Emily K. Vraga

Digital Democracy: Reimagining Pathways to Political Participation

Recently, research revolving around blogs has flourished. Usually, academics illustrate what blogs are, motivations to blog, and, only to some extent, their role in politics. Along these lines, we examine the impact of digital politics by looking specifically at blog readers. Although blog readers might be considered at the forefront of a new technological revolution, and people have speculated about their participatory habits both online and off, little research has specifically looked at this growing proportion of the population. This article models factors that predict traditional and online forms of participation, presenting a portrait of a new type of political advocate.

Credibility in Context: How uncivil online commentary affects news credibility

In the new media environment, hard news stories are no longer found solely in the “A” section of the paper or on the front page of a news Web site. They are now distributed widely, appearing in contexts as disparate as a partisan blog or your own e-mail inbox, forwarded by a friend. In this study, we investigate how the credibility of a news story is affected by the context in which it appears. Results of an experiment show a news story embedded in an uncivil partisan blog post appears more credible in contrast. Specifically, a bloggers incivility highlights the relative credibility of the newspaper article. We also find that incivility and partisan disagreement in an adjacent blog post produce stronger correlations between ratings of news and blog credibility. These findings suggest that news story credibility is affected by context and that these context effects can have surprising benefits for news organizations. Findings are consistent with predictions of social judgment theory.

The Correspondent, the Comic, and the Combatant The Consequences of Host Style in Political Talk Shows

Tailored within the increasingly competitive news environment, political talk shows have adopted a range of styles, heralding a rise in “combatant” and “comic” hosts to complement the conventional “correspondent.” Using an experimental design to rule out self-selection biases, this study isolates the impact of host style on media judgments. In comparison to the other styles, the correspondent host increases perceptions of informational value, enhances host and program credibility, and reduces erosion of media trust, while a comic host mitigates some of the negative impact compared to a combatant host. Implications for media accountability and democratic functioning are discussed.

Precision vs. Realism on the Framing Continuum: Understanding the Underpinnings of Message Effects

Although largely unrecognized, a close reading of extant experimental research on framing effects reveals that contrasting approaches mark the conceptualization and operationalization of message frames in much contemporary inquiry. One approach strives to maintain factual and logical equivalence while altering the vantage point taken in the story, while the other emphasizes different facts, changing the sources, subjects, and scope of a story as part of the frame shift. Exploring the continuum between precision and realism as approaches to framing—between more internally valid and more ecologically valid conceptions of frames—is the focus of this research. An online experimental study contrasted a precise equivalence framing of a social issue in gain and loss terms against a version that included frame-resonant facts, providing the news story more realism. These frames were embedded within a broadcast news report that was scripted, filmed, and produced in conjunction with working television journalists from a PBS affiliate. Results suggest that both more precise and more realistic forms of gain and loss framing deserve continued attention, albeit with careful consideration of what it means “to frame,” both conceptually and operationally.