(2021). The Crisis of the Institutional Press. Digital Journalism. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This article presents an analysis of how different major news media with different funding models (public service versus private sector media) and different organizational legacies (broadcast versus print) in six different European countries approach the social media platforms that they increasingly rely on for some of their online reach. Based on interviews with senior editors and executives

Callings, a prominent way in which communication scholars have spoken about meaningful work, are often used to describe individual pulls towards an occupation. Calling research has also been criticized for lacking participants with diverse backgrounds and occupations. This study addressed these gaps by investigating how Latinx immigrants across two generations made sense of their work as callings.

Paul ReillyManchester University Press, Manchester, 2021, £80, pp 264

Abstract While research on misinformation in Africa has increased in recent years, and despite a growing body of theoretical and empirical work that considers the role of governments, platforms, and users in stopping misinformation globally, there is still a lack of empirical research addressing ways to curb its spread on the continent. Research has coalesced around the idea that no single approach

A growing body of research centers around the concept of “datafication” suggesting a buzz around data studies and, perhaps, the emergence of a research field. This article analyzes and discusses the current state of datafication research. Our dataset comprises 463 publications on datafication identified through a systematic literature search in Web of Science and Scopus, an explorative network analysis

Creator Culture: An Introduction to Global Social Media Entertainment, CunninghamStuartCraigDavid (eds.), New York, New York University Press, 2021 $35.00, pp. 315, ISBN: 9781479817979.

This article analyzes deplatformization as an implied governance strategy by major tech companies to detoxify the platform ecosystem of radical content while consolidating their power as designers, operators, and governors of that same ecosystem. Deplatformization is different from deplatforming: it entails a systemic effort to push back encroaching radical right-wing platforms to the fringes of the

A Precarious Game by Ergin Bulut is a rich and engaging study of a moment of crisis in a company that offers valuable insight into the dynamics of the games industry. But it is also more than this. Its theoretical and methodological framework drawing on social reproduction theory (SRT) takes game studies and media industry studies in novel and profitable directions.

Abstract The contemporary high-choice media environment, characterized by information abundance, makes it increasingly difficult for media outlets to capture audience attention. This concern is particularly pressing for social media, and more specifically for Facebook. Because user engagement is a crucial input factor for the algorithm, fears have risen that journalistic content on digital news media

Abstract The tension between health and economic considerations regarding COVID-19 has resulted in a framing contest, in which proponents and adversaries of strong containment measures hold oppositional frames about the pandemic. This study examines the effects of competing news frames on social media users' policy preferences and the moderation of framing effects played by melodramatic news treatment

Abstract News media act as a window to the world. This window is now believed to be shrinking due to developments in digital media such as algorithmic personalization which restricts people to echo chambers in turn affecting citizens’ views on society. It is an example of the moral panics surrounding digital media and obfuscating underlying social dynamics at play. This article seeks to address this

Abstract The insular usage of media sources is a common tool for populist actors to position themselves in relation to the social mainstream and to hold up their claim of creating a counter public. In this article, we traced these dynamics by analysing differences in the insularity of right-wing populist parties’ source repertoires compared to other parties, i.e., the exclusivity of the sources used

This article proposes that WhatsApp can offer insights into couples’ relationships. Based on Gottman’s therapy model, which mathematically analyzes marital conflicts, this study focuses on couples’ WhatsApp correspondence and asks to what extent it reflects the offline relationships of Generation X. The research was conducted over a year using semi-structured interviews with 18 couples who have been

Online communities provide ample opportunities for user self-expression but generally lack the means for average users to exercise direct control over community policies. This article sets out to identify a set of strategies and techniques through which the voices of participants might be better heard through defined mechanisms for institutional governance. Drawing on Albert O. Hirschman’s distinction

There is considerable disagreement among scholars as to whether social media fuels polarization in society. However, a few have considered the possibility that polarization may instead affect social media usage. To address this gap, the study uses Dutch panel data to test directionality in the relationship between social media use and affective polarization. No support was found for the hypothesis

Open research represents a new set of principles and methodologies for greater cooperation, transparent sharing of findings, and access to and re-use of research data, materials or outputs, making knowledge more freely available to wider audiences for societal benefit. Yet, the future success of the international move toward open research will be dependent on key stakeholders addressing current barriers

Abstract Studies have extensively discussed what characterizes news media sources as alternative. However, this study focuses on users and the range of news sources they perceive as alternative media. We expect that these audience perceptions vary between countries, depending on the level of media fragmentation and polarization. We use original survey data from five countries (Denmark = 2,667 respondents;

Abstract This exploratory article maps the development of the reader revenue market, and its aim is twofold: first, to examine how the digital reader revenue market was structured in 2010–2020; second, to investigate how the market was configured during 2020–2021. The article argues that in the past decade, large news publishers were rewarded for the attention they received from their readers in form

In this study, we explore how a social movement organization (Sunrise.org) and its autonomous public community advocated for the Green New Deal on social media. An autonomous public community is a group of publics that initially connect with each other through their engagement with a focal organization. Then, they go on to develop ties among themselves that go beyond simply responding to organizations’

Abstract Social media have become conduits through which audiences can challenge elites in media and politics. Recent updates to cascading activation, originally developed to explain how frames flowing from powerful figures gain public dominance, give greater theoretical scope for audiences to exert influence. Yet empirical understanding of how and in what circumstances this happens with respect to

Abstract The article analyzes the in-article referencing practices of right-wing alternative online news media. It distinguishes between a journalistic logic, in which referencing practices follow established journalistic ways of ensuring facticity and context, and a movement logic, in which references are used to obtain political, movement-oriented goals of dismissing opponents, supporting your allies

Abstract Throughout the current global health crisis, false and misleading content has proliferated on social media. Previous research indicates that users of social media primarily share information that contains attention-grabbing elements. Because sensationalist elements are prevalent in disinformation, this study examines the role of sensationalism in supporting disinformation. We conducted survey

Abstract Based on the Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability model and the anthropomorphism theory, this study examines whether embedding human-like characteristics in algorithms increases the persuasiveness of algorithm-written news. This study further investigates how different types of relationships (servant or friend) that human writers form with algorithms determine the persuasiveness of algorithm-generated

Abstract Sponsored editorial content is material with similar qualities and format to content that is typically published on a platform or by a content provider, but which is paid for by a third party. The growth of sponsored content in digital journalism over the last two decades has attracted wide-ranging research into developing practices, arrangements and their industrial, cultural and societal

Abstract Over the last decade, top media organizations have restructured their newsrooms and created branded content teams, or studios, devoted entirely to the production of new native advertising formats in order to leverage this business opportunity. The goal of this exploratory study is to analyse how news organizations in Spain implement this strategy and create branded content teams, changing

Abstract Profound upheavals and the search for a viable business model have led the news industry to explore new sources of revenue. The mainstream Spanish media have set up special units to produce branded content, advertising that is integrated into editorial content. This article presents a multi-faceted approach to this practice in Spain, including interviews with branded content lab managers,

Abstract New Information and Communication Technologies (NICTs) are transforming newsmaking practices and journalistic cultures across the globe. Although factors such as lack of Internet access and prohibitive costs are constraining the adoption of these interactive digital technologies in most African countries, journalists are creatively appropriating these digital tools in their everyday professional

Abstract Recent years show a growing concern about the spread of misinformation on social media. One of the avenues to address this challenge is the practice of social correction—the correction of misinformation conducted by other social media users. While social correction focuses on individuals in the context of their respective social media networks, we offer the concept of collective social correction:

Abstract Conspiracy theories about the ‘real’ origins of the coronavirus have co-evolved with media coverage of the COVID-19 crisis itself; the World Health Organization now warns about a global “infodemic” paralleling the viral pandemic. Covering these conspiracy theories presents difficult editorial choices for news organizations. This article examines how diverse news outlets chose to report on

Abstract The increasing use of recommender systems to provide personalized news delivery influences media systems worldwide. Using different data sources to predict what content will be interesting for specific readers, recommender systems can better accommodate individual information needs, but also raise concerns about potential audience fragmentation. However, current assessments of the effects

ABSTRACT In light of the widespread use of big data analytics, internet users are increasingly confronted with algorithmic decision-making. Developing algorithm literacy is thus crucial to empower users to successfully navigate digital environments. In this paper, we present the development and validation of an algorithm literacy scale that consists of two interrelated dimensions: 1) awareness of algorithms

Research on news exposure has shown that while political knowledge and interest largely determine the degree of active engagement with online news, some people are generally less willing to invest into actively staying informed. Instead, these people report to pursue a passive mode of relying on specific sources, such as social media, based on the belief that “news finds me” (NFM). Notably, the three

Research and policy have invested in the prospect that gaining digital skills enhances children’s and young people’s outcomes. A systematic evidence review of research on digital skills among 12- to 17-year-olds identified 34 studies that used cross-sectional survey methods to examine the association of digital skills with tangible outcomes. Two-thirds concerned the association with online opportunities

Prior studies have investigated the antecedents of Health Information Seeking (HIS) using different theoretical frameworks, whereas the inconsistencies in the reported findings warrant a more comprehensive synthesis of this body of knowledge. This meta-analysis identified 12 major antecedents of HIS from six widely used information seeking models examining HIS, developed an organizing framework that

False consensus, or biased projection of one’s opinion onto others, has repeatedly been described by political communication scholars as a derivative of selective exposure to attitude-consistent information. This study proposes a distinctive approach to understanding the phenomenon by suggesting “perceived threat” as a motivational factor that contributes to self-serving estimates of public opinion

This article presents new empirical insights into what people do with conspiracy theories during crises. By suppressing the impulse to distinguish between truth and falsehood, which has characterized most scholarship on the COVID-19 “infodemic,” and engaging with claims surrounding two popular COVID-19 conspiracies—on 5G and on Bill Gates—in South Africa and Nigeria, we illustrate how conspiracies

The use of location-based real-time dating applications (LBRTDAs) has become commonplace among college-aged persons. With an increase in their use, these applications may serve as vectors for experiencing cybervictimization. Limited research has examined the implications that application usage has on individual experiences with cybervictimization, particularly cyberstalking, cyberharassment, image-based

This study explored Facebook users’ hostile perceptions of shared news content and its relationship with their political participation. This study conducted an online experiment with a 3 (news slant: pro-attitudinal, neutral, counter-attitudinal) × 3 (news sharer: in-group, neutral, out-group) between-subjects design. This experiment was administered in the context of the abortion issue in South Korea

This study examines the boundaries and limitations of the diffusion of “development journalism” among both the editorial body and the journalist body in the Egyptian newsrooms after the 2011 Arab Spring. Newsrooms under study represent different perspectives including state-owned, private-independent, and opposition newspapers. Through in-depth interviews with thirty-seven editors in chief and journalists

Abstract Prior work shows that luxury brands predominantly prefer lifestyle advertisements to functional advertisements such that abstract or intangible elements are prevalent, but concrete or tangible elements are less common. This begs the following question: Is this because lifestyle advertisements are more effective than functional advertisements? This research shows that, depending on the situation

Abstract Despite increasing usage of spirituality and fantasy in advertising, especially during the novel coronovirus pandemic, the implications of this trend on consumer well-being and behavior remain unknown. To address this gap, this research conceptualizes a spiritual-fantasy advertising framework and its subsequent effects on consumer well-being and responses to advertising by synthesizing and

ABSTRACT In communication research, topic modeling is primarily used for discovering systematic patterns in monolingual text corpora. To advance the usage, we provide an overview of recently presented strategies to extract topics from multilingual text collections for the purpose of comparative research. Moreover, we discuss, demonstrate, and facilitate the usability of the “Polylingual Topic Model”

This article generates new insights into the dynamic interplay between social media content generated by right-wing movements, user engagement, and the public attention movements receive. I argue that movement leaders seek to achieve high user engagement for utilizing mechanisms of information diffusion to increase both online and on-site mobilization. In a case study, I analyze the German right-wing

The increasing prevalence of body dissatisfaction among young people is now well recognised with much of the existing literature making connections between media imagery and body dissatisfaction. Media literacy-based interventions continue to be rolled out in schools across the global north in an attempt to prevent body dissatisfaction. However, the pervasiveness of digital media in young people’s

Affective polarization—growing animosity and hostility between political rivals—has become increasingly characteristic of Western politics. While this phenomenon is well-documented through surveys, few studies investigate whether and how it manifests in the digital context, and what mechanisms underpin it. Drawing on social identity and intergroup theories, this study employs computational methods

This article explores how Twitter’s algorithmic timeline influences exposure to different types of external media. We use an agent-based testing method to compare chronological timelines and algorithmic timelines for a group of Twitter agents that emulated real-world archetypal users. We first find that algorithmic timelines exposed agents to external links at roughly half the rate of chronological

The fear of the unknown combined with the isolation generated by COVID-19 has created a fertile environment for strong disinformation, otherwise known as conspiracy theories, to flourish. Because conspiracy theories often contain a kernel of truth and feature a strong adversarial “other,” they serve as the perfect vehicle for maligned actors to use in influence campaigns. To explore the importance

This article presents a social semiotic analysis of emoji-language semiosis. Combining the theoretical architecture of Systemic Functional Linguistics and methodology of Multimodal Discourse Analysis, we propose an analytical framework that can identify how emoji make meaning both individually and in interaction with language. Using the web-based coding software WebAnno, we apply this framework to

Hegemonic Open Science, emergent from the circuits of knowledge production in the Global North and serving the economic interests of platform capitalism, systematically erase the voices of the subaltern margins from the Global South and the Southern margins inhabiting the North. Framed within an overarching emancipatory narrative of creating access for and empowering the margins through data exchanged

This study looks at how mourning is expressed using the hashtag #grief on the social media app TikTok using qualitative content analysis. In a dataset of 100 TikTok videos, this article explores how the TikTok ranking algorithms, which orders content based on previous user engagements, may connect people in mourning across the platform and how these platform-enabled interactions may shape grief expressions

This article examines how digital games on Sami culture can draw attention to Indigenous issues when produced in collaboration with Sami community members. Through a case study that probes the design, game mechanics, and user experience of Gufihtara eallu (2018), this article frames Indigenous digital games and game development as a form of digital storytelling that is able to educate players on Indigenous

Though prior studies have analyzed the textual characteristics of online comments about politics, less is known about how selection into commenting behavior and exposure to other people’s comments changes the tone and content of political discourse. This article makes three contributions. First, we show that frequent commenters on Facebook are more likely to be interested in politics, to have more

Paralleling very visible debates in psychology, some parts of the communication field have recently pushed for a wholesale endorsement of the principles of open science and its practices, including a particular focus on replicability and reproducibility as quality criteria. Unfortunately, these discussions have been plagued by a set of at least 3 interrelated problems: A lack of conceptual clarity

Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and DeceptionLevineTimothy R

Drawing from resilience theory, this study explored subgroups of undocumented college students (UCS) based on their patterns of protection-oriented family communication and strengths-based psychological coping. Using survey data from 237 UCS, latent profile analyses revealed three subgroups. Safe optimistic copers reported occasional documentation-seeking and know-your-rights communication, but higher

Persuasive message designers would like to be able to pretest messages to see which will be more effective in influencing behavioral outcomes, but pretesting using behavioral measures is commonly not practical. Examination of within-study effect size comparisons from 317 studies of 22 message variations suggests that persuasive messages’ relative effectiveness is strikingly similar across attitudinal

Ambivalence is a phenomenon that transcends disciplinary divides and is associated with a myriad of mixed outcomes. Yet, identifying and representing the complexities of ambivalent experiences can be difficult using traditional qualitative methods. Thus, the goal of the present study was to advance a qualitative method, thematic co-occurrence analysis, to address this issue. To illustrate the usefulness

This study is a meta-analysis of cultivation research from the 1970s to the present, based on three-level analyses of 3842 effect sizes from 406 independent samples. We found an overall effect size of .107 that varies only within a fairly narrow range across many potential moderators. Cultivation effects remain stable over the decades, implying an enduring relationship between television’s message

Previous studies generally assume that barriers to internet access are largely passive. That is, exclusion from the Internet is a consequence of poorly resourced individuals, communities, and institutions. This study complicates that assumption by focusing on the active policing and gatekeeping of internet access. Specifically, we estimate the causal effect of free Wi-Fi at chain restaurants on quality-of-life