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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Is No News Good News?: Exploring The Impact Of Social Media Use On Misinformation Beliefs, Corbin Poyer Apr 2024

Is No News Good News?: Exploring The Impact Of Social Media Use On Misinformation Beliefs, Corbin Poyer

Student Research Submissions

Does diminishing access to print news have an impact on people’s propensity to believe misinformation? What if this misinformation emanates from an online source as opposed to a print source? The focus of recent research on misinformation has been narrow: (1) recognizing its existence and acknowledging its potential impact, and (2) generating and categorizing potential analytical types of misinformation. However, the ramifications of vanishing print media have so far been overlooked. This paper asserts a connection between news sources and misinformation beliefs, further positing that the decline in the quality and availability of quality print journalism predicates an individual’s belief …


A Rhetorical Criticism Of “Bothsidesism” In Journalism, Jess Kirby Apr 2023

A Rhetorical Criticism Of “Bothsidesism” In Journalism, Jess Kirby

Student Research Submissions

In recent years, a term called “bothsidesism” has come into public use as both a critique of journalists participating in false balance and as an expectation that journalists should cover all sides of an issue—no matter if a side’s claims are unfounded. I argue that bothsidesism is problematic because 1) bothsidesism is a fallacious rhetorical tactic that minimizes objective fact; 2) the term “bothsidesism” and the act of practicing it both reinforce bipartisan thought, which stymies political action; 3) false balance is at odds with the role of a journalist; and 4) false balance is perpetuated by comment sections. I …


News Coverage Of New Presidents In The New York Times, 1981-2009, Stephen J. Farnsworth, S Robert Lichter Feb 2012

News Coverage Of New Presidents In The New York Times, 1981-2009, Stephen J. Farnsworth, S Robert Lichter

Political Science and International Affairs

Content analysis of front-page The New York Times stories during the first year of the Barack Obama presidency revealed news coverage that was far more positive in tone than that received during the first year of the Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Overall, the Obama findings reveal a media honeymoon in that influential newspaper, a sharp contrast from first-year coverage of other presidents during the modern era of a more combative press. The positive policy coverage Obama received in the Times was also significantly more positive than on evening newscasts of network television and on Fox …


The Return Of The Honeymoon: Television News Coverage Of New Presidents, 1981-2009, Stephen J. Farnsworth, S Robert Lichter Sep 2011

The Return Of The Honeymoon: Television News Coverage Of New Presidents, 1981-2009, Stephen J. Farnsworth, S Robert Lichter

Political Science and International Affairs

Content analysis of network evening news coverage during the first year of the Barack Obama presidency revealed coverage that was far more positive in tone than comparable news reports from the first years of the Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Both domestic and international policy evaluations of the Obama presidency were more positive in tone than those of the last three presidents to take office during partisan transfers of power. The findings reveal a revival of the media honeymoon that scholars thought had disappeared during the modern era of a more combative press. An investigation of …