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Recent analytical work reveals the need to assess mediated interactions (independent variable-by-mediator multiplicative terms) in mediation models to ensure the proper reporting of indirect effects. Besides their analytical value, mediated interactions can aid theory development. This study adds a theoretical support structure to this emergent analytical imperative and provides a theory-driven decision tree for incorporating mediated interactions into communication models. More broadly, mediated interactions are used as a basis to encourage the field to move beyond a "one variable, one role" approach to model building. Monte Carlo simulations reflecting common communication research practices were constructed and 1,920,000 datasets were analyzed to reveal the relative upsides and minimal risk incurred from assessing mediated interactions. In addition, the analyses elucidate the downsides incurred from not exploring these relationships when they are present in a population. The implications of these findings for future research and theory development are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explanatory power is a key criterion for assessing the strength of a theory. This essay provides an expanded detailing of explanatory power's three components: Plausibility, range, and postdiction. In addition, a case is made for how plausibility advancements signal field-general contributions, range-based works gravitate toward subfield-specific offerings, and postdiction assessments can be field-general or subfield-specific. This discussion is grounded with a focus on four theories: Agenda Setting, Cultivation, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Cognitive Theory. Implications for future theory advancement are discussed and short- and long-term research initiatives are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the ability of parasocial relationships to predict support for political candidates and elected officials. A May 2017 survey of U.S. adults (N = 2,055) included items that reflect traditional approaches to the study of candidate support (e.g., political party identification, policy agreement) along with several batteries of a newly developed political parasocial relationship (PPSR) measure. This study gives primary attention to predicting support for U.S. President Donald J. Trump, but also focuses on Secretary Hillary Clinton and U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Parasocial relations prove to be a powerful predictor of Trump-Support, outperforming all other predictors (including past voting behavior). This study also explores what predicts citizen-politician PPSR. Citizens' parasocial relationships with Trump are predicted by general political knowledge (–), 2016 Trump voting (+), support for Trump's policies (+), along with news media exposure (+), and social media following of Trump (+). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political interest is a key predictor of likelihood to vote. We argue that the political interest–vote intention relationship can be explained by well-established theories that predict behavior across domains (e.g., theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior). Relying on the integrated behavioral model, we propose a core mediation model with vote likelihood (i.e., behavioral intention) as the dependent variable. Two types of media use (conservative and liberal–moderate) are then assessed in relation to the core model. We explore the ways in which our results contribute to theory and outline a research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication seeks internal coherence and external distinction as its research profile grows and diversifies. The present essay calls for the establishment of scientific principles to guide future communication research and solidify the field's unique scholarly identity within the marketplace of ideas. An argument is made that the field has achieved the necessary foundations to establish scientific principles but has yet to embrace this undertaking as a collective goal. This offering is intended as an initial foray into the process of identifying and evaluating scientific principles of communication by considering the value of these fundamental pillars for the field's maturation. It proposes evaluation criteria which are then applied in a rendering of two candidate principles. These observations aim to initiate a broader conversation and spark a collective effort toward elucidating scientific principles of communication that can help to guide and anchor the field in its next stage of knowledge generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay provides a summary of editorial priorities and details a series of steps being taken to aid Journal of Communication's continuing mission to present high-quality communication research. Insights are offered based on our editorial team's first six months of shepherding the journal. In addition, a number of theory- and method-related points are detailed to allow potential submitters to gain a better sense of the types of work we are seeking to publish in the journal. The piece closes with thanks to a wide range of individuals, groups, and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stepping beyond traditional mass communication and political communication frameworks, this study utilizes the integrated behavioral model to predict traditional broadcast and print news media exposure. Specific focus is given to experiential (Is politics interesting?) and instrumental (Is politics important?) attitudes. A secondary analysis is performed on 2010–2014 World Values Survey data (N = 6,961) consisting of representative samples collected from the United States, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. Interest is a statistically significant predictor of both types of news media exposure, but importance and Interest × Importance are statistically significant for broadcast only. The positive predictive value of political interest for broadcast is isolated to only those individuals who perceive politics to be of low personal importance. Discussion focuses on task difficulty when comparing broadcast and print news media exposure and the theoretical implications of the study’s findings. In addition, a research agenda based on the integrated behavioral model is proposed for the study of news media engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Political party conventions, rivaled only by general election debates, are media events that can affect democratic processes through their ability to reach a wide audience. Conventions hold a unique place in the American electoral system by serving as a pivot point between the nation’s primary and general election phases. From a normative perspective, the current study focuses on the degree to which consuming major political party convention speeches mitigates negative perceptions generated from the primaries on what citizens are anticipating for the general election. A national pre–post conventions panel survey of U.S. adults (N = 562) is utilized to address five hypotheses. The consumption of more convention speeches reduces the negative impact of perceived primary election threat on the anticipated legitimacy of the general election (i.e., positive normative effect), but also increases threat ambivalence associated with the conventions (i.e., negative normative effect). In addition, convention speech exposure generates a strong, positive direct effect on perceived general election legitimacy (i.e., positive normative effect). When judged from the standpoint of republicanism as a type of democratic theory, the positive influences of convention speech exposure outweigh this activity’s negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights the explanatory principle of cognitive consistency as a foundation for political entertainment research. More specifically, appreciation for pro- versus counter-attitudinal political humor is analyzed via one statewide (N = 304) and two national surveys (N = 1008, N = 786, respectively). Analyses reveal a preference for pro-attitudinal over counter-attitudinal humor. In addition, an assessment of pro- versus counter-attitudinal political humor appreciation serving as potential mediators of one another relative to political party identification is offered. Pro-attitudinal political humor appreciation serves as the stronger mediator, but a full range of mediation-based processes are evident. Implications and potential future lines of research are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Journalism and mass communication research is underutilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) for the purposes of specifying, estimating, and evaluating measurement models. The analytical exercises undertaken for this essay reveal SEM-based confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to be a multifaceted tool that can aid researchers in generating greater understanding of the measurement elements of their research endeavors. Secondary analyses of 2014 World Values Survey (N = 9,901) data emphasize the following: testing competing models, model identification, proper evaluation of covaried error terms, absolute and incremental model fit statistics, the chi-square distributed test statistic, model equivalency, multiple-group models, and assessing equality constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On November 28 and 29, 2012, ten scholars of political parody and satire and six parody/viral video producers met at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania to share their expertise, discuss the democratic uses of parody, and develop a set of strategies to guide the successful use of political parody in generating positive democratic outcomes. The symposium, P6: Professors and Practitioners Pontificate on Political Parody and Persuasion, was cosponsored by the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware and funded in part by a grant from the Omidyar Network’s Democracy Fund. The meeting served as a follow-up to the yearlong Annenberg Public Policy Center online project, FlackCheck.org. FlackCheck.org, the sister site to its companion FactCheck.org, is an educational site that uses entertaining visual formats and humor to inform the public and debunk false political claims. The November conference began with a keynote from Trevor Potter, former head of the FEC and lawyer to Stephen Colbert and his satirical—though very real—super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The explanatory principles of understanding and consistency are used to detail the past, present, and future of individual-level political communication media effects research. It is argued that the field of political communication is at a crossroads, with preferences for a dominant explanatory principle shifting from understanding back to consistency. In addition to understanding and consistency, it is argued that political communication researchers need to begin introducing additional explanatory principles (e.g., hedonism) to the field for the generation of new lines of inquiry. A call for embracing a diversity of explanatory principles is offered, and the utility of such an approach is explored within the context of the 2012 U.S. presidential election. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social media are an emerging news source, but questions remain regarding how citizens engage news content in this environment. This study focuses on social media news reception and friending a journalist/news organization as predictors of social media news dissemination. Secondary analysis of 2010 Pew data (N = 1,264) reveals reception and friending to be positive predictors of dissemination, and a reception-by-friending interaction is also evident. Partisanship moderates these relationships such that reception is a stronger predictor of dissemination among partisans, while the friending-dissemination link is evident for nonpartisans only. These results provide novel insights into citizens' social media news experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers a comprehensive framework for the investigation of presidential debate humor. Given the importance of presidential debates for educating and persuading voters and the ubiquity of humor in debate events, it stands to reason that communication research would benefit by a deepened scholarly understanding of humor in the debate context. In this essay, a typology is offered as a catalyst for systematic assessment of debate humor, undergirding an expanded conception of a debate event and its participants. Examples from the 2012 general election debates, along with pertinent humor scholarship, are highlighted within this project's effort to help advance the underdeveloped research domain of debate humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much recent debate in political communication has centered on the influence of ideologically oriented media outlets. Some argue that the current media environment is creating partisan echo chambers, while others contend that today’s political media afford citizens increased contact with a diverse range of opinion. The current study seeks to clarify relationships between political ideology, conservative cable TV news viewing (i.e., FOX News), and liberal cable TV news viewing (i.e., MSNBC), arguing that ideology serves as a suppressor of the relationship between the two seemingly disparate forms of cable TV news consumption. Analyses of primary 2009-2010 statewide survey data (N = 305) reveal the relationship between FOX News and MSNBC consumption to be positive and this association increases substantially once the role of ideology as suppressor is addressed. A secondary analysis of 2010 PEW data (N = 3,006) reveals a strong replication of the primary analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study extends political humor effects research by focusing on two distinct types of satire, juvenalian and horatian. Theoretical arguments grounded in the elaboration likelihood model culminated in the positing of a series of interactions between message (juvenalian, horatian, traditional opinion-editorial) and recipient ability (high, low) relative to three outcome variables: perceived humor, counterarguing, and attitudes concerning Hillary Clinton’s universal health care plan. An experiment was conducted during the 2008 Democratic primary election. The Message × Ability interactions revealed a need to step beyond the study of satire as monolithic; different types of satire produce divergent effects depending on the ability of the audience member. Future lines of research and the need for additional theory building are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study is focused on the influence of late-night TV comedy viewing on political talk. It is posited that debate viewing serves as a mediator of this relationship, and age is argued to be a moderator of the association between late-night TV comedy viewing and debate viewing. More specific to age, it is hypothesized that the predictive value of late-night TV comedy for political debate consumption will be greater for those audience members who are younger. A secondary analysis of 2004 national Annenberg debate panel data provides evidence of a positive indirect effect of latenight TV comedy viewing on political talk through debate viewing, and the moderator of age functioned as predicted. Thus, this study details a series of positive unintended consequences of late-night TV comedy viewing on what are defined normatively as positive democratic communicative activities (i.e., debate viewing, political discussion), and these media effects are stronger the younger the voter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes up Bennett and Iyengar's (2008) call for debate about the future of political communication effects research. We outline 4 key criticisms. First, Bennett and Iyengar are too quick to dismiss the importance of attitude reinforcement, long recognized as an important type of political media influence. Second, the authors take too narrow a view of the sources of political information, remaining fixated on news. Third, they offer an incomplete portrayal of selective exposure, exaggerating the extent to which individuals avoid attitude-discrepant information. Finally, they lean toward determinism when describing the role technologies play in shaping our political environment. In addition, we challenge Bennett and Iyengar's assertion that only brand new theory can serve to help researchers understand today's political communication landscape. We argue that existing tools, notably the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), retain much utility for examining political media effects. Contrary to Bennett and Iyengar's claims, the ELM suggests that the contemporary political information environment does not necessarily lead to minimal effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elections should serve to reaffirm a citizenry's belief in the legitimacy of its political processes and outcomes. This study focuses on perceptions of vote count accuracy as a criterion variable. An argument is offered that voters' personal perceptions of postelection vote count accuracy are predicted by vote choice, with those citizens who did not vote for the winning candidate having to deal with the cognitive dissonance created by the election outcome. The model offered in this work focuses on an interaction between partisan strength and debate viewing as predictor of vote choice. In addition, an indirect effect of partisanship on vote choice through debate viewing is explored. Debate viewing is shown to promote partisan voting, and vote choice serves as a strong predictor of perceptions of vote count accuracy. A subset of the 2004 National Annenberg general election panel data (N = 5,660) was used for this secondary analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores empirical intersections in communication studies and research. The authors reflect on the importance of programmatic research and identify replication as the most important type of intersection. This article explores mixed methods research and intersections of quantitative and qualitative research. The authors contend that an interdisciplinary approach is needed in communication studies. Other topics include methodological aspects of cultural indicators in research, meta-analysis, and data collection analysis.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a multivariate technique suited for testing proposed relations between variables. In this article, the authors discuss the potential for SEM as a tool to advance health communication research both statistically and conceptually. Specifically, the authors discuss the advantages that latent variable modeling in SEM affords researchers by extracting measurement error. In addition, they argue that SEM is useful in understanding communication as a complex set of relations between variables. Moreover, the authors articulate the possibility for examining communication as an agent, mediator, and an outcome. Finally, they review the application of SEM to recursive models, interactions, and confirmatory factor analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends priming research in political communication by focusing on an alternative political information source (i.e., Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9-11), affect rather than cognitions, and the existence of intra-affective ambivalence. In addition, two moderator variables are analyzed: political party identification and need for closure. There is a statically significant three-way interaction between the viewing of F 9-11, political party identification, and need for closure relative to the dependent variable of affective ambivalence toward George W. Bush. High need for closure Republicans who viewed F 9-11 exhibited pronounced levels of Bush-affective ambivalence. In addition, high need for closure Independents who viewed F 9-11 exhibited far lower ambivalence toward Bush relative to their control group peers. The findings are discussed relative to the roles performed by emerging alternative political media and the expansion of the theory of priming within the context of political communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses 2000–2002 American National Election Study (ANES) panel data to assess the influence of national television news viewing on opinions concerning the need for federal involvement in social issues reflective of postmaterialist values. This relationship is analyzed in coordination with the testing of perceptions of the proper role of government in society as a potential mediator. In addition, political party identification (Democrat, Republican, and Independent) is assessed as a potential moderator. This study reveals 3 distinct processes of mediation (or the lack thereof) across the party identification groups, with the perceived role of government serving as a full mediator for Democrats, a simple mediator for Republicans, and not serving as a mediator for Independents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General questions concerning the role of entertainment media in politics permeated the 2004 election cycle. Political communication scholars are beginning to systematically analyze potential sociopolitical ramifications stemming from entertainment television viewing, but one difficulty with this emerging area of research is an inability to forge connections between seemingly disparate research agendas. Several distinct lines of research are summarized in this article and forged into a coherent whole through the lens of Zillmann's disposition theory and the broader study of media enjoyment. Extant works devoted to the study of entertainment television and politics are summarized, and a nine- part typology is introduced. This article closes with a discussion of how the typology can serve to advance the study of entertainment television and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses framing to assess how the office of the President of the United States is depicted on NBC's The West Wing. This work represents a theoretical and empirical domain extension of framing in political communication, an area of study dominated by analyses of news content. Three distinct presidential depictions are analyzed: chief executive, political candidate, and private citizen. This quantitative content analysis of the 2001–2002 The West Wing television season addresses the frequency with which the fictional president performs these three roles and posits several hypotheses concerning the relative presentation of personality characteristics across contexts. All three roles are represented with substantive frequency, with the chief executive role dominating. Principled character traits are evident more often when the fictional President Bartlet is acting as chief executive than as a private citizen. Conversely, Bartlet presents more engaging personality traits when acting as a private citizen than as either chief executive or political candidate. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study posits that debate viewing is a mediator between news use and vote choice, and that party identification is a moderator in the relationship between debate viewing and vote choice. A series of OLS regression equations, first tested using 2000 ANES data, revealed that debate viewing initially serves as a mediator between television news viewing and vote choice for the general voting population. However, party identification is a moderator in the relationship between debate viewing and vote choice. More specifically, debate viewing acts as partisan reinforcement for Democratic and Republican voters. These results replicate using 1996 ANES data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the effects of political talk radio use on the perceived fairness of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. In particular, a process of influence is hypothesized leading from talk radio use to feelings toward the two major-party candidates (Bush and Gore).Citizens' affective associations with the candidates are then argued to have competing effects on the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. The influence of perceived fairness on subsequent feelings toward Bush is also assessed. This process of political talk radio influence is analyzed in a single structural equation model using 2000-02 American National Election Study (ANES) panel data. Political talk radio use leads to negative perceptions of Gore, which negatively influences perceptions of the perceived fairness of the 2000 election. Conversely, talk radio use generates more positive feelings toward Bush, which positively affects perceptions of fairness. Thus, feelings toward both candidates serve as important mediators that allow the use of this public affairs information source to make citizens feel better about how the fiercely contested 2000 presidential election was decided. Perceived fairness is also found to be a significant positive predictor of post-2002 election cycle attitudes toward Bush, even after accounting for prior feelings toward both Bush and Gore. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on the relationships among three types of television viewing news, police reality, and crime drama) and attitudes toward capital punishment and handguns, as well as the likelihood of actually owning a handgun. A host of exogenous variables are treated as predictors of television use, support for police authority, fear of crime, and our criterion variables. A series of direct and indirect relationships are assessed. Analysis suggests that veining police reality/ shoves is both directly and indirectly related to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership, while also directly predicting a greater likelihood of actual handgun ownership. In addition, TV news viewing predicts fear of crime in audience members, and this fear contributes to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership. Crime drama indexing is positively/ related to support for the death penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay addresses the need for media effects researchers to decompose their structural equation models. We highlight the importance of studying specific indirect effects within a conditional effects framework and discuss how the lack of analysis of this type of effect in structural equation modeling does not fit well with the discipline's theoretical foundations. We summarize several classes of mediation formulas and make recommendations for the estimation and testing of mediating relationships. Finally, an argument is made that the study of mediation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for better understanding media influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses priming as a theoretical basis from which to investigate potential effects of NBC's The West Wing on individual-level perceptions of the U.S. presidency. As a result, this work extends political communication-based priming research to entertainment television content. Josiah Bartlet, the fictional president portrayed on the show, is generally perceived more positively by viewers than either the Republican President George W. Bush or Democrat William Jefferson Clinton. Perceptions of the importance of being engaging to presidential success rose as a result of watching the program, and The West Wing viewers retained more positive images of Bush and Clinton after the viewing experience. Viewing The West Wing seems to prime more positive images of the U.S. presidency that subsequently influence individual-level perceptions of those individuals most directly associated with this office. The authors make theoretical connections to previous work on role display and trust in democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the solidifying of the Internet as an influential form of mediated communication has come a surge of activity among media scholars looking into what leads individuals to use this emerging technology. This study focuses on religiosity as a potential predictor of Internet activity, and uses a combination of secularization theory and uses and gratifications theory as a foundation from which to posit a negative relation between these 2 variables. Religiosity is found to retain a significant negative relation with Internet use at the zero order and remains a robust negative predictor of the criterion variable even after accounting for a host of demographic, contextual, and situational variables. Ramifications for these findings are discussed and an outline for future research building on our analyses is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study merges insights from cultivation and uses and gratifications to examine the relationship between environmental concern, five forms of television viewing, and pro-environmental behaviors. This research considers both the direct effects of various forms of television viewing and their potential mediating roles in the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviors. Analysis of 1999 and 2000 DDB Life Style Study data reveals that television news and nature documentary use are predicted by environmental concern and contribute to pro-environmental behaviors, whereas three forms of entertainment television use are not consistently linked to these variables. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which investigated the approaches of structural equation modeling used by communication scientists. Description of the techniques in the communication sciences; Overview of Monte Carlo simulation technique.

Scholars studying the content of televised entertainment programming bare long argued for a relationship between exposure to sexist media representations of women and opinions concerning women's status in society, yet research has rarely examined prime-time television audiences and their sociopolitical opinions concerning women's rights. To explore these relationships, we engaged in a secondary analysis of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 DDB Life Style Studies. Using hierarchical regression, we found three forms of entertainment television use (traditional drama, progressive drama, and situation comedy) that retain statistically significant, unique relationships with opinions concerning women's rights, even after accounting for variables thought to shape patterns of media use and influence support for women's rights. Further, regression path analysis revealed that these three forms also mediate relationships between various demographic, situational and orientational variables and the criterion variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the methods for structural equation modeling (SEM) used in communication research. History on the use of SEM; Overview of SEM; Methodology of the study.

Determines the influence of soft-money-sponsored issue-advocacy advertising in the U.S. House and Senate campaigns. Comparison between issue-advocacy and candidate advertising; Increased in awareness of political campaigns; Advertising approach of Democratic identifiers.

Labels of elitism and egalitarianism are useless because there are elements of each in both objective and public journalism. Each advocates a different level of constraint on the press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation examined the role and influence of print and video communication modalities in inoculation. Inoculation is assumed to be an active cognitive process, and past research has assumed that inoculation treatments function in much the same way in fostering resistance to influence, irrespective of the medium employed to deliver them. The pattern of results indicates that print and video forms do not differ appreciably in their capacity to confer resistance, but they vary considerably in terms of how they promote resistance. Compared to controls, both inoculation approaches effectively generated threat but, contrary to what was predicted, only video elicited significant counterarguing output. In addition, the results confirmed that video treatments employ an alternative mechanism in conferring resistance, one that is based more on source considerations. Video treatments immediately generated positive relational perceptions about the source of the treatments, and they immediately bolstered attitudes. Positive relational perceptions of the source of inoculation treatments were subsequently associated with more negative perceptions of the source of counterattitudinal attacks, and to resistance to the attacks. By contrast, print treatments worked through more cognitive means, eventually inducing resistance, but only after participant exposure to counterattitudinal attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its growing prominence in news coverage and public discourse, there is still considerable ambiguity regarding when and how fact-checking affects beliefs. Informed by theories of motivated reasoning and message design, a meta-analytic review was undertaken to examine the effectiveness of fact-checking in correcting political misinformation (k = 30,N = 20,963). Fact-checking has a significantly positive overall influence on political beliefs (d = 0.29), but the effects gradually weaken when using "truth scales," refuting only parts of a claim, and fact-checking campaign-related statements. Likewise, the ability to correct political misinformation with fact-checking is substantially attenuated by participants' preexisting beliefs, ideology, and knowledge. The study concludes with a discussion of the fact-checking literature in light of current gaps and future opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A secondary analysis of 2010-2014 World Values Survey (WVS) data (N = 81,229) is performed across 56 countries to assess frequency of exposure to television news versus the Internet and mobile phone as information sources. A large majority of the comparisons (105/112; 93.75%) reveal television to be used more frequently than Internet or mobile phones (p < 1.0E-09). A content analysis of works published in 9 communication journals from 2010 to 2014 indicates a precipitous decline in the attention political communication scholars are giving to television. Meanwhile, there is substantial growth in the focus on new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of debate viewing-social media multitasking on campaign knowledge during the 2012 presidential election. Results from three waves of a national cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults conducted during and after the 2012 presidential election suggest that social networking site (SNS) use overall correlates with increased knowledge of campaign issues and facts above and beyond the use of other sources of news media. In addition, watching a debate with or without simultaneous social media engagement is better for knowledge generation than not viewing a debate at all, but the effect of debate viewing is dulled when simultaneously engaging in social media multitasking. The debate viewing-social media multitasking effect is moderated by candidate preference, with differential learning occurring largely for knowledge that is favorable to one's preferred candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that the success of media personae in attracting audiences and maintaining their loyalty depends on the creation of a pseudo-friendship, known as para-social relationships, has been a mainstay of mass media research for more than half a century. Expanding the scope of para-social relationship research into the political realm, the notion that political support could be predicted based on the intensity of para-social relationships between voters and political figures was demonstrated in a recent study. The current exploration tests the predictive power of Political Para-Social Relationship (PPSR) in the context of the April and September 2019 Israeli election campaigns. Findings from online panel data (n = 1,061) demonstrate that PPSR toward Netanyahu was a positive predictor of voting for Netanyahu's Likud party and a negative predictor of voting for opposition leader Benny Gantz's Blue and White party in both campaigns. The opposite was true for PPSR toward Benny Gantz. The PPSR constructs also predicted shifts in party support from the February to October (post-election) waves of the study, and loyalty toward the parties. In all models, the PPSR constructs were among the strongest predictors of political support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundance of political media outlets raises concerns that citizens isolate themselves to likeminded news, leaving the public with infrequent shared media experiences and little exposure to disagreeable information. Network analysis of 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey data (N = 57,967) indicates these worries are exaggerated, as general interest news outlets like local newspapers and non-partisan television news are central to the public’s media environment. Although there is some variation between the media diets of Republicans and Democrats (FOX News and conservative talk radio are central to Republicans’ information network), neither group appears to engage in active avoidance of disagreeable information. Individuals across the political spectrum are not creating partisan “echo chambers” but instead have political media repertoires that are remarkably similar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, research has come to recognize that nonpolitical associations have unintended but important consequences for citizens' participation in public affairs. Scholars theorize that these associational activities-embedded within social networks and sustained by confidence in the motives of others-encourage and facilitate participation in civic life. This study tests and broadens these theses by (1) assessing the relative impact of different types of associational activities (i.e., informal socializing, public attendance, and religious participation) and (2) examining interactive relationships between these activities and generalized interpersonal trust. Findings show that all of these associational activities significantly contribute to civic engagement. Furthermore, all three interactions between the social associations and social trust are significant, indicating that those involved in associational activities are even more likely to become civic participants when they hold trusting attitudes toward others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every 4 years presidential candidates devote months and hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning for the highest office in the land. Some question whether these presidential campaigns actually make a difference in election outcomes, in 2000, the Bush and Gore campaigns provided a golden opportunity, to empirically assess campaign effects because both candidates focused their campaigns on a set of "battleground" states. Data from the 2000 National Election Survey indicate that those who lived in battleground states had significantly more issue knowledge and issue salience than citizens from other states. Because the Electoral College. with its winner-take-all rules. encourages candidates to concentrate on battleground states, the results suggest that the Electoral College may have a pernicious effect on representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which demonstrated a variety of potentially important effects of watching televised presidential debates on voters in the United States (U.S.). Impact of the 1992 presidential debates on voters' perceptions; Relevance of issues discussed in the debates; Emphasis on the general presidential debate between Texas governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. on October 3, 2000 in Boston, Massachusetts.

This study examined the effects of issue advertising on candidate preferences and the democratic process, comparing the impact of party- and PAC-sponsored advertising against candidate-sponsored positive and contrast ads. Results revealed that the influence of political advertising varies depending on party affiliation. For Republicans, candidate-sponsored contrast and party-sponsored ads are most influential, but with unaffiliated viewers, candidate-sponsored positive ads are most effective whereas party-sponsored ads are the least persuasive. Effects of political advertising on the democratic system were especially revealing. Results revealed that candidate advertising enhances viewer interest in campaigns and knowledge of candidates and their positions, but that other effects vary based on party affiliation. Finally, the study tested inoculation as an antidote to system-based consequences of issue advertising. Results revealed that inoculation was able to protect viewers against the consequences of party-sponsored ads. However, with PAC-sponsored ads, efficacy was restricted to Republican viewers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]