Political Communication Archives

Political Communication, Ethics and Law

Health and Science
Political Communication

Support for scientific funding doesn’t have to be partisan — but scientists must make the case, says new study

The real driver of distrust in agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation isn’t ideology per se, but a form of scientific populism that goes beyond political parties. Instead, scientific populism reflects a belief that scientific “elites” are out of touch and that ordinary people should have more authority over what research gets funded and conducted.

Posted: Monday January 5, 2026

A woman wearing a VR headset with the view from inside the headset, a city skyline, visible behind her.

Communication and Technology
Health and Science
Political Communication

Using virtual reality to close psychological distances

Despite agreement among most scientists and climate experts that climate change is real and poses a major threat to the planet, apathy and denial towards it persist and proliferate. While politics plays a big role in people’s attitudes, there are also several psychological reasons for people to be apathetic, and researchers are looking for new technology for ways to close these psychological gaps. A new study co-authored by Assistant Professor of Media Production, Management, and Technology Eugy Han explored ways to use virtual reality (VR) in climate change communication and found that VR was an effective tool at reducing climate indifference among its participants.

Posted: Wednesday December 17, 2025

Cultural
Political Communication

Partisanship, Politics and Place: How Media Shape Perception of Rural America

While traditional media research has focused on how news coverage shapes perceptions of racial, ethnic and religious groups, less is known about media’s role in influencing how people feel about others based on where they live. Researchers wanted to know what predicts people’s feelings toward individuals living in rural parts of the U.S.

Posted: Thursday January 16, 2025

Cultural
Political Communication

How Gender and Race Shaped Stacey Abrams’ Campaign to Court Black Male Voters

New research examines how Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ 2022 campaign attempted to address the gap between support from Black women vs. Black men in her 2018 campaign, amid the complex intersections of race, gender and political discourse.

Posted: Friday January 10, 2025

Political Communication

Yes, No, or No Idea? How Ballot Wording Influences Voter Choice

Politicians and pundits both know that emotions play a huge role in voter behavior. But what happens when ballot items aren’t about a hot-button issue or charismatic candidate? How the voter feels about reading their ballot affects how they choose.

Posted: Tuesday November 12, 2024

Political Communication

He Says, She Says: Exploring Gender Bias in Political News Coverage

In the thick of a historic presidential election, news media fills a critical role as Americans consider their options. But does its election coverage present the female candidates in a stereotypically gendered way or give them a different share of voice and how does that affect readers’ perception of their agenda?

Posted: Friday October 18, 2024

AI
Communication and Technology
Political Communication

Look Who’s Talking: Celebrity Causes vs. AI-Powered Advocacy

Is a celebrity’s endorsement truly helpful for a given cause? It depends on how authentic they seem. Despite the rise of AI-powered influencers, people still tend to trust their fellow humans, even if their motives are partly driven by profit.

Posted: Wednesday September 25, 2024

Cultural
Political Communication

Race, Gender and Politics: Media Coverage of the Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court Nomination

The nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court was a case study of how the U.S. news media cover stories involving race, gender and politics. This research shed light on how prevailing media narratives remain entrenched within a framework dominated by white, patriarchal viewpoints.

Posted: Thursday July 18, 2024

Political Communication
Trust

How Partisanship and Political Fandom Affect the Spread of Misinformation

As the nation faces another contentious election cycle, the spread of misinformation continues to be rampant. Scholars wanted to explore the predictability of whether or not people would seek and share misinformation without first fact-checking it.

Posted: Tuesday January 30, 2024

Political Communication

Decoding Morality in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election: A Public Relations Perspective

New research delves into the web of political communication to unravel hidden threads of moral intuitions woven throughout Biden and Trump campaigns’ strategies in 2020.

Posted: Thursday December 21, 2023

Political Communication

How Elections Influence Voters’ Media Consumption

There’s a mountain of political research on voters’ media engagement immediately prior to an election, but far less is known about their news consumption right afterward. This study sheds light on voters’ media use in the wake of their candidate’s win or loss in an election.

Posted: Wednesday November 8, 2023

Political Communication

High Anxiety—The Role of Emotion in Political Decision-Making

Years of research show that people are swayed more by emotion than by reason when it comes to participating in the democratic process. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because emotion, particularly anxiety, can motivate us to action.

Posted: Wednesday October 18, 2023

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