David Tewksbury
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Communication, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter argues that while the ANES media exposure measures used in 2004 and before may have been problematic on methodological grounds, it is important to continue asking questions about the process of information acquisition. A... more
This chapter argues that while the ANES media exposure measures used in 2004 and before may have been problematic on methodological grounds, it is important to continue asking questions about the process of information acquisition. A measurement strategy based on information retention, this chapter contends, requires survey instrumentation that is election-specific and unlikely to be valid over long stretches of time. The resulting problems of longitudinal continuity make this approach unsuitable as a stand-alone measurement strategy for the ANES. The chapter suggests that an expanded set of retooled media exposure measures can provide researchers with the variables needed to better understand the predictors of campaign knowledge, political attitudes, and voter turnout.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter examines how citizens acquire political information using the internet. For some time, researchers have been looking at the form of news online and how news audiences find (or at least encounter), consume, and retain... more
This chapter examines how citizens acquire political information using the internet. For some time, researchers have been looking at the form of news online and how news audiences find (or at least encounter), consume, and retain political content there. The available literature suggests that major news outlets rarely create content exclusively for the online audience. In fact, news online is often similar to what one finds in print newspapers. Internet audiences are increasingly likely to seek news online, but there is little evidence thus far that this has resulted in replacement of print newspapers and television news. Online audiences tend to limit their reading to topics of special interest to them, though not to the extent that some observers expected. There is some evidence that learning from the news is different online than off. The reviewed research on learning from online news suggests that the national news audiences may become fragmented if they rely on the internet for...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study examines whether readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper acquire different perceptions of the importance of political issues. Using data from a weeklong experiment in which subjects either readthe print... more
This study examines whether readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper acquire different perceptions of the importance of political issues. Using data from a weeklong experiment in which subjects either readthe print version of the New York Times, the online version of that paper, or received no special exposure, this study finds evidence that people exposed to the Times for 5 days adjusted their agendas in response to that exposure and that print readers modified their agendas differently than did online readers. In the process of disseminating information about what Walter Lippmann called the “world outside,” the press does much more than merely inform its audiences. By selecting which public affairs stories will be reported and by giving specialprominence to some stories, the news media suggest which peo ple, issues, and events are especially deserving of public attention. Given the importance of this attention-directing function, we might ask whether the na...
Research Interests:
At the heart of Post-Broadcast Democracy is a portrait of the average American that few of us would dispute: If we had the choice, most of us would spend more time with entertainment media than with news. H. L. Menken famously opined that... more
At the heart of Post-Broadcast Democracy is a portrait of the average American that few of us would dispute: If we had the choice, most of us would spend more time with entertainment media than with news. H. L. Menken famously opined that few people went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public, and the suggestion that the average American would avoid serious news in favor of entertainment has been a truism subject to little more than anecdotal verification. Things may have stayed that way were it not for changes in the television environment that have altered the relationship between news and entertainment programming. Setting the entertainment preference notion in the context of television channel proliferation, Markus Prior has produced a convincing and worrisome set of analyses of the evolving relationship between television consumption and political beliefs and behaviors. One of the most attractive elements of Prior's book is that we need not assume tha...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... This anxiety reflects both negative affect and low levels of confidence regarding computer use (Heins-sen et al., 1987; for a more recent review, see Scott & Rockwell, 1997). It seems reason-able to... more
... This anxiety reflects both negative affect and low levels of confidence regarding computer use (Heins-sen et al., 1987; for a more recent review, see Scott & Rockwell, 1997). It seems reason-able to expect that comfort with using computers may influence willingness to use the ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Gatekeepers usually control news information. However, recent technological advancements might require rethinking previous gatekeeping hierarchies. Aggregation algorithms currently filter and present news information to millions of... more
Gatekeepers usually control news information. However, recent technological advancements might require rethinking previous gatekeeping hierarchies. Aggregation algorithms currently filter and present news information to millions of American Internet users daily. A content analysis demonstrates significant differences between health news content retrieved from Web sites that aggregate their articles from many sources (e.g., Google News), and those that focus on providing news from a limited number of sources (e.g., CNN.com). Explanations for these content differences are discussed, as are implications concerning health information seeking and Internet news consumption.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As researchers took note of the emerging ubiquity of new media, they predicted how digital technologies would facilitate an increasingly fragmented audience. New media (i.e. technologies with online capabilities) were observed to possess... more
As researchers took note of the emerging ubiquity of new media, they predicted how digital technologies would facilitate an increasingly fragmented audience. New media (i.e. technologies with online capabilities) were observed to possess previously unmatched levels of content options and audience control over consumption. Many researchers have since observed that the current audience landscape has not reached previously anticipated degrees of fragmentation, leading to questions about potentially mitigating factors. In this study, we utilize emerging network analytical procedures to examine the role of interpersonal relationships in both exacerbating and mitigating audience fragmentation. We find support for the notion that social ties can mitigate fragmentation with regard to particular types of media use, notably, those most narrowly defined. Implications of this cross-disciplinary study are discussed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Cable television news channels and online news sites appear to offer interested voters the ability to follow presidential election campaigns more closely than ever before. However, survey research looking at the extent to which Americans... more
Cable television news channels and online news sites appear to offer interested voters the ability to follow presidential election campaigns more closely than ever before. However, survey research looking at the extent to which Americans are taking advantage of these newer media is incomplete. Rarely is new media use adequately assessed in surveys, and no extant study has simultaneously examined
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study investigated how journalistic story frames can affect the thoughts and feelings of readers. Two hundred and seventy-eight students participated in two studies, reading and responding to a fictitious story about possible... more
This study investigated how journalistic story frames can affect the thoughts and feelings of readers. Two hundred and seventy-eight students participated in two studies, reading and responding to a fictitious story about possible reductions in state funding of their university. Stories were presented in one of four randomly assigned versions, all containing the same information, but varying in their opening and closing paragraphs according to the frame employed: human interest, conflict, or personal consequences. A control version contained the common body only. In Study 1, thoughts listed by participants indicated that the news frames—although they had no influence on the volume of cognitive responses—significantly affected the topical focus and evaluative implications of thoughts generated. In Study 2, evaluations and opinions offered by participants indicated that the news frames also subtly could affect audience decision making about matters of public policy. Implications for shaping public opinion are discussed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
EJ624553 - The Interaction of News and Advocate Frames: Manipulating Audience Perceptions of a Local Public Policy Issue.
Research Interests:
Page 1. ACCIDENTALLY INFORMED: INCIDENTAL NEWS EXPOSURE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB ~~ By David Tewksbury, Andrew J. Weaver, and Breff D. Maddex An important element of news delivery on the World Wide ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Although the behavioral component was an integral part of the original formulation of the third-person effect hypothesis, little research has examined the impact of biased media effect perceptions on behaviors that assume others... more
ABSTRACT Although the behavioral component was an integral part of the original formulation of the third-person effect hypothesis, little research has examined the impact of biased media effect perceptions on behaviors that assume others have already been affected. The present study examines how third-person perceptions (the belief that other people are particularly vulnerable to media messages) contributed to intentions to prepare for problems stemming from Y2K, also known as the “millennium bug.” Analyses using data from 2 regional probability samples taken in late 1999 show that perceptions about the potential effects of news messages influenced public anxiety about the Y2K situation and beliefs that other people would overprepare for the new year. These 2 variables, in turn, predicted intentions to stockpile supplies of food, water, gasoline, and cash. The article discusses the implications of these findings for understanding the relationship between perceptions of media effects and an extended range of behaviors.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We examine the potential of third-person effects to influence editorial behavior. Two studies investigated college students' judgments about a controversial adver-tisement and its suitability for publication in their... more
We examine the potential of third-person effects to influence editorial behavior. Two studies investigated college students' judgments about a controversial adver-tisement and its suitability for publication in their college newspaper. The adver-tisement in question, printed in many college ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... To capture a broad range of possible effects, this study tests for differences in agenda setting at two different levels of news content: the perceived impor-tance of particular stories appearing in the news (eg, the relative... more
... To capture a broad range of possible effects, this study tests for differences in agenda setting at two different levels of news content: the perceived impor-tance of particular stories appearing in the news (eg, the relative impor-tance of stories entitled “Mossad ...
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT This research explored the ways consumption goals and political expertise may influence the depth at which people process political information in television news. Participants were assigned randomly to watch a television news... more
ABSTRACT This research explored the ways consumption goals and political expertise may influence the depth at which people process political information in television news. Participants were assigned randomly to watch a television news profile of a political candidate with the goal of either forming an evaluation or merely passing a few minutes. They then completed measures of their evaluations of the candidate, their recall of information, and their political knowledge. The results provide evidence that processing goals and political expertise can be powerful determinants of how carefully people process political information. Experts and participants with evaluation goals were more likely than were their counterparts to process the story and form evaluations systematically. This study suggests that communication researchers and political scientists need to consider audience goals and expertise in future investigations.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Prior third‐person effect research has demonstrated that the perceived discrepancy between the impact of media messages on one's self and others is driven by a number of factors. For example, several... more
ABSTRACT Prior third‐person effect research has demonstrated that the perceived discrepancy between the impact of media messages on one's self and others is driven by a number of factors. For example, several studies have found that the size of the gap increases as the ‘others’ become more socially remote from the perceiver. Unexplored until now has been the independent influence of the number of others that people consider. It may be that remote others are perceived to be more vulnerable to messages in part because they are often a larger group of people. The results of two experiments support this suggestion. Estimates of media influence on various others increased with group size, the manipulated variable, in both between‐subjects and repeated‐measures tests. With size held constant, estimates of effects also increased as the comparison group became more socially and geographically distant.
Research Interests:
... Funding for this research was provided by the Campus Research Board at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The authors thank Kate Curtis, Jake lensen, and Kevin Coe for their help with this project. J&MCQ~,,~~ Vol. 85,... more
... Funding for this research was provided by the Campus Research Board at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The authors thank Kate Curtis, Jake lensen, and Kevin Coe for their help with this project. J&MCQ~,,~~ Vol. 85, No. 2 Summer2W8 g;zrAEIMc ...
Research Interests:
This study investigated how journalistic story frames can affect the thoughts and feelings of readers. Two hundred and seventy-eight students participated in two studies, reading and responding to a fictitious story about possible... more
This study investigated how journalistic story frames can affect the thoughts and feelings of readers. Two hundred and seventy-eight students participated in two studies, reading and responding to a fictitious story about possible reductions in state funding of their university. Stories were presented in one of four randomly assigned versions, all containing the same information, but varying in their opening