Elisabeth Schmidbauer

About

Elisabeth Schmidbauer is a research associate at the Chair of Media Uses and Effects (Prof. Dr. Anna Kümpel) at the Department of Media and Communication, LMU Munich. At the Weizenbaum Institute, she and Lion Wedel are further developing a project that collects podcast usage data via Spotify data donations. In addition, listeners of news podcasts are interviewed about the role of these formats in their news repertoire and their experiences with data donation. This mixed-methods approach combines quantitative usage data with qualitative insights to build a comprehensive picture of podcasts' significance for news use. The project is supported by the Ludwig Delp Foundation, which provides incentives.

Her academic background lies in researching podcasts, particularly political podcasts and news use, as well as data donations as a user-centered method for collecting trace data. She previously worked on the bidt-funded project "Data Donations 4 Sustainable Change." She is also, together with Lion Wedel, PhD Representative of the Data Donation Network and will become deputy spokesperson for early-career researchers at IfKW from October 2026. 

Research Group: Digital News Dynamics (12.10.26 - 23.10.26)