A special issue of Studies in Communication and Media on “The age of synthetic” media has just been published (open access).

In their introduction, guest editors Alexander Godulla and Christian Pieter Hoffmann summarize the contributions of all five studies published in the issue and discuss the implications of synthetic media for epsitemic institutions, such as media or universities.

In “A new face of political advertising? Synthetic imagery in the 2025 German federal election campaigns on social media“, Stephanie Geise, Anna Ricarda Luther, Dr. Sabine Reich and Michael Linke explore how different parties employ AI-generated visuals in their campaigns.

In “‘The morass is just getting … deeper and deeper and deeper’: Synthetic media and news integrity“, Michael Davis and Monica Attard examine the use of genAI in Australian newsrooms.

In “Spotting fakes: How do non-experts approach deepfake video detection?“, Mary Holmes, Klaire Somoray, Jonathan D. Connor, Darcy W. Goodall, Lynsey Beaumont, Jordan Bugeja, Isabelle E. Eljed, Sarah Sai Wan Ng, Ryan Ede & Dan Miller study which strategies lay users employ when attempting to detect deepfakes (supported and unsupported).

In “Support for deepfake regulation: The role of third-person perception, trust, and risk“, Daniel Vogler, Adrian Rauchfleisch & Gabriele de Seta explore preferences for AI regulation, with a special focus on second- and third-person effects.

Finally, in “Synthetic disinformation detection among German information elites – Strategies in politics, administration, journalism, and business“, Nils Vief, Marcus Bösch, Saïd Unger, Johanna Klapproth, Svenja Boberg, Thorsten Quandt, & Christian Stoecker highlight how those with professional expertise in the field of disinformation try to detect AI-generated disinformation.

For more information on the editors’ “Deepfake Project” see the project website deepfake-project.com.