Abstract
This article introduces the special issue on "Arts-Based Research in Communication and Media Studies", starting from a discussion on the different strategies and models that have been used to move away from the dominance of the written text in academia. In a second part, the basic characteristics of arts-based research are introduced and discussed, partially through elaborating on the distinction between arts-based research and artistic research.
In the last part of the introduction, the intentionally-kept-vague structure of the special issue is explained, with its more general reflective texts first, and then a series of more case-study-based approaches and more targeted and specific discussions, divided into a cluster on participation and interaction on the one hand, and mediation on the other.