Buzzword – Foreign word – Keyword: The Innovation term in german media

The term "innovation" has been a buzzword in public communication for decades. Between advertising, products and processes, various dimensions run with and against each other. This study is an attempt to develop a more systematic approach to the concept of innovation and therefore looks at the german media coverage of innovation. The time period of 20 years and the focus on five leading newspapers and magazines made it possible to obtain a total sample of 127,182 articles, which were investigated through an automated content analysis. This provides a specific view of the context, actors and relationships that have developed around the concept of innovation. It shows that innovation is interpreted as the central currency of economic perspectives, represents a weighty evaluation criterion for politicians and, above all, is used as a permanent evaluation of Germany as a business location in international comparison.