UF Research

By Paul Mena Fake news is nothing new. Discussions about “fake news” can be traced back for more than a century. However, it is clear that after the shocking rise of false news stories on social media during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, there has been a growing concern about…

By Annie Neimand In what many are calling our “post-truth” world, emotions tend to trump facts in the public’s views on policy and politics. The way people think about issues from climate change to GMOs to the Black Lives Matter movement reflect their preexisting worldviews. As a result, people create…

By Clay Calvert President Donald Trump’s fondness for criticizing news organizations, “heckling journalists” and spouting points of public policy via his Twitter account is clear. News of his nomination of Christopher Wray to be the next FBI director, for example, came by tweet. His tweets carry the stamp of government…

By Rich Shumate Imagine opening your morning newspaper (itself a novelty these days) and finding a story about, not just life, but entire civilizations on another planet, attributed to one of the world’s foremost astronomers. Would you believe it, or might you suspect that some “alternative facts” had found their…

By Austin Vining The federal government recently established a department tasked with identifying truth. Department officials search for errors in news, entertainment, the arts and books and fix them — all according to what they believe to be true. While this scenario plays out in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” it’s…

By Tom Kelleher You would know the difference between a “real” news story and a story written for or by an advertiser, right? Especially when a story is labeled “advertisement” right there at the top of your screen. Even if that label was something murkier like “BrandVoice” and pushed down…

Humor is often incorporated into campaigns seeking to captivate an audience in a crowded news stream. From cancer prevention to water conservation, funny videos have the potential to change behavior for social good. What makes a funny campaign video effective? New research out of the University of Florida College of Journalism…

Health organizations are increasingly turning to social media to distribute information and engage with their target audiences. But getting people involved is more complicated than simply posting to Facebook. New research out of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications by Yulia Strekalova, research assistant professor and director…