalism
• September 2014 to February 2015 Erasmus+ exchange semester at Istanbul Bilgi University
• September 2013 to August 2014 Editorial trainee at news agency Evangelischer Pressedienst (epd)
• October 2011 to October 2016 Journalism studies (major) and political science (minor) at TU Dortmund University and Ruhr University Bochum

Publications 

• Fengler, S., Speck, D., & van Berkum, M. (forthcoming). Media accountability: concept and challenges from disinformation, de-Westernization and AI. In T. Schultz & N. Jackob (Eds.), Handbook on Media Ethics Research. Edward Elgar.
• Speck, D. (2026). Öffentlicher Rundfunk unter Legitimationsdruck. Medienpolitische Steuerungsansätze in Deutschland, Großbritannien und der Schweiz. ZfP, 73(3), 279-295. DOI
• Fengler, S., Kreutler, M., Leroy, M., Speck, D., van Berkum, M., & Brandt, R. (2026). Building global networks for collaborative journalism research and cross-border journalism education: Lessons learned from five projects at the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism. Journal of Latin American Communication Research, 14(1), 110–121. DOI
• Rothberg, D., Seridório, D. F., Speck, D., & da Silva, S. P. (2024). Challenging the public service remit: A cross-national comparison of guidelines for PSM multiplatform journalism. International Journal of Communication, 18, 4989–5015. URL
• Speck, D. (2024). Shedding light on Public Service Media politics of disclosure: A framework for assessing public broadcasters and transparency. In M. Vaz-Álvarez, A. G. Frazao-Nogueira & M. Túñez-López (Eds.), The Public Value Blueprint: Designing a New Public Service Media in the Digital Context, 127-148. Springer. URL
• EBU (2024). Trust in Public Service Media. The Backbone of News Credibility in Europe. URL
• Speck, D. (2023). Enabling visibility: Online transparency practices of German public service media organisations. In Puppis, M., & Ali, C. (Eds.), Public service media’s contribution to society: RIPE@2021. Nordicom, University of Gothenburg. URL
• Speck, D. (2023). Media literacy and media accountability. In: Media Development LXIX(3), 16-19. 
• Bettels-Schwabbauer, T., Leihs, N., Maksa, G., Speck, D., & Torbó, A. (Eds.) (2022). New Skills for Journalists. Comparative Perspectives from Europe. Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület.
• EBU (2022). Trust in Public Service Media. URL
• EBU (2022). Trust in Media 2022. URL
• Speck, D. (2022). Öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk und Demokratie in Europa. Ergebnisse der EBU-Studie Public Service Media and Democracy [Public Broadcasting and Democracy in Europe. Results of the EBU study Public Service Media and Democracy]. Media Perspektiven 5/2022, 265-276. URL
• Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., Karmasin, M., Barthel, S., & Speck, D. (2022). Media accountability: A global perspective. In: Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., & Karmasin, M. (Eds): The Global Handbook of Media Accountability, 3-58. Routledge
• Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., Karmasin, M., Barthel, S., & Speck, D. (2022). Summary of Country Chapters. In: Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., & Karmasin, M. (Eds): The Global Handbook of Media Accountability, 525-558. Routledge
• Speck, D., Kurkowski, I., & Zayar Hlaing (2022). Myanmar: Potential diversity, unfulfilled hopes. In: Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., & Karmasin, M. (Eds): The Global Handbook of Media Accountability, 408-417. Routledge
• EBU (2021). Democracy and Public Service Media. URL
• EBU (2021). Trust in Media 2021. URL
• Fengler, S., Speck, D., Bastian, M. & Pies, J. (2021). Blind Spots. Shedding Light on Media Transparency Research Across World Regions. In: Berger, S., Fengler, S., Owetschkin, D. & Sittmann, J. (Eds): Transparency and Society – Between Promise and Peril, 93-108. Routledge.
• EBU (2020). Trust in Media 2020. URL
• Speck, D. (2019). Öffentliche Anteilnahme ermöglichen. Transparenz, Aufsicht und öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk in Deutschland. Expertise im Auftrag des Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes (DGB). [Enabling Public Participation. Transparency, Supervision and Public Service Broadcasting in Germany.] Expertise commissioned by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). URL. Also published in in epd medien 24/2020.
• Fengler, S. & Speck, D. (2019). Journalism and Transparency: A Mass Communications Perspective. In: Berger S. & Owetschkin D. (Eds): Contested Transparencies, Social Movements and the Public Sphere. Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements, 119-149. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Speck, D. (2018). Die Gatekeeper sind weg - Eine Welt ohne Journalismus [The Gatekeepers Are Gone - A World Without Journalism]. In: Steinbrecher, M. & Rager, G. (Eds.): Wenn Maschinen Meinung Machen. Journalismuskrise, Social Bots und der Angriff auf die Demokratie [ When Machines Make Opinion. Journalism Crisis, Social Bots and the Attack on Democracy], 220-231. Westend.
• Speck, D. (2017). Der Rockstar-Finanzminister [The rock star minister of finance]. In: European Journalism Observatory. URL

Presentations

Conference presentations (peer-reviewed)

• Jay, H., & Speck, D. (2026). Diverging digital futures: a comparative analysis of approaches to public service platforms in UK and German media policy. European Communication Conference, Brno, September 8-11.
• Speck, D. (2026). A Field Perspective on Public Media and Transparency: Tracing Policy Dynamics in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. IAMCR Annual Conference, Galway, Ireland, 28 June-2 July.
• Speck, D. (2026). Unpacking PSM Transparency from a Media Policy Field Perspective. Insights from Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. DGPuK Annual Conference, Dortmund, March 19-20.
• Speck, D. (2025). Imagining public service platforms: Charting conceptualizations for a “European solution". Workshop "Media Freedom in the Age of of AI and Platforms: A new era for media policy/regulation" of the ECREA Communication Law and Policy Section, Brussels, Belgium, 18-19 September. 
• Speck, D (2024). Transparency as an ordering force in PSB governance: Insights from a comparative study. 10th European Conmunication Conference (ECC), Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 24-27.
• Speck, D. (2024). Innovation through transparency efforts? Stakeholders’ views on PSB politics of disclosure. RIPE@2024 Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, May 16-18.
• Coelho, J. F. G., & Speck, D. (2023). Regulated participatory mechanisms in Public Service Media: Public Complaints in different Media Accountability Instruments in Brazil and Germany. IAMCR 2023 Conference, Lyon, France, 9-13 July 2023.
• Speck, D. (2022). Rethinking the impact of PSM transparency measures: From effects to politics of disclosure. ECREA 2022 conference, Aarhus, Denmark, October 19-22.
• Ferreira Seridório, D., Speck, D., Pereira da Silva, S., & Rothberg, D. (2022). Between Conservation and Innovation: A comparative study on guidelines for PSM multiplatform journalism. RIPE@2022, Vienna, September 18-21.
• Ferreira Seridório, D., & Speck, D. (2022). Self-regulation and independence in state-level public broadcasters in Brazil and in Germany. IAMHIST 2022 conference, Kiel, July 12-14.
• Fengler, S., & Speck. D. (2022). Media Accountability: From Western Concept to Global Models. ICA 2022 Conference, Paris, France, May 28-31.
• Speck, D. (2021). Enabling visibility: Online transparency practices of German PSM organizations. RIPE@2021 virtual conference, September 28 (awarded with the EBU Best Paper Award for Emerging Scholars)
• Speck, D., & Fernandez Quijada, D. (2021). Trust – it’s complicated. The EBU Net Trust Index: an indicator to contextualize trust in media across Europe. IAMCR Annual Conference (virtual), July 11-15.
• Fengler, S., Speck, D. & Eberwein, T. (2019). De-Westernizing Media Accountability Research. Annual Conference 2019 of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), July 7-11, Madrid.
• Speck, D. (2018). Media Accountability in Transition: The Myanmar Press Council - A Challenged Media Accountability Instrument. IAMCR Annual Conference, June 20-24, Eugene, OR.

Invited talks & other presentations (selection)

• Media Trust and Fragmented Public Spheres: Recent Findings from an International Perspective. Presentation at the conference "Alte Bubbles, neue Bubbles. Medien und Kommunikation in zersplitterten Gesellschaften" of the Institut für Zeitungsforschung der Stadt Dortmund, Dortmund, 22 May 2026.
• Public Service Media (PSM) and Information Integrity: PSM as a building block of an alternative platform universe? Presentation at the Seminar “Information Integrity in Brazil and Germany. Policies, Regulation and Media Education” at the Instituto de Radiodifusão Educativa da Bahia (IRDEB). Salvador da Bahia/virtually, March 23, 2026.
• Communication and Democracy in Germany. Lecture at the University of Brasília, September 6, 2023.
• Public Media in Europe: Trends & Challenges. Lecture at the University of Brasília, September 5, 2023.
• Trust in Public Service Media. EBU Media Intelligence Service Video Talk, October 21, 2022.
• Transparency requirements for the supervisory bodies of public service media in Germany. Presentation at the AG DOK panel "Die ARD nach der sogenannten Krise im RBB". DOK.Leipzig Festival, October 18, 2022.
• The Schlesinger case - A spotlight on (a lack of) PSM accountability in Germany. Invited talk in the panel "International panoramas on PSM" of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores de la Comunicación (ALAIC) pre-conference "Defensorías/ouvidorias en un contexto comunicacional en transformación", online/Buenos Aires, September 22, 2022.
•  No democracy without media: A research perspective. EBU Media Intelligence Service webinar, September 16, 2021.
• Trust in Media 2020. EBU Media Intelligence Service webinar, May 14, 2020.
• Presentation of the study "How transparent are public service media?" at the annual media policy conference of ver.di and DGB, Berlin, February 7, 2020.