Papers by Trevor Diehl
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal Of Public Opinion Research
This study explores the individual- and country-level factors that influence how getting news fro... more This study explores the individual- and country-level factors that influence how getting news from social media relates to people’s beliefs about anthropogenic climate change. Concepts of psychological distance and motivated reasoning are tested using multilevel analysis with survey data in 20 countries (N = 18,785). Results suggest that using social media for news is associated with a decrease in climate skepticism across the sample. However, social context at the individual-level (conservative political ideology and low trust in science) and at the macro-level (high gross domestic product and individualism) moderate the effect, and therefore reduce social media’s potential to inform the public about climate change. This study contributes to conversations about the ability of emerging media to address science issues, particularly in developing countries.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Human Communication Research
Despite early promise, scholarship has shown little empirical evidence of learning from the news ... more Despite early promise, scholarship has shown little empirical evidence of learning from the news on social media. At the same time, scholars have documented the problem of information ‘snacking’ and information quality on these platforms. These parallel trends in the literature challenge long-held assumptions about the pro-social effects of news consumption and political participation. We argue that reliance on social media for news does not contribute to people’s real level of political knowledge (objective knowledge), but instead only influences people’s impression of being informed (subjective knowledge). Subjective knowledge is just as important for driving political participation, a potentially troubling trend given the nature of news consumption on social media. We test this expectation with panel survey data from the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Two path model specifications (fixed effects and autoregressive) support our theoretical model. Implications for the study of the ‘d...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Behavioral Scientist
Very little is known about public perceptions of journalists outside Europe and the United States... more Very little is known about public perceptions of journalists outside Europe and the United States. Even less is known about the role of these attitudes in sustaining civic life around the world. Using individual and country-level survey data, this study explores public attitudes of press performance and their relationship with news consumption and civic participation in 22 countries. The study argues that the nature of civic and local participatory behaviors is often intertwined with notions about what is “good journalism.” Results suggest that public evaluations of press performance influence news use. News consumption is also tightly related to civic participation, even in markedly divergent cultural contexts. Citizens’ assessment of journalism practice is also a positive moderator of these relationships. This study builds on international comparative work related to the effects of press freedom and journalism practice on stimulating public life.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
European Journal of Communication
Insurgent candidates from across the political spectrum are increasingly turning to social media ... more Insurgent candidates from across the political spectrum are increasingly turning to social media to directly engage the public. Social media offer a platform that favours affect and personality, both key components of populist-style rhetoric, a label that is often attached to politicians outside the political establishment. Despite noteworthy exceptions, few cross-national studies of high-profile candidates’ use of social media exist, and even less is known about how candidates representing various political ideologies employ affect alongside populism. To advance the state-of-the-art, this study examines the sentiment and rhetorical targets of attack in the Twitter feeds ( N = 25,825 tweets) of six presidential candidates in the United States and French election campaigns of 2016 and 2017. Employing dictionary-based quantitative analysis, the study finds variation among the candidates’ rhetoric in terms of how they employ populist themes, affect and ideology. The findings suggest th...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Communication and the Public
This study examines the role of individuals’ media diets in contributing to the growing support f... more This study examines the role of individuals’ media diets in contributing to the growing support for right-wing populist parties. Drawing on social identity theory and the notion of populism as political communication, this study argues that socio-economic status and tabloid news use explain support for right-wing candidates through heightened out-group hostility. Using survey data from the Austrian National Election Study ( N = 1161), we present a process model in the structural equation modeling framework, and we compare the direct and indirect effects of attention to tabloid versus broadsheet news on the probability to vote for the Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs. Results show that the link between social status and support for right-wing populism is mediated by attention to tabloid news and anti-immigration attitudes. Implications for democratic norms are discussed in light of the overlap between news media and politicians in their use of populist narratives.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journalism Practice
The news industry is battling declining levels of public trust in the media and historically high... more The news industry is battling declining levels of public trust in the media and historically high levels of perceived media bias. At the same time, journalism practice has been altered, at least in part, by the norms and practices of social media. In this new environment, the audience’s perception of what constitutes “good journalism” is also changing. How might audience expectations of journalism performance on social media relate to perceptions of media bias? Does engaging with the audience on social media matter? A recently published study (Gil de Zúñiga, Diehl, and Ardèvol-Abreu 2018) explores these questions in the context of Twitter using a survey from the United States. The study found that regardless of audience expectations of journalism practice on social media, perceptions of editorial media bias decline when people interact with journalists on Twitter. Results suggest that reporters and news organizations should continue to embrace interactive and social affordances of the so-called social web and engage with citizens when possible.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
New Media & Society
This study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how and why certain memes prevail a... more This study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how and why certain memes prevail as a form of political discourse online. Since memes are constantly changing as they spread, drawing inferences from a population of memes as concrete digital artifacts is a pressing challenge for researchers. This article argues that meme selection and mutation are driven by a cooperative combination of three types of communication logic: wasteful play online, social media political expression, and cultural evolution. To illustrate this concept, we map Shepard Fairey’s Obama Hope Poster as it spreads online. Employing structural rhetorical analysis, the study categorizes Internet memes on branching diagrams as they evolve. We argue that mapping these variations is a useful tool for organizing memes as an expression of the values and preferences embedded in online communities. The study adds to the growing literature around the subversive nature of memetic diffusion in popular and politic...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journalism Studies, 2016
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Human Communication Research
Second screening politics is an emerging communication practice for engaging with public affairs ... more Second screening politics is an emerging communication practice for engaging with public affairs content. Scholars are increasingly interested in exploring pro-democratic effects of dual screening during news events and election cycles. This paper examines the potential for second screening practices to develop social capital on social media platforms through online and offline political discussion: a key component of maintaining social resources. More specifically, this manuscript focuses on the development of community-related social capital. Relying on two waves of panel data from 19 countries , the results suggest that dual screening contributes to the proliferation of building social capital on social media over time. This relationship is also partially mediated through online political discussion. Moreover, the between-country variation in the relationship between second screening and social media social capital is related to country-level freedom of expression indicators.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
During the 2012 elections, several narratives built around humor, zingers, and gaffes blurred
the... more During the 2012 elections, several narratives built around humor, zingers, and gaffes blurred
the lines between news and entertainment. This paper examines how political journalists used
humor on Twitter during the first 2012 presidential election debate. This study also explores
the character of such humor, how jokes relate to other forms of Twitter interactivity, and who,
or what are the targets of these jokes. Twitter use by political reporters during a presidential
debate might offer evidence of a deviation from traditional reporting norms. Recent scholarship
on journalism practice and new media technologies suggests that journalists tend to “normalize”
new media affordances; journalists often adapt long-standing routines to new
technological platforms. Normalization offers a solid construct to guide inquiry on how social
media might, or might not, affect change in the delivery and style of contemporary political
news. A content analysis of tweets posted by 430 political journalists during the debate reveals
widespread use of humor by journalists on Twitter, especially associated with the retweet function.
About one-fifth of the journalists’ tweets included jokes, suggesting a growing acceptance
of the rhetorical device on Twitter. Results also reveal that journalists and commentators
pointed their jokes toward political figures, but more sophisticated satirical comments were
aimed at the news media or the debate process at large. Overall, political journalists tended to
avoid humor as a means of criticism. Implications regarding the role of humor in politics, the
nature of reporting on Twitter, and areas of potential future research are discussed.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Research Papers by Trevor Diehl
This special issue of the Social Science Computer Review provides a sample of the latest strateg... more This special issue of the Social Science Computer Review provides a sample of the latest strategies employing large data sets in social media and political communication research. The proliferation of information communication technologies, social media, and the Internet, alongside the ubiquity of high-performance computing and storage technologies, has ushered in the era of computational social science. However, in no way does the use of ‘‘big data’’ represent a standardized area of inquiry in any field. This article briefly summarizes pressing issues when employing big data for political communication research. Major challenges remain to ensure the validity and generalizability of findings. Strong theoretical arguments are still a central part of conducting meaningful research. In
addition, ethical practices concerning how data are collected remain an area of open discussion. The article surveys studies that offer unique and creative ways to combine methods and introduce new tools while at the same time address some solutions to ethical questions.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
News use via social media has been linked to pro-democratic political behaviors. However, most pe... more News use via social media has been linked to pro-democratic political behaviors. However, most people use social media for non-political purposes, like connecting with friends and browsing news feeds. Recent research indicates these behaviors may also
have democratic benefits, by means of political expression in social media. Drawing on panel data from a nationally representative sample, this study extends this line of research
by exploring how social interaction and news-seeking behaviors on social media lead to diverse networks, exposure to dissenting political opinion, and ultimately reconsidering and changing one’s political views. Social media are a unique communication platform, and their attributes might influence exposure to political information. The tendency for users to build and maintain friend networks creates a potential deliberative space for
political persuasion to take place. Consistent with prior literature, news use leads to political persuasion. More interestingly, apolitical, but social interactive uses of social media also lead to political persuasion. These relationships are partially mediated
through network and discussion attributes.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Articles by Trevor Diehl
Scholarship on audience fragmentation typically takes one of two approaches: The micro-level anal... more Scholarship on audience fragmentation typically takes one of two approaches: The micro-level analysis of individuals' selective exposure to partisan news, or the macrolevel analysis of audience overlap. To bridge the gap between these levels of analysis, we introduce the concept of attention centrality as a set of macro-to-micro measures that characterize how individual news media selection is situated within networks of public attention. Relying on an online panel survey conducted in the United States (N ¼ 1,493), we examine the relationship between three indicators of respondents' attention centrality (closeness, betweenness, and reach) and the partisan valence of their news selections. The study finds different patterns of results for the three indicators of attention centrality, indicating that partisan news media are not uniformly isolated to the periphery of public attention. Results are discussed in light of conversations about selective exposure and audience overlap in the United States and around the world.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Communication, 2019
Since introduced by Professor McLeod and the Wisconsin School at the turn of the century, a large... more Since introduced by Professor McLeod and the Wisconsin School at the turn of the century, a large body of research has employed the communication mediation model. Yet, most of these studies rely on cross-sectional and individual-level survey data collected in the United States. This paper seeks to address these shortcomings by testing a specification of the model—the citizen communication mediation model—across cultures. Relying on panel survey data from 19 countries, this study advances a multilevel citizen communication mediation model. Our findings indicate that discussion remains a strong mediating predictor of political participation across countries and political contexts, though the relationship is moderated by macro-level repressive democratic expressive norms.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
News consumption in today's media environment is increasingly characterized by reliance on multip... more News consumption in today's media environment is increasingly characterized by reliance on multiple platforms: People now get their news from the web, television, radio, and various social media. Employing a nationally representative survey from the United States, this study develops an index of multi-platform news use. The index is validated by testing age group differences in the way people participate in politics. Results show that Millennials are more likely to rely on multiple platforms for news. Multi-platform news is also positively related to alternative modes of political engagement. Results are discussed in light of generational shifts in political behavior. In the contemporary media environment, news users increasingly rely on multiple platforms as sources of news and public affairs information, including not only " traditional " platforms such as television and newspapers, but also web-only and alternative
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Trevor Diehl
the lines between news and entertainment. This paper examines how political journalists used
humor on Twitter during the first 2012 presidential election debate. This study also explores
the character of such humor, how jokes relate to other forms of Twitter interactivity, and who,
or what are the targets of these jokes. Twitter use by political reporters during a presidential
debate might offer evidence of a deviation from traditional reporting norms. Recent scholarship
on journalism practice and new media technologies suggests that journalists tend to “normalize”
new media affordances; journalists often adapt long-standing routines to new
technological platforms. Normalization offers a solid construct to guide inquiry on how social
media might, or might not, affect change in the delivery and style of contemporary political
news. A content analysis of tweets posted by 430 political journalists during the debate reveals
widespread use of humor by journalists on Twitter, especially associated with the retweet function.
About one-fifth of the journalists’ tweets included jokes, suggesting a growing acceptance
of the rhetorical device on Twitter. Results also reveal that journalists and commentators
pointed their jokes toward political figures, but more sophisticated satirical comments were
aimed at the news media or the debate process at large. Overall, political journalists tended to
avoid humor as a means of criticism. Implications regarding the role of humor in politics, the
nature of reporting on Twitter, and areas of potential future research are discussed.
Research Papers by Trevor Diehl
addition, ethical practices concerning how data are collected remain an area of open discussion. The article surveys studies that offer unique and creative ways to combine methods and introduce new tools while at the same time address some solutions to ethical questions.
have democratic benefits, by means of political expression in social media. Drawing on panel data from a nationally representative sample, this study extends this line of research
by exploring how social interaction and news-seeking behaviors on social media lead to diverse networks, exposure to dissenting political opinion, and ultimately reconsidering and changing one’s political views. Social media are a unique communication platform, and their attributes might influence exposure to political information. The tendency for users to build and maintain friend networks creates a potential deliberative space for
political persuasion to take place. Consistent with prior literature, news use leads to political persuasion. More interestingly, apolitical, but social interactive uses of social media also lead to political persuasion. These relationships are partially mediated
through network and discussion attributes.
Articles by Trevor Diehl
the lines between news and entertainment. This paper examines how political journalists used
humor on Twitter during the first 2012 presidential election debate. This study also explores
the character of such humor, how jokes relate to other forms of Twitter interactivity, and who,
or what are the targets of these jokes. Twitter use by political reporters during a presidential
debate might offer evidence of a deviation from traditional reporting norms. Recent scholarship
on journalism practice and new media technologies suggests that journalists tend to “normalize”
new media affordances; journalists often adapt long-standing routines to new
technological platforms. Normalization offers a solid construct to guide inquiry on how social
media might, or might not, affect change in the delivery and style of contemporary political
news. A content analysis of tweets posted by 430 political journalists during the debate reveals
widespread use of humor by journalists on Twitter, especially associated with the retweet function.
About one-fifth of the journalists’ tweets included jokes, suggesting a growing acceptance
of the rhetorical device on Twitter. Results also reveal that journalists and commentators
pointed their jokes toward political figures, but more sophisticated satirical comments were
aimed at the news media or the debate process at large. Overall, political journalists tended to
avoid humor as a means of criticism. Implications regarding the role of humor in politics, the
nature of reporting on Twitter, and areas of potential future research are discussed.
addition, ethical practices concerning how data are collected remain an area of open discussion. The article surveys studies that offer unique and creative ways to combine methods and introduce new tools while at the same time address some solutions to ethical questions.
have democratic benefits, by means of political expression in social media. Drawing on panel data from a nationally representative sample, this study extends this line of research
by exploring how social interaction and news-seeking behaviors on social media lead to diverse networks, exposure to dissenting political opinion, and ultimately reconsidering and changing one’s political views. Social media are a unique communication platform, and their attributes might influence exposure to political information. The tendency for users to build and maintain friend networks creates a potential deliberative space for
political persuasion to take place. Consistent with prior literature, news use leads to political persuasion. More interestingly, apolitical, but social interactive uses of social media also lead to political persuasion. These relationships are partially mediated
through network and discussion attributes.