ARTICLE: Most mainstream media fell for fake Twitter accounts

Most major American news sources ended up citing Twitter accounts connected to the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA), a research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals. A team of scholars investigated the appearance of influential Russian-linked Twitter accounts in American news. First, the researchers identified the 100 most active and well-connected Twitter accounts linked … Continued

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Published: 9 Mar 2018
CFP JRN

CFP | 27.4. | Vigilante audiences

The Erasmus Research Centre of Media, Communication and Culture is calling for chapter proposals for an upcoming, edited book on “Vigilante Audiences”. The volume will be published online in an open access format. The publication project also includes a two-day workshop, to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2018. The book will focus … Continued

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Published: 7 Mar 2018

REPORT: Twitter subcultures are wary of journalism

How do different subcultures interact with, and react to, mainstream journalism on Twitter? A team of American researchers investigated the matter through three American Twitter-spheres: “Black”, “Feminist” and “Asian-American Twitter”. The researchers analysed over 44 million Twitter messages which bore certain subculture-related hashtags, e.g. #blacklivesmatter, #girlslikeus and #freshofftheboat, respectively. In addition, 45 people were interviewed … Continued

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Published: 2 Mar 2018
Picture: untitled by Kristy Kravchenko, license CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Parents and social media influence racial resentment attitudes of millenial youth

What is the connection between media use and racial resentment? Angie Maxwell and Stephanie R. Schulte of the University of Arkansas studied racial resentment attitudes among white Millennial youth in the US. They used a part of a national survey of parents and children prior to the 2012 US presidential elections. From 613 responses, researchers … Continued

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Published: 27 Feb 2018
Picture: Bubbles by Dykam, license CC BY-SA 2.0

ARTICLE: Journalists prefer tweeting with colleagues who are like them

Australian journalists tweet mostly with their inner circles, a new study finds. Folker Hanusch and Daniel Nölleke of the University of Vienna studied journalistic homophily within intra-journalistic networks. Homophily refers to the tendency of individuals to connect with people who are like them. This ‘groupthink’ could have implications for the production of news also, the … Continued

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Published: 23 Feb 2018
Picture: Make America Great Again by James McNellis, license CC BY 2.0, modified

PAPER: Right-wing supporters shared the most fake and junk news in the US

Who reads and shares most junk news? Researchers studied social media distribution of so-called junk news websites in the United States, during three months, between 20 October 2017 and 19 January 2018. On Twitter, a network of “Trump supporters” shared the widest range of known junk news sources, a data memo by the University of … Continued

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Published: 8 Feb 2018
Picture: Tube, hole by Vladimir Kramer, license CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Only few are likely to find themselves in an echo chamber

“The echo chamber is overstated”, declares a new research article, questioning fears of partisan segregation of people’s news sources. Elizabeth Dubois of the University of Ottawa, and Grant Blank of the University of Oxford, studied being caught in an echo chamber and the relationship between political interest and media diversity. Researchers used data from the … Continued

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Published: 30 Jan 2018
Picture: Network by Quinn Dombrowski, license CC BY-SA 2.0

ARTICLE: Young Norwegian journalists get more out of social media than their older colleagues

Social media is an important tool for journalists in their work. Does the use change depending on the age of the journalist? Petter Bae Brandtzaeg of Sintef Digital and Marían Ángeles Chaparro Domínguez of Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, studied how Norwegian journalists use social media for newsgathering. They did in-depth interviews and compared practices … Continued

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Published: 22 Jan 2018
Untitled by mattysimpson, licence CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Social media does not increase political knowledge

Using social media for political information does not actually help the audience learn anything about politics, Adam Shehata and Jesper Strömbäck, both of University of Gothenburg, write. The authors analysed data from two multi-wave surveys, together consisting of responses from over 4 500 Swedes. In both surveys, the respondents were first asked to fill in … Continued

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Published: 19 Jan 2018