Anne-Katrin Arnold

Anne-Katrin Arnold is currently a consultant to the Communication for Governance & Accountability Program (CommGAP). She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, where her research focuses on issues of public opinion, the public sphere, and political decision making. Anne holds a M.Sc. in Communication Research from the Institute for Journalism and Communication Research in Hannover/Germany and a M.A. in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, where she started her studies as a Fulbright Scholar.

Anne has tried her hand on all sides of political communication, working as a journalist and radio news anchor, speech writer, public relations officer, and researcher. She was a lecturer in social science methods and political communication at her Alma Mater in Hannover, and is currently a Teaching & Research Fellow at the Annenberg School. Her publications include articles on public opinion theory, on social capital, and on ethnic journalism in peer-reviewed journals, as well as a book on social capital and the media.

Being a true believer in the merits of an open and democratic public sphere, Anne is motivated by the conviction that if citizens had free access to information and the right to free speech, the world would be a more just place.