Editing this book would not have been possible without the continuous support from a number of people whom we thank very much. Obviously, the volume would be nothing without the chapter authors' willingness to condense bigger research projects into book chapters and going through several rounds of revisions. We also acknowledge the great support of our student assistant, Joana Kollert, in putting this book together. Thank you to the anonymous reviewers of the individual chapters and overall book concept, and to our colleague in Hamburg, Michael Schnegg, who has provided valuable feedback on the introduction. Kelley Friel has provided support in copy-editing the chapters into better English. We are indebted to Sven Engesser who has taken up the responsibility for this book among the editors of the Global Communications Book Series. Also, we thank Alessandra Tosi from Open Book Publishers who has supported the book and the book series over the years, and who never lost patience with us as the project proceeded slower than expected.