The Media and Communication open access special issue on “Global Inequalities in the Wake of Covid-19: Gender, Pandemic, and Media Gaps” edited by Margreth Lünenborg, Miriam Siemon and Wolfgang Reißmann is out now. Legacy and social media around the world cover and perform inequalities as much as they conceal them. On the one hand, they have the ability to give those affected a voice and to intervene in public discourse. On the other hand, they reproduce stereotypes and imbalances and rely on gendered (infra)structures. This thematic issue explores the entanglement between empowering and restricting forms of media discourse and media practices. Ten contributions from different world regions, which analyze various media, and involve diverse methodological approaches, make visible reproductions of established power structures as well as new visibilities and counter-practices of marginalized groups. In sum, they generate a complex body of knowledge about global and local inequalities and the ramifications of the pandemic in and through media.

All articles are freely available online: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/issue/view/342