Hype Studies visited the wonderful International Journalist Festival in Perugia. Andreu & Jascha from the group and Johannes Klingebiel, together the authors of the Hype Literacy Toolkit were present.

What is hype and how can journalists escape the tired binary of doomsday vs. paradise when reporting on AI?

That was the central question raised in the panel session "Hype Literacy" at the International Journalism Festival. The room was PACKED!

Journalists play a central role in deciding which stories gain traction, whose voices appear authoritative, and which visions of the future become publicly plausible.
Hype literacy is about strengthening democratic accountability. It helps societies understand how the future is negotiated and whose interests dominate that negotiation.

Karen Allen, Jascha Bareis, Christo Buschek, and moderator Steffen Leidel unpacked how narratives around tech innovations like artificial intelligence are constructed – and how journalists can learn to decode them.

🔹 Karen shared research on AI coverage in South Africa and Kenya, showing how reporting often "flip-flops between euphoria and dystopia."
🔹 Christo challenged claims about ever-smarter AI, arguing that most of this is marketing: “There are no suitable tools to measure the competencies of today’s models.”
🔹 Jascha left the audience with a simple reminder: “Hype is never accidental. It is built. And it can be deciphered.”

For hypes studies it was a real pleasure to get to know impressive personalities of investigate journalism and connect with different media houses in our dedication to spread hype literacy. We felt that we were at the heart of the journalist world where things matter.

🎥 You can watch the full session here

Or check out the nice sketch notes by Jana Wiese to get a direct impression what was talked about on the panel: