ABSTRACT
The first edition of this handbook still characterized comparative research as a fast-growing area that had the potential to leave a significant imprint on our understanding of journalism on a global scale (Hanitzsch, 2009). Now, ten years later, cross-national studies are assuming a premier position in the field, not only in terms of scale, but also in the way these studies have contributed to both knowledge about journalism and the formation of journalism studies as a discipline. In a recent meta-analysis of major journals, Hanusch and Vos (2019, p. 19) showed that the popularity of comparative research as a “maturing field” has risen significantly during the first 15 years of this century.
