Disinformation poses a critical threat to information integrity and democratic resilience, with the World Economic Forum identifying it as the top global risk to societal integrity (Elsner et al. 2025). This working group brings together communication studies and journalism to address disinformation across academia, politics, and civil society. Building on two EU projects, the group will strengthen counter-disinformation efforts through enhanced narrative analysis and examining collaboration structures of practitioners. Deliverables include educational materials such as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to teach basic knowledge about disinformation and counterstrategies, which the group will develop based on the EU-funded COPE MOOC. Furthermore, they will organise an expert workshop in Essen and devise evidence-based recommendations for practical interventions. The project positions itself firmly within the European context and builds on existing EU initiatives to combat disinformation, including EDMO, ADAC.iO and PROMPT).
The EU-funded PROMPT project (Sep. 2024 – Feb. 2026), moving beyond a ‘true vs. false’ dichotomy, analysed how circulating narratives interact with societal contexts. Building on this approach, the working group aims to examine selected disinformation narratives in Germany, extending PROMPT’s framework through a case study on disinformation narratives targeting LGBTQ+ communities.
Based on experience from the EU-funded ADAC.iO project (Feb. 2023 - Jan. 2027), this part seeks to systematically examine the perspectives and needs of counter-disinformation actors with regard to a central question: how to improve the coordination of efforts across different societal sectors to counter disinformation threats to democracy. The working group will draw on its unique access to a trans-European Counter Disinformation Network (CDN) of over 400 practitioners to conduct expert interviews, map out common needs, and develop practical recommendations.
Dr Timo Lenk
TU Dortmund University | Institute and School of Journalism
E-mail: timo.lenk@tu-dortmund.de
Timo Lenk is an associate fellow at TU Dortmund University and a postdoctoral researcher in the Horizon Europe project ADAC.iO. His research interests are strategic communication, disinformation, and the public sphere. He earned his PhD from the University of Greifswald.
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Dr Merle van Berkum
TU Dortmund University | Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism
E-mail: merle.vanberkum@tu-dortmund.de
Merle van Berkum is a postdoctoral researcher and project leader at the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism in Dortmund. She was the project leader of the AMAZE! project, funded by the German Foreign Office, and served as a senior researcher in the EU-funded project PROMPT (Predictive Research On Misinformation and narrative Propagation Trajectories). She earned her PhD from City St. George’s, University of London (UK), where she analysed global climate change coverage with a focus on national interests and international relations.
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This working group originally also included Dr Lea Fricke who worked at Ruhr University Bochum until April 2026. Due to a new position outside of the University Alliance Ruhr, a continued participation is not possible.