We live in an increasingly wired world. According to Robert Putnam, people are spending less time in persistent personal face to face interactions and more time in pursuits such as watching TV and using the Internet. At the same time,... more
We live in an increasingly wired world. According to Robert Putnam, people are spending less time in persistent personal face to face interactions and more time in pursuits such as watching TV and using the Internet. At the same time, independently measured" social capital"--the extent to which we trust and work for a common good--is declining. In this panel, we explore: the impacts of electronic media on trust and accountability; whether and how electronic media can be designed and used to increase deserved trust and ...
Research on framing is characterized by theoretical and empirical vagueness. This is due, in part, to the lack of a commonly shared theoretical model underlying framing research. Conceptual problems translate into operational problems,... more
Research on framing is characterized by theoretical and empirical vagueness. This is due, in part, to the lack of a commonly shared theoretical model underlying framing research. Conceptual problems translate into operational problems, limiting the comparability of instruments and results. In this paper I systematize the fragmented approaches to framing in political communication and integrate them into a comprehensive model. I classify previous approaches to framing research along two dimensions: the type of frame examined (media frames vs. audience frames) and the way frames are operationalized (independent variable or dependent variable). I develop a process model of framing, identifying four key processes that should be addressed in future research: frame building, frame setting, individual-level processes of framing, and a feedback loop from audiences to journalists.
While the British government was strongly in favour of the 2004 European Union (EU) enlargement, British public opinion was predominantly against it. Being conducted under the theoretical umbrella of agenda-setting research, this article... more
While the British government was strongly in favour of the 2004 European Union (EU) enlargement, British public opinion was predominantly against it. Being conducted under the theoretical umbrella of agenda-setting research, this article scrutinizes the print media coverage of EU enlargement between 2002 and 2004 to account for the gap between public opinion and official policy. It combines quantitative content analysis of coverage in a number of leading British newspapers with Eurobarometer public opinion data. After revealing strong evidence for the transfer of issue salience from media to public, it examines the role of the press in shaping public attitudes toward enlargement. The results not only provide an improved understanding of media effects in the British context but also have profound implications for the ‘democratic deficit’ debate in the EU.
Numerous media campaign evaluations use self-reported exposure measures in assessing media effects, and many of these measures rely on participant recognition of campaign material. Rather than accepting the utility of such measures at... more
Numerous media campaign evaluations use self-reported exposure measures in assessing media effects, and many of these measures rely on participant recognition of campaign material. Rather than accepting the utility of such measures at face value, however, we should probe their limits. We can predict at least one theoretically important limit on the basis of what we know about age-related memory
... Corresponding Author: Marta Fraile, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI), Via delle Fontanelle 19, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Office: Convento, SD042 Email:marta.fraile@eui.eu Widening or Reducing the Knowledge... more
... Corresponding Author: Marta Fraile, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI), Via delle Fontanelle 19, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Office: Convento, SD042 Email:marta.fraile@eui.eu Widening or Reducing the Knowledge Gap? Testing the Media Effects ...
By unpacking different forms of Internet and massively multiplayer online game (MMO) use, the present study adopts a nuanced approach to examine the connections between online activities and psychosocial well-being. It combined... more
By unpacking different forms of Internet and massively multiplayer online game (MMO) use, the present study adopts a nuanced approach to examine the connections between online activities and psychosocial well-being. It combined self-reported survey data with unobtrusive behavioral data from server logs of a large virtual world, EverQuest II. Over 5,000 players were surveyed about how they use the Internet, their specific activities in the virtual world, and their psychosocial well-being. In-game communication networks were also constructed and analyzed.The results showed support for both time displacement and social augmentation effects for various activities. Whether Internet and MMO use were associated with negative or positive outcomes was largely dependent on the purposes, contexts, and individual characteristics of users. The results suggest that Internet use and game play have significant nuances and should not be considered as monolithic sources of effects.
Using a web-based survey of adolescents 14–16 years of age, a hierarchical index of heterosexual behavior was developed with excellent psychometric properties. The easiest sexual behavior to perform was “deep kissing” and the most... more
Using a web-based survey of adolescents 14–16 years of age, a hierarchical index of heterosexual behavior was developed with excellent psychometric properties. The easiest sexual behavior to perform was “deep kissing” and the most difficult was “receiving anal sex” for females and “giving anal sex” for males. The index was validated with data that show increased sexual activity with being older and of minority status, with social traits such as physical development, having a romantic partner, and sensation seeking, and with psychosocial variables known to be associated with sexual behavior such as attitudes, norms, self-efficacy and intentions.
This study investigates media priming effects in the context of a Summit meeting of European Union (EU) leaders. It differs in four ways from most previous non-experimental priming studies: (1) it provides survey data accompanied by a... more
This study investigates media priming effects in the context of a Summit meeting of European Union (EU) leaders. It differs in four ways from most previous non-experimental priming studies: (1) it provides survey data accompanied by a content analysis of the news, (2) it compares priming effects on evaluations of a number of political leaders, who differed in their visibility in the news, (3) it involves an issue with low salience, and (4) it studies priming effects in the context of a European Parliamentary democracy. The study involves a two-wave panel study (before and after the Summit) on a representative sample of 817 Dutch adults, and a content analysis of the newspaper and television news in the 8 weeks leading up to the Summit meeting. The study shows that media priming effects occur only for the politicians who appeared visible in the news in connection with the issue. The media priming effects were not significantly moderated by political attentiveness or by political knowledge. We also explore the aggregate level consequences of priming for the popularity of leaders, and demonstrate that, as a result of media priming, two politicians became more popular, despite having received a bad press.
In September 2010 the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats (SD), crossed the electoral threshold to the Swedish parliament (Riksdagen) for the first time with 5.7 percent of the total votes. The aim of this article is to analyze... more
In September 2010 the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats (SD), crossed the electoral threshold to the Swedish parliament (Riksdagen) for the first time with 5.7 percent of the total votes. The aim of this article is to analyze the effect of the media exposure on fluctuations in opinion polls for political parties; i.e. the media effect. In particular to what
Abstract: At the beginning of the year 2005 the German meat industry frequently featured in the media with reports on tainted meat. Since then, a huge number of new problems concerning meat production and trade have arisen which have... more
Abstract: At the beginning of the year 2005 the German meat industry frequently featured in the media with reports on tainted meat. Since then, a huge number of new problems concerning meat production and trade have arisen which have uncovered weaknesses in ...
The role of the media in shaping attitudes towards crime and the justice system has been a heavily researched topic. It has obvious relevance to the procedural justice perspective, in that media representations may have a mediating... more
The role of the media in shaping attitudes towards crime and the justice system has been a heavily researched topic. It has obvious relevance to the procedural justice perspective, in that media representations may have a mediating relationship between the behaviour of institutions of justice and public perceptions of them. Most of these studies have used quantitative methods in order
Abstract This paper defines active media as a new paradigm that captures the richness of digital media in affecting every aspect of our lives. The term active media embraces interactive, coactive, and proactive digital media. Active media... more
Abstract This paper defines active media as a new paradigm that captures the richness of digital media in affecting every aspect of our lives. The term active media embraces interactive, coactive, and proactive digital media. Active media provide more dynamic and ...
Broadcast commentary of sport contests is often seen as biased or “one-eyed” for the “home team”. This study sought to determine if this labelling was correct. Two different broadcasts of the national Dutch... more
Broadcast commentary of sport contests is often seen as biased or “one-eyed” for the “home team”. This study sought to determine if this labelling was correct. Two different broadcasts of the national Dutch team's games during the 2006 Federation Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) World Cup in Germany were compared. Both the Dutch Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and Australian Special
Syntheses of phthiocol complexes with Cu(II) in inert media resulted in anhydrous monomer Cu-4: [Cu(NQ)2] and dimer Cu-5: [Cu(NQ)(NSQ)]2, however synthesis in air generates polymeric hydrated Cu-6: [Cu(NQ)2(H2O)2]n. Media and colligation... more
Syntheses of phthiocol complexes with Cu(II) in inert media resulted in anhydrous monomer Cu-4: [Cu(NQ)2] and dimer Cu-5: [Cu(NQ)(NSQ)]2, however synthesis in air generates polymeric hydrated Cu-6: [Cu(NQ)2(H2O)2]n. Media and colligation give rise to charge transfers in coordination compounds and lead to different redox ligations of 3-methyl-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone. These redox forms are determined from quantitization of activation energies (E a) of different pyrolytic steps in TG using the rising temperature expression of Coats and Redfern. 'Tyrosinase'-type mechanism is discussed for the redox-type ligation. Characteristic six-line EPR signals of dimeric Cu-5 lead to zero field splitting parameters D=0.01608 cm-1and E=0.01576 cm-1. Cu-6 shows molecular association through hydrogen bonding. Variable temperature magnetic measurement data of Cu-6 from 6 to 300 K is fitted to the polymeric expression of Bonner and Fisher model. The best fit was obtained with antiferrromagnetic exchange coupling constantJ=-2 cm-1, g=2.2 having R=4.2·10-4.